tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16721499502000217472024-02-06T21:39:31.112-05:00Open & Shutt.....My Storyojshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13073669044953728621noreply@blogger.comBlogger345125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-65654825286149811692015-04-19T19:59:00.003-04:002015-04-19T20:00:15.735-04:00The Journey to the 2014 Boston Marathon...as well as the journey towards a sub-3:00 marathon<br />
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I guess the latter journey technically started with my first marathon in Raleigh, NC in 2002 but didn't begin in earnest until 2009 at the Philadelphia Marathon. I went out WAAAAAY to hard that day (6:18 pace for first 10 miles!!!) because I got overconfident from running a downhill 1:16:32 half marathon the previous month and crashed & burned in the 2nd half with some cramping around mile 23. 3:15:21<br />
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Other failures included:<br />
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2011 Pittsburgh - Much more consistent pacing (1:29 at the half) but things got hard around mile 19, I had to back off a lot then my hamstrings seized up around mile 24. 3:22:38<br />
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2011 Harrisburg - Went in with the goal of 3:10, was at 1:33 at the half, but the stomach (and then legs) didn't cooperate over the final four miles and more crashing & burning to a 3:22:02<br />
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2012 Pittsburgh - Thought I had worked out all of the kinks, went through the half at 1:31:25 with the goal of negative splitting, but I got greedy around mile 17-18, it got hot & humid, and I crashed & burned again down the stretch with some hamstring cramping at 25.5. 3:14:07<br />
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2012 Columbus - My closest to breaking the elusive barrier, but came up just short. 3:00:46<br />
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I used the 2013 Pittsburgh marathon weekend to try something different and see how fast I could run the half. I just missed 6:00 pace and ended up around 1:18.<br />
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2013 Harrisburg - Much of the same. Didn't have enough to finish and ended up 3:02.<br />
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Then, the bombing at the Boston marathon happened. It wasn't right away but as summer rolled around (and I was able to actually have time to sit back and think after track season and the school year finished) the thought began to tug at me that it would be neat to be a part of the celebration up in Boston in 2014. So, I submitted my application and got in! Boston here we go! But, if I was going to do it, I wanted to do it right. I committed to sticking to a great training plan that included not just running but also core work and cross training.<br />
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This training cycle was rough. It was really cold. And snowy. And more snow. And more cold. There was the 0 degree day for hill repeats in the dark before school. There was the using a 1 month free membership trial at Anytime fitness to have somewhere to run since everything else had ice on it. There were the repeats behind Walmart because it was flat and clear and the track was still covered. There was the day after the Indoor State Meet. We got back late, they were calling for a big snowstorm the next day. So, I sleep overnight at a hotel near school and the dog boarding location, pick up Roxy, run at home with snow on ground to do a 13xmile workout. It was brutal but I got in all of my training and felt very prepared for this race.<br />
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We got up to Boston on Good Friday and the race wasn't until Monday, meaning 3 days of relaxing before a race - almost unheard of with my coaching schedule. It was fun using the t-system. The expo was a zoo, but really fun to be at packet pickup. The morning before, I had a chance to do the shake-out run with a former athlete from my school, his sister (who was still a senior on our team), and their dad who was running the marathon. Beth and I had Easter dinner with the Snow family. That helped pass the time and was nice getting out of the hotel.<br />
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Then, it was race morning! Beth walked me to commons and I got on the bus with my bagel, banana, and many layers since it was still cold at this point. I shared a seat with guy from Denver that reminded me so much of a guy that volunteers with our cross country team. Then, we get to Hopkintown and there's the wait. Then, I saw the legendary Mr. Tim Hewitt (who's RUN the Iditarod race!!!). He's from our hometown and has done Boston numerous times. It was great to be able to lean on him for advice on what to do as we waited to go to the starting line. It's finally time to walk down to start. One last stop in the port-o-jons and off to wait with the crowds.<br />
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It was moving before the start went off-- the National Anthem, the flyover, the Race Director saying, "Let's take back finish line this year!" All of it was so special and why I was so glad to be a part of it.<br />
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Finally the race starts and we're on our way. As we move past the start line it was just as they said in the course video, the people slow you down at the beginning and it's a good thing! The first 5-6 miles just fly by, clicking off splits and staying in control. Through 10 miles I'm still good. I would make moves on the uphills if people around me slowed down.<br />
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I get to halfway on pace. The Wellesley College co-eds - screaming so loud that my ears rung after!<br />
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I made the right at the fire house (mile 16) - it was a decent hill and I could see people around me starting to fade. I felt like I went in with a solid, conservative plan, had been taking my nutrition and hydrating and pouring water on me (it was getting hotter). I felt good.<br />
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At mile 19, the hill I thought was possible heartbreak hill, actually was to come - it went well. More people are starting to fade as the sun continues to pound more on us. It get up heartbreak hill - it was solid but not this wall you have to climb. I think it's more about where it comes in the race..<br />
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Coming down by Boston College, it's a downhill and the quads were letting me know that they really hurt. But I felt like I could do it.<br />
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There was a long straightaway around mile 23.....still on pace!<br />
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There's the Citgo sign outside of Fenway Park - mile 25 and still on pace! One mile to go!<br />
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Down a hill, cross under bridge - that's where Beth, her parents and sister saw me but I couldn't see or hear them with the crowds.<br />
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I was waiting to make my final right turn and it felt like it took forever.<br />
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I labored as I approached the final turn to make the left onto Boyleston.<br />
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I took a look at my watch and I knew i had it - just keep it together - no hamstring seizures!<br />
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Every two or three strides I kept looking at watch - trying to realize that I was going to do it! Go sub-3. In Boston. The year after the bombings. After all these years of trying and coming up short.<br />
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As I get there, I raised arms at finish line - I finally did it! 2:59:12!<br />
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One of the things that help me get through the tough parts of the last half of a marathon is having a song in my head. I don't know what song it will be but usually I have one that is really speaking to me leading up to a race. This day, I kept singing over and over the song Oceans by Hillsong United.<br />
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It was a long walk to meeting area and it was taking forever. I was trashed and didn't want to attempt to bend over. So, I sheepishly asked a medic if they could loosen my lock laces on my shoes. They obliged and congratulated me. All of the support staff at the finish area was super!<br />
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I finally met up with Beth & family. We did our traditional post-race dining at 5 Guys Burgers & Fries.<br />
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We returned to the hotel, I showered and we went to airport to return home. It was a quick turnaround as our flight was only about 4-5 hours after crossing the finish line. One of Beth's best friends and former college roommates, MB, also did the race and she was on our flight. The two of them talked the entire way home since they hadn't been able to meet up for a long time.<br />
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I got home and it was back at it Tuesday morning. The week at school and practice was whirlwind and it was emotionally tough to come down from high. People would ask me about how the race went and I would begin getting teary eyes. The entire experience was so overwhelming!<br />
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There are so many thanks:<br />
Mario Fraoli and his book on marathon training. It got the job done!<br />
All of the online cheerers - it was great to get so many messages.<br />
All the Boston Marathon veterans who gave me input and put up with my millions of questions leading up to the race including Nathan Snider, Mr. Gunz, the Saxtons, John Neff, Mr. Tim Hewitt, and many others<br />
The Buchheits (with sister-in-law and former Boston resident Becky as our tour guide and chauffeur)<br />
My parents for keeping track of Roxy the dog.<br />
And, most importantly, Beth for modeling how to be excellent in training and all walks of life. Showing me how to be tough when the race gets tough. And showing me how to chase dreams.<br />
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Coming off the Boston high, I did another marathon in the Fall of 2014 in Harrisburg (that's such a nice little marathon!) and ran out of gas to finish 3:04. To be honest, it was like how they say sports teams have "champions hangover" and it was the same way for me. I trained but not with the passion that I did back in the spring.<br />
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So, that was my Boston journey. It was simply amazing. Will I ever return to run in Boston? Not sure, but if I never make it back I have memories from my time there that will last a lifetime.<br />
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Good luck to everybody running in the 2015 Boston Marathon. Continue to take back the finish line!OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-22221813663799366832014-12-28T14:22:00.002-05:002014-12-28T14:53:29.833-05:002014 Highs and Lows<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So it's been a while....like the whole year. But might as well return with the annual highs and lows post. It's been a busy year!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>HIGHS</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Boston Marathon</u></b> - #1 by far was the opportunity to take part in the US "super bowl" of marathons. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crossing the line in Boston - MAGICAL!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On top of that, to race in it the year after the finish line bombings. In a sense, it was my tiny contribution to stand up for freedom and stand up against terrorism. On top of that, I PR'ed. On top of that, I FINALLY cracked three hours for the first time (2:59:13). It wasn't easy - this winter may have been the most brutal ever. Sub-zero temperatures (and even colder wind chills) and nuisance snows that left the roads covered with an inch or two several times a week. But, it was all worth it!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIVcjIeAY5nyYHiEhyMxYHbexpCOAw-L3VpumF1dNIIW5lcVSGxi22smVec8PrhBHthjx6vZNmw1BF98L36fBA-bdhcOvU8WI4Yv3SEgoUBerB2JK7P5XDlMt7ChwqQ2LLbyOCb0rYIbUs/s1600/Boston+mar+B&O.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIVcjIeAY5nyYHiEhyMxYHbexpCOAw-L3VpumF1dNIIW5lcVSGxi22smVec8PrhBHthjx6vZNmw1BF98L36fBA-bdhcOvU8WI4Yv3SEgoUBerB2JK7P5XDlMt7ChwqQ2LLbyOCb0rYIbUs/s1600/Boston+mar+B&O.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My #1 supporter!</td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u>Head Coach</u></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> - Another amazing opportunity that I began this summer was taking over the girls running programs from legendary coaches in cross country and track at the high school where I teach at. It was an amazing journey this summer and fall and I'm looking forward to what is in store this winter and spring and the years ahead. If you're interested, we chronicled it on our <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/mtlsd.net/leboxc/girls-xc" target="_blank">new team website</a>. The girls worked so hard and I was left with such a great group to lead. The parents were amazing and so supportive, too!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some of the highlights included finishing runner-up in our district and #5 in the state.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7aeGa8PMcIzsqwDvY0coafIT4fRmNqMtSjyIwfkGr99hablEdq8YW01KoMcgEivI9CQ0IETIf-WKP2YMwPgzuw7b9j58Lj4mh296e34LZrJTvSccFrY7J86O44iD17nd3lAGL84sxz6To/s1600/XC+WPIAL+runner+up+trophy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7aeGa8PMcIzsqwDvY0coafIT4fRmNqMtSjyIwfkGr99hablEdq8YW01KoMcgEivI9CQ0IETIf-WKP2YMwPgzuw7b9j58Lj4mh296e34LZrJTvSccFrY7J86O44iD17nd3lAGL84sxz6To/s1600/XC+WPIAL+runner+up+trophy.jpg" height="276" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lots of talented and amazing girls made up our team</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU-IQryYKIRO5OMxQ4B93ZUcgFdL17_WTbIr5ey9jXUGkrKd09BrDLGN8r0lUu5KJQYUCdE0Y4HSamrpsh2UgJiLT6Z75-he17QwdHf7_qj_1qQjjpmhqOqe5MmXeM_EQr56eHPmM3G8XG/s1600/XC+Team+Hershey+Bars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU-IQryYKIRO5OMxQ4B93ZUcgFdL17_WTbIr5ey9jXUGkrKd09BrDLGN8r0lUu5KJQYUCdE0Y4HSamrpsh2UgJiLT6Z75-he17QwdHf7_qj_1qQjjpmhqOqe5MmXeM_EQr56eHPmM3G8XG/s1600/XC+Team+Hershey+Bars.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hershey Bars for the team heading to Hershey for the State Championship!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of our girls had an phenomenal fall and finished individually 3rd in the district and 5th in the state. Now that she's a junior, we discussed her competing in post-state competitions this year and that turned out to be a very positive experience. First, she finished 8th in the Foot Locker Northeast Cross Country Regional. The top 10 in each region qualify for the national championships in San Diego. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, I had the opportunity to return to Balboa Park (<a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2009/12/foot-locker.html" target="_blank">I accompanied one of our HS boys to the race 5 years ago</a>). At FLCCC, she ran such a smart race and worked her way up from 31st the whole way up to 17th in the final mile.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXaWcsXATng0vkbA-MU-ia3-k0oopww5sIjyDklepPo5dl4vZrdiKppLKwE1W3ocsrSe4deRPhW1_2olmxfFj84APajgjfOG79rfR3Q7QxJnkkGnPCuiv2DJTviSPcOSLeagOBAFr-7S1c/s1600/KPfinshline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXaWcsXATng0vkbA-MU-ia3-k0oopww5sIjyDklepPo5dl4vZrdiKppLKwE1W3ocsrSe4deRPhW1_2olmxfFj84APajgjfOG79rfR3Q7QxJnkkGnPCuiv2DJTviSPcOSLeagOBAFr-7S1c/s1600/KPfinshline.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">17th in the country!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEVc7sEs6VIidwDOeBRkfYVZXR0Lt1TQ0lfGxcAqySrqDV5B75j2t6cC8R_cIpvk9gUEuYTMxd5OuGZrafUm5a0RO4bCIfRParv6yUeASjz6lpZ38rouZmGxYqhnoD91AJaSqI6rEt_dmt/s1600/KP+FL+Finish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEVc7sEs6VIidwDOeBRkfYVZXR0Lt1TQ0lfGxcAqySrqDV5B75j2t6cC8R_cIpvk9gUEuYTMxd5OuGZrafUm5a0RO4bCIfRParv6yUeASjz6lpZ38rouZmGxYqhnoD91AJaSqI6rEt_dmt/s1600/KP+FL+Finish.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A big smile to end the journey that started in June</td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u>Happy Valley</u></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> - One of the most satisfying, planned-last-minute days occurred in November. Penn State was hosting the NCAA cross country regionals. I originally wasn't planning on going, but things came together so I ended up making the trip up to Penn State. It was an awesome day! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First, I returned to the Leonhard Building (which happens to be adjacent to the golf course where the XC race was), where I spent many hours as an undergrad and then graduate Industrial Engineering student. On the off-chance he was around, I stopped by to visit the professor I did my Masters Thesis with - Dr. Andris Freivalds. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPiGDtvB4z93roCVG5XAQSXZAS-MlmYI0mJBo0VNtImXKow5MK_6d8R5qRoSETjgK9LAent_Uq4GXFYVCkLmLWtDGTmfqiN6qKVbIiw32W-Mkf3b_GP-uOkfxek8yTYdmJoFOKGOmB8FaO/s1600/dr+freivalds+on+tv+show.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPiGDtvB4z93roCVG5XAQSXZAS-MlmYI0mJBo0VNtImXKow5MK_6d8R5qRoSETjgK9LAent_Uq4GXFYVCkLmLWtDGTmfqiN6qKVbIiw32W-Mkf3b_GP-uOkfxek8yTYdmJoFOKGOmB8FaO/s1600/dr+freivalds+on+tv+show.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Freivalds in the labcoat contributing to the show "Going Deep with David Rees"</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For those of you who watched the </span><a href="http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/going-deep-with-david-rees/episodes/how-to-dig-a-hole/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">National Geographic Channel this summer, you may know him better at "Dr. Shovel."</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> It turned out he was there so we had a chance to catch up and he even came out to watch the cross country race on his lunch break run.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the actual races, we had three Mt. Lebanon alumni competing - a freshman girl for Penn State, a sophomore boy for George Washington, and a fifth-year senior at St. Joseph's. The St. Joseph's runner was coming off an Atlantic 10 conference victory and he had a shot at qualifying for nationals. Things didn't work out in the last mile and he didn't finish high enough. Still a super career by such a solid young man. On the women's side, our alum only a few months after graduation finished 12th in the race and earned the 4th and final individual at-large spot to punch her ticket to the NCAA National Championship race! What a surprise and an amazing accomplishment!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNwJqzCu21gadyTcCeie5QllTOiUDV_CJJeq-YeQrtxp6JIQIIRbqt19nyMbk2lAH1yN2XoRNfLnBZWY8ocrLPh_cBi2b09_cSbo2vXRX6_WX7uVAjRcG0dse95kmlEkVXPLRhKKZQk1Tc/s1600/NCAA+Regionals+Seamus+&+Rad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNwJqzCu21gadyTcCeie5QllTOiUDV_CJJeq-YeQrtxp6JIQIIRbqt19nyMbk2lAH1yN2XoRNfLnBZWY8ocrLPh_cBi2b09_cSbo2vXRX6_WX7uVAjRcG0dse95kmlEkVXPLRhKKZQk1Tc/s1600/NCAA+Regionals+Seamus+&+Rad.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Continuing on the Mt. Lebanon running tradition in college</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSk0Yx7ZomN1AVXpifFgdNoSdm9HrDSFzYI7OVV_OTuNUnVX85bSfSDMXU0U1vt7lc_hYxbhfSCdhiZVxIr_KwEmZ_VaTYuLrqwcbE0ZEFC8VzsVqNqMmrRFijiTqb-wo8UV1Yfwd6_ogr/s1600/NCAAR+Lebo+Girls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSk0Yx7ZomN1AVXpifFgdNoSdm9HrDSFzYI7OVV_OTuNUnVX85bSfSDMXU0U1vt7lc_hYxbhfSCdhiZVxIr_KwEmZ_VaTYuLrqwcbE0ZEFC8VzsVqNqMmrRFijiTqb-wo8UV1Yfwd6_ogr/s1600/NCAAR+Lebo+Girls.jpg" height="438" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The NCAA National Qualifier in the middle surrounded by Mt. Lebanon ladies</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After the races, I went over to the Bookstore to buy some PSU gear and stopped by the HUB to grab some food. A really fun day!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u style="font-weight: bold;">Road Trip with Dad</u> - Last year, <a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2013/06/junes-recap.html" target="_blank">Beth and I took a non-running/triathlon trip to Tampa</a> to see my 2nd favorite baseball team, the Tampa Bay Rays. It was such a fun trip, I talked my dad into joining me this year. It was one of those father-son bonding excursions. We began by seeing a morning game in Bradenton with the Pirates' High-A affiliate (Bradenton Marauders). One of the top pitchers in the entire minor leagues, Tyler Glasnow, was on the mound for the Marauders. After the game, we went over to Pirate City to check out the Pirates' spring training facilities. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6XnMxt8HhHAwafR-YnEd8I__A26fA-jKcOcF0e5MZh9iU51ZVxUSg_Csby5X_kndNDiNaxYcnbVYO0jFUIo4QyKXuZKKEYpQSK8u-EIQFhG5Y7YFzzSVc_plgjuvk0WVy0ozyJlK0QyvV/s1600/Dad&O+in+bradenton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6XnMxt8HhHAwafR-YnEd8I__A26fA-jKcOcF0e5MZh9iU51ZVxUSg_Csby5X_kndNDiNaxYcnbVYO0jFUIo4QyKXuZKKEYpQSK8u-EIQFhG5Y7YFzzSVc_plgjuvk0WVy0ozyJlK0QyvV/s1600/Dad&O+in+bradenton.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Game 1 in Bradenton</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then, that night and the next afternoon we saw the Pirates play against Tampa Bay in Tropicana Field. After baking at the game in Bradenton, we were seeing the benefits to an indoor baseball stadium - genius! 3 games in 28 hours was a blast!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Vj-Z7dWAt5LHg_1f2M4WBp430TS312tBSOPUP1549REB8DPL930xs9wc_OR5Pukeh1HxpWyBT-6hyphenhyphenlQ1vV9VIDXyWAxfDEA_lrIaWIrYViUc0VR8UMRKjn5IjWMHEa2PV1hKto8g44gt/s1600/Dad&O+in+TB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Vj-Z7dWAt5LHg_1f2M4WBp430TS312tBSOPUP1549REB8DPL930xs9wc_OR5Pukeh1HxpWyBT-6hyphenhyphenlQ1vV9VIDXyWAxfDEA_lrIaWIrYViUc0VR8UMRKjn5IjWMHEa2PV1hKto8g44gt/s1600/Dad&O+in+TB.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Game 2 in St. Petersburg - notice the same shirts - 2 games in one day!</td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u>Beth in Kona</u></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> - I would be remiss to not include Beth's accomplishments as a professional triathlete as one of my highs. She has improved each year in the sport and I'm so proud of her. This year had some in-season highs & lows as she dealt with a hip issue in April and May that set back the middle of her season and the chance to qualify for Kona. However, after some solid half ironman showings in </span><a href="http://thetrialofmilesmilesoftrials.blogspot.com/2014/06/syracuse-703-race-report.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Syracuse </a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and </span><a href="http://thetrialofmilesmilesoftrials.blogspot.com/2014/07/muncie-20.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Muncie</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, she had an amazing race at </span><a href="http://thetrialofmilesmilesoftrials.blogspot.com/2014/08/ironman-mont-tremblant-race-report.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Ironman Mont Tremblant</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> to finish 3rd overall and earn enough points to qualify for Kona! At Kona (aka the Ironman World Championships) </span><a href="http://thetrialofmilesmilesoftrials.blogspot.com/2014/10/kona2014.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">she finished 27th</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> among all of the professional females. 27th in the WORLD!!!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQBIdzDVAo3VJxWVpjifUtJnc9m4t5vs5_Cfw8a17nrQGptmXHB2PjsmJAAuYeX-l7jGXdCDrDGNs1TI5A8TtNxI8MIfYOq6Jat0jGyCdbRWXlr_RL6E2zwihqc3FISeHq02Xy-NruotfM/s1600/Beth+&+Mom+in+Kona.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQBIdzDVAo3VJxWVpjifUtJnc9m4t5vs5_Cfw8a17nrQGptmXHB2PjsmJAAuYeX-l7jGXdCDrDGNs1TI5A8TtNxI8MIfYOq6Jat0jGyCdbRWXlr_RL6E2zwihqc3FISeHq02Xy-NruotfM/s1600/Beth+&+Mom+in+Kona.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beth's mom made the trip with her...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYoHzd6UckcpvDZtBtY0gA-NWFrtz3ZthcnA4BBkjeKaTle6FA2heC958I6Ia_jsjVjwf9VknH-IpExCmJTZ8DlwTGtMqxvJ60Qjt9_3L8uSeBf0GLp73rCLQOk6VGArFnA_nkEPkWmRpX/s1600/kona+2014+setup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYoHzd6UckcpvDZtBtY0gA-NWFrtz3ZthcnA4BBkjeKaTle6FA2heC958I6Ia_jsjVjwf9VknH-IpExCmJTZ8DlwTGtMqxvJ60Qjt9_3L8uSeBf0GLp73rCLQOk6VGArFnA_nkEPkWmRpX/s1600/kona+2014+setup.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...while I set up command central at home. (Didn't go due to my new coaching responsibilities)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Undefeated year in "The Heights"</u></b> - Now, the town we live in will never, ever be mistaken for a running hotbed. In fact, other than Beth and I, we maybe only see another 5 or so people ever out on the roads in the neighborhoods. And to see two different people on the same run? Almost unheard of. With that being said, I ran in two hometown 5k's and won both of them. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5MJQ_M3E9nabviB2SYxOmBIpfQoXTjDZb67KXJvnJNMsqbLgZf2UHLaIae2-B101WHm29CQhykIYT-Q3AXtfxkvoJGivRqRTvYvvNVMfVxWa7ek7-W0-XIFYsPea8kmU3NspM8R3Qx2rj/s1600/NH+5k+win+police+car.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5MJQ_M3E9nabviB2SYxOmBIpfQoXTjDZb67KXJvnJNMsqbLgZf2UHLaIae2-B101WHm29CQhykIYT-Q3AXtfxkvoJGivRqRTvYvvNVMfVxWa7ek7-W0-XIFYsPea8kmU3NspM8R3Qx2rj/s1600/NH+5k+win+police+car.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nothing like a police escort to the finish line of the race!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Each was run on a very flat course and I ended up going pretty fast on both, including an unexpected new 5k PR in the latter. While my official time was 16:27, I figured it was short. I ran it twice the next day with my GPS and concluded it was around 3.03-3.05 miles so add a few seconds and it's still a 16:40-ish 5k. I'll take it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>LOWS</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Blog Ignored</u></b> - Last winter I just didn't get around to it. After Boston, I wrote a blog in my head a handful of times but never sat down to type it out. Over the summer, I was busy getting things ready for cross country, and the fall just flew by. Hopefully next year, I'll do a better job of keeping up with writing. In writing this post, I did realize that I used social media like Facebook and Twitter to log the events of the year at least. One other place that I created and maintained through the fall was my <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/mtlsd.net/leboxc/girls-xc" target="_blank">high school's cross country website</a> that detailed the journey of our team from the first day of summer, through the state championship, and the Foot Locker race in San Diego.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Harrisburg Marathon</u></b> - All summer, I had trouble coming off of the "Boston Marathon High." I trained, but I didn't have the same passion that I needed to in order to set a new PR nor did I commit sufficient mid-week mileage and time due to the increased coaching responsibilities. Despite this, I went in to the race in November with a "Go Big or Go Home" attitude and averaged 6:45/mi pace through about mile 21. Then it got hard. So, I ran out of gas and shuffled in the finish. But, at least I didn't walk, I didn't have hamstring seizures, and I didn't throw up. I still ended up 3:03:51, just over 7:00/mi pace.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Reaction to WPIALs</u></b> - While my rookie year of coaching went really well, I also learned a few lessons along the way. Our team was coming off of two consecutive district titles. At the district meet, we came up 5 points short of winning #3 in a row. While I'm normally a "glass half full" kind of guy, I felt like I let the team down and let the program down by not continuing the tradition. I was a little mopey instead of focusing on the fact that we were the 2nd best team in all of our district. It's definitely something I will try to do better next year. The silver lining is that, despite of me, the girls used the 2nd place as motivation and finished 5th in the state the next week. Did I mention that they're a great group of girls?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, as can be seen, the lows were somewhat minor and the highs were most certainly amazing. Another great year in the books. I am very blessed and most definitely living the dream! Here's to 2015!</span>OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-67168022136537114922013-12-14T14:50:00.004-05:002013-12-14T15:00:56.582-05:002013 BCS Playoff Proposal<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now that the arrangements are set for this year's national championship game, here is my view on how a playoff system could be implemented to include the conference championship games.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here are my goals:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. To give EVERY team in August a legitimate chance to win a national championship (like UCF, Northern Illinois, Fresno State, etc.), especially if you win your conference championship.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. To make as many teams as possible have their last game be one of significance toward a national championship drive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can go to previous years proposals below:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2012/12/2012-bcs-playoff-proposal.html" target="_blank">2012</a>, <a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2011/12/2011-bcs-playoff-proposal.html" target="_blank">2011</a>, <a href="http://oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2010/12/bcs-playoff-proposal-year-3.html" target="_blank">2010</a>, <a href="http://oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-bcs-playoff-proposal-year-2.html" target="_blank">2009</a>, <a href="http://oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2009/01/my-college-playoff-proposal.html" target="_blank">2008</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So on to this year. There were more changes in the college landscape from 2012 as the Big East and the Western Athletic Conference became no more. But, the American Athletic Conference came into being. The AAC received the automatic BCS berth from the Big East. Also, there is more on the horizon with the Big Ten adding Rutgers and Maryland next year, as well as other moves. But, we'll save that for next year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is the final product:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie9MPskiYTgEUznPAM2ODHNt7NX3pDLubycBn9inplkMaNgPewaOrl_H7g5y_NHTZQoW6aG_hFUmuNZUSwhJm2EKIff9gFxE2aLUfPzLEJrJQqJK79sjrw8MRzsDWvlZhXm4qUUP0ey6J9/s1600/BCS+2013+3B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="580" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie9MPskiYTgEUznPAM2ODHNt7NX3pDLubycBn9inplkMaNgPewaOrl_H7g5y_NHTZQoW6aG_hFUmuNZUSwhJm2EKIff9gFxE2aLUfPzLEJrJQqJK79sjrw8MRzsDWvlZhXm4qUUP0ey6J9/s640/BCS+2013+3B.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some general notes:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*All seeds determined by the BCS for at-large teams, by computer rankings for conference champions not in the top 25 BCS rankings)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*The regular season needs to be completed for BCS conferences by the weekend before Thanksgiving (11/23) and the week prior to that for the non-BCS conferences (11/16) OR the non-BCS conference can decide to not host a championship game the weekend of the 23rd.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*Don't get completely tied up in the teams, but more the process and the seeds. Since this bracket is trying to seed based off of three different weeks all at the same time, there are going to be inconsistencies in team rankings. Trust the process!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*This is NOT an NCAA basketball bracket where you could have a tourney pick'em. Rather each round gets re-seeded much like the NFL and other leagues do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's how I ended up with that bracket:</span><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Original Draft (Building on the 2012 model)</span></u></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last year's model had seven at-large teams in addition to the eleven conference champions. Since there is one less conference this year, the structure needed to be revised. On the surface, one less non-BCS qualifier conference yielded the simple math of one more at-large team.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhV2aoHVN9gVU-jctjpPsoidKywW7WmHw1CZYVXlYu0Wak_HK74wpdTTSlYtssC7ODAK-HLE2I2eQs4GJuRTHTjICP1lYgTXcqEeKNqcGofqP-QShm9GnAwQROsclEtVvldAkPXCq6cNw1/s1600/BCS+2013+1B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="612" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhV2aoHVN9gVU-jctjpPsoidKywW7WmHw1CZYVXlYu0Wak_HK74wpdTTSlYtssC7ODAK-HLE2I2eQs4GJuRTHTjICP1lYgTXcqEeKNqcGofqP-QShm9GnAwQROsclEtVvldAkPXCq6cNw1/s640/BCS+2013+1B.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The four conference champions would host at-large teams on Thanksgiving weekend with an additional two at-large games to be played either at a neutral site (what I would prefer) or the site of the higher-seeded team. There were some different ways to work out the matchups, but I thought that the highest-seeded non-BCS conference champion (Northern Illinois) deserved a favorable matchup. Beyond that, the highest seeded at-large team should have the easiest opponent. Thus, the games ended up like so:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>UCLA (AL8) at Northern Illinois (MAC)- A</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Baylor (AL3) at Fresno State (MWC) - B</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>South Carolina (AL2) at Rice (CUSA)- C</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Alabama (AL1) at Louisiana-Lafayette (Sun Belt) - D</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Oregon (AL4) vs. Oklahoma (AL7)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Clemson (AL5) vs LSU (AL6)</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The winners would move on to the weekend of the four BCS Conference Championship games. Additionally, Oklahoma State (as of the time of this draft) from the Big 12 and Central Florida (from the AAC) get byes to the conference championship weekend due to their BCS tie-in. If seeds held from Thanksgiving weekend, the games would make for a fun Saturday of 8 games (note that conference champions still get home games):</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>ACC Championship - Florida State vs Duke</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Pac-12 Championship - Stanford vs Arizona State</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>SEC Championship - Auburn vs Missouri</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Big Ten Championship - Ohio State vs Michigan State</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Alabama (AL1) at UCF (AAC Champion) (Highest seed vs lowest seed remaining)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>South Carolina (AL2) at Northern Illinois (MAC Champion)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Clemson (AL5) at Oklahoma State (Big 12 Champion)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Baylor (AL3) vs Oregon (AL4)</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Winners from this round would match up in a final 8 the weekend of December 14. Games to be played at the higher-ranked conference champion (again rewarding a conference champion over an at-large team). If seeds held:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Baylor (AL3) at Florida State (ACC Champion)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Alabama (AL1) at Oklahoma State (Big 12 Champion)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Stanford (Pac-12 Champion) at Auburn (SEC Champion)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>South Carolina (AL2) at Ohio State (Big Ten Champion)</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then, like is proposed for starting in 2014, a semi-final would occur around New Year's Day with the Championship the next week.</span><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Version 2.0 (Only conference champions, quicker path to the championship)</span></u></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was pretty happy with the first bracket, but then Auburn beat Alabama, Ohio State lost, Oklahoma State lost, Northern Illinois lost and my bracket looked pretty inaccurate (although it's the process that counts!). It also wasn't sitting well with me that a #3 (Auburn) vs #5 (Missouri) was occurring in the round of 16. Could the winner of that game be given a bye to the semi-finals? Also, could the number 1 seed be advanced to the semi-finals? These thoughts gave birth to version 2 of the 2013 bracket.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's what it looked like BEFORE the results of conference championship weekend</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ztIzr7rp0GcioJYIgnEDqu6OVCAUSqpCwu9riX5wg9S6QQ4lN_HCICd66jAjRJmpDoZTVlQGmBHgHR5vYS6oruE_29sjf5b-i-9KPu7Jr3FejTqv6q6h94Qrd3xDux4z8V2Oa9Fh-e7r/s1600/BCS+2013+2A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="610" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ztIzr7rp0GcioJYIgnEDqu6OVCAUSqpCwu9riX5wg9S6QQ4lN_HCICd66jAjRJmpDoZTVlQGmBHgHR5vYS6oruE_29sjf5b-i-9KPu7Jr3FejTqv6q6h94Qrd3xDux4z8V2Oa9Fh-e7r/s640/BCS+2013+2A.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And then AFTER the results of the weekend (Ohio State, Northern Illinois, and Oklahoma State losing)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmTvZpS10AyyH1clltL8mRvOV-6zjs8P4PhgAywZLHjKziGyazdzosPE5Y6-zl4aFYkWEXgnS5GcJfNIx9xGvDcAS-Sn3E4Gf7vRsS5sByLIQHXbgnBRpWwlPzVCyGXnh5HSFdLXZ_kw-/s1600/BCS+2013+2B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="614" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmTvZpS10AyyH1clltL8mRvOV-6zjs8P4PhgAywZLHjKziGyazdzosPE5Y6-zl4aFYkWEXgnS5GcJfNIx9xGvDcAS-Sn3E4Gf7vRsS5sByLIQHXbgnBRpWwlPzVCyGXnh5HSFdLXZ_kw-/s640/BCS+2013+2B.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In this model, the four non-BCS conference champs square off the weekend of Thanksgiving. The winner of these games would be inserted into the BCS conference championship weekend to play the champion of the Big 12 and the AAC. Once the results from conference championship weekend were completed and the new polls came out, the top two teams would get byes to the semi-finals. One thought in my head for this year was, if Ohio State won, who would get the second bye? That's a HUGE difference between having off and playing a very difficult game. Maybe some language to the effect of "if two top-8 BCS ranked teams are playing in a conference championship, that winner gets and automatic bid to the semi-finals. The remaining four teams would match up the weekend of December 14 to determine the other two teams to advance to the New Year's semi-final.</span><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Version 3 (A hybrid of versions 1 and 2)</span></u></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The idea of Alabama not being in the top 4 (or at the very least top 8) just didn't seem fair. So, this version bumped back the Big 12 and AAC conference champions to have to play in the Thanksgiving weekend round. The matchups for that round's four games would be set up to be the highest conference champion vs the second highest versus the second lowest. Then the first at-large team would get the third lowest conference champion and AL2 vs the 3rd conference champion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BEFORE Conference Championship Saturday results, it looked like this:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_8n9EC-ceLAvLnYx6Co6zUmnHeNgNzVUdFtVQ6PvxxMIiKPL7t81-PtVPCoHQ14xfriZvt69ki7kKETRIH5153F_9EPRXdb3gYvRpVJVwEYpXYg-PlwqlGd33keQYNCC2fU2sPtHQ72K9/s1600/BCS+2013+3A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="580" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_8n9EC-ceLAvLnYx6Co6zUmnHeNgNzVUdFtVQ6PvxxMIiKPL7t81-PtVPCoHQ14xfriZvt69ki7kKETRIH5153F_9EPRXdb3gYvRpVJVwEYpXYg-PlwqlGd33keQYNCC2fU2sPtHQ72K9/s640/BCS+2013+3A.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">AFTER the results, it looked like this.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_4U_S3Wj5FKep179HnbH96A4ZuXVc4-QqxXSkI2rFX0wCAKhI1u3VprOqOeu7mlJS5yPdCPFbE7Qg4Ty2PnEMcZQYjVENpTCTfTiFV5vKTE7hR1Rj5TKIiFJ1X5q61Zvk2KgenS_NdZvE/s1600/BCS+2013+3B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="580" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_4U_S3Wj5FKep179HnbH96A4ZuXVc4-QqxXSkI2rFX0wCAKhI1u3VprOqOeu7mlJS5yPdCPFbE7Qg4Ty2PnEMcZQYjVENpTCTfTiFV5vKTE7hR1Rj5TKIiFJ1X5q61Zvk2KgenS_NdZvE/s640/BCS+2013+3B.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Analysis:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*<u>The Tide</u> - Alabama lost one regular season game on an amazing and strange play to end a game that would have otherwise gone to overtime. It seems like they needed a shot. Having a second at-large team gives some incentive to teams to keep playing hard even if they do lose a game. How about an Alabama-Auburn rematch in the semi-finals?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*<u>On the road</u> - A few years ago, Fresno State had the motto "Anybody, Anytime, Anywhere." It would be fitting for them to earn a home game against a big school like Alabama or South Carolina. Also, having warm weather teams leave that comfort and play a meaningful December game in the snow intrigues me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*<u>Bowling</u>? - Bowls could still happen. Bowl announcements were made this year on December 8. In the final bracket, only six teams are left after December 8...and four of those are ticketed into the semi-finals. Perhaps the two losers of the December 14 games could be matched up on a New Year's Day Bowl. Would that be enough time?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*<u>Meaningfulness </u>- I mentioned this last year also, but a team like Bowling Green would much rather have a chance to host South Carolina in a playoff than lowly 6-6 Pitt in the Little Caesar's Bowl in Detroit. Fresno State - vs USC in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl on December 21 or a chance to take on the team that most people still think is the best in the country on their turf. Michigan State's national championship hopes ended September 21st with a loss to Notre Dame (with four pass interference penalties). Winning the Big Ten Championship gets them a Rose Bowl date, but no shot at a national championship. Baylor and UCF play each other in the Tostito's Fiesta Bowl for bragging rights, but no ability claim stake to the #1 trophy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Will it happen? Maybe some day. Next year brings the four-team playoff, but that's just going to cause a bunch of debate over who's #4 and who's #5 or #6. A bracket based on conference championships for ALL conferences is the best way to eliminate opinion and debate as much as possible.</span><br />
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OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-57828485260699275382013-08-25T20:53:00.000-04:002013-08-25T20:53:09.546-04:00Wrapping Up Summer: Part 4<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This summer, I moved to a new room in the school with our renovated high school.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I started playing the acoustic guitar. I've got a long way to go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cross Country season is underway. The girls are the defending district champs and hope to be among the top teams in the state again. The boys graduated five contributing seniors, but have a solid group that should be able to fill in those gaps and have us contending for a district title.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">More details to come!</span>OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-42303539897174697322013-08-25T20:50:00.002-04:002013-08-25T20:50:45.210-04:00Wrapping Up Summer Part 3: The Pirates<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is August 25th and the Pirates are tied for first place. Sign me up for that!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's been an amazing summer and lots of dissecting to do over the next five weeks!</span>OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-76689853199485452112013-08-25T20:49:00.001-04:002013-08-25T20:49:22.883-04:00Wrapping Up Summer Part 2: The Book Reports<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Usually the only place I can sit myself down to read is when I'm on an airplane. I love to read, but I can never force myself to sit down and do it when there's other things to do like go running, watch a Pirate game, or pretty much anything else.</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, I was introduced to using mobile devices for audio books (and for reading books too!), specifically through the program Overdrive that is connected to our county library system. Because of this, I was able to get through SIX books this summer:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/Those_Guys_Have_All_the_Fun.html?id=SkYN5eMreOUC" target="_blank">Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN</a> by James Andrew Miller </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Beauty of Short Hops by Sheldon Hirsch</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.ericblehm.com/books/fearless" target="_blank">Fearless by Eric Blehm</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://laurahillenbrandbooks.com/" target="_blank">Unbroken</a> by Laura Hillenbrand</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dream Team by Jack McCallum</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Charlie Wilson's War by George Crile</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Reviews to come hopefully in the next day or two...</span></div>
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OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-88231985368197442522013-08-25T20:37:00.001-04:002013-08-25T20:37:20.234-04:00Wrapping Up Summer<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So much goings on since the Muncie trip. I figured I'd break it down into four segments:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*Racing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*Summer Book Report</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*Pirates</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*Other stuff</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Part 1 - Racing (subtitle: There must have been something in the water in Muncie)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, Beth had an <a href="http://thetrialofmilesmilesoftrials.blogspot.com/2013/07/muncie-703-race-report.html" target="_blank">awesome race in Muncie</a>, establishing some PR's along the way. Since then, both of us have had some solid success. Beth set some more PR's at <a href="http://thetrialofmilesmilesoftrials.blogspot.com/2013/08/steelhead-703-v50.html" target="_blank">Steelhead</a>. Along the way, I had some pretty awesome races.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On 7/20, I did the Plum Stampede in the Park at Boyce Park. While I hadn't really done much speed training, I was excited to end up with a 17:27 on a rolling course and scored 7th overall and 1st in my age group. One of the highlights of this race was being able to hang out with good friend and mentor when I was student teaching at Plum Jay Marston. Back then, I was a volunteer assistant coach to him on the girls softball team. Now, we are both involved with coaching running and he has run several marathons with the hope of qualifying for Boston.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That was a good warm up and then the next weekend (7/28) I did the hometown Junkyard Jaunt (only 1.2 miles from my front door!). Two years ago I did this race with the hope of going sub-17 (pancake flat course) but I went out too hard and it was hot and I <a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2011/07/post-deadline-buccos-junkyard-jaunt.html" target="_blank">ended up at 17:21 and 4th place</a> with some speedy guys. This year, there was only one other speedy guy and he and I went out at the beginning. I got a little bit of a lead on him and was able to extend it and hold on for the win and a new PR of 16:48.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next weekend (8/4) we were in Michigan for Beth's 5th place finish. The following Friday 8/9, I stepped to the line in downtown Pittsburgh for the Liberty Mile. I went into it thinking I could be around 5:00. The previous four weeks I was working on repeats (400's in the 70-75 range and 800's in the 2:27-2:30 range), so I went to the line confident in my training. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beth was out there cheering at the 1/4 mile mark and the 3/4 mile mark. I'm glad there was a crowd around me and I didn't see the 1/4 mile split clock because the 67 might have put some doubts in my head about being able to finish the race. I went through the half and did see the 2:21 on the clock and was excited to think that if I could hang on for a 2:35-2:40 for the second half I would have my sub-5. As we turned on to Liberty Avenue and headed for home, the guy in front of me slowed down a lot (hit the wall?) so I had to swing around him. I don't know if this other guy didn't like that or if I was just in his "line" and he brushed beside me hitting my arm. I thought, "We've got this whole street on a straightaway to the finish and you have to be this close to me?" Regardless, I focused on the task and hand. I missed the 3/4 clock but Beth said it was a 3:42. I then sighted the finish line and tried to do my best kick in. I couldn't feel my legs, but I ended up around a 71 for the finial 1/4 for a total time of 4:53.9. Awesome!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNW-Hk9ficZ2RKpix_GdK_30tFUsJ4EBh-h4OY7GTyhYvwuSWxrCJmWNbJLht2D_9xyYBOTOxnlHDGIBf7JG0r0WQEk2ssEeeNc55M4Mgi8qg84WQy6zRxWcQlknvnx_nGzw3tR4YQPP44/s1600/liberty+mile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNW-Hk9ficZ2RKpix_GdK_30tFUsJ4EBh-h4OY7GTyhYvwuSWxrCJmWNbJLht2D_9xyYBOTOxnlHDGIBf7JG0r0WQEk2ssEeeNc55M4Mgi8qg84WQy6zRxWcQlknvnx_nGzw3tR4YQPP44/s640/liberty+mile.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look - I'm floating 3/4 <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">mile </span>into the race! Excited to say I outkicked all of these guys in the end (but couldn't feel my legs)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then, last weekend, I subjected myself to the trail running course known as the Hempfield Alumni Meet. I didn't do it last year because we were out of town. <a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2011/08/most-wonderful-time-of-year.html" target="_blank">The year before I got third place</a> to an alumni who was a D2 Steeplechaser at CalU and a varsity kid who qualified for the state meet. This year, that high schooler graduated (and no one else on the high school team had a strong year last year) and the Steeplechaser had gotten married and bought a house over the summer (perhaps not as much time for training?). We got out and had a rabbit as a Norwin alum had come with a friend and, while he was not eligible for our alumni results, he won the race by a good minute or so. That left me and Eric leading the rest. At one switchback, I noticed that we had the top 3 (and actually top 4) so if things stayed as they were, the alumni would score their first dual meet victory over the varsity in 9 years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That left the individual race the only thing left to worry about. Eric and I were running together, but I sensed he didn't want to push the pace up a hill as we were returning through the practice football field (about halfway) and I decided to go for it. I ran the rest of the race scared for this younger alum (by 10 years!) was going to catch me and blow by. But, I ended up winning by 50 seconds. The neat thing is that the winner of this alumni-varsity meet gets their name etched onto a plate that goes with the Stanley Cup-like trophy (you keep it for the year and bring it back the next year). So, while I am nowhere near the caliber of any other name on the plate of district and state champs that went on to successful division 1 careers, this year just happened to be the year where everything fell into place for me. It was mentioned that I was the "oldest first-time winner" of this race. I don't know if that is a compliment or a shot at my age. Either way, it was exciting to be the champ!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVonpEKd8ITNTmUHZG_ugcr1h3szlyrzxqPzIu8DSn7SxE_MEm7hIsSifBBuojvO545hk7IC7zzhfivStuXxIi7pckfORziX_B75FwIPeNMGHJqWVyU4aPU0nFiiVQNIM9qwM-y2yJYOHu/s1600/20130817_094115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVonpEKd8ITNTmUHZG_ugcr1h3szlyrzxqPzIu8DSn7SxE_MEm7hIsSifBBuojvO545hk7IC7zzhfivStuXxIi7pckfORziX_B75FwIPeNMGHJqWVyU4aPU0nFiiVQNIM9qwM-y2yJYOHu/s400/20130817_094115.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Ah, the coveted #1 stick!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyWJwGNVZdESTsCGTCPN72qgE6NRqeZzgD2cp3-lijSc_AAMzCnuosPLbpLyyENCmcp2OTirEpV3W-vSu2Ax63Vj4TrTG9Z0gYQ6e6u-JuMIIO8X6Vk4MB5-JFhsBhYV34mYidHa4JYr-2/s1600/20130817_101448.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyWJwGNVZdESTsCGTCPN72qgE6NRqeZzgD2cp3-lijSc_AAMzCnuosPLbpLyyENCmcp2OTirEpV3W-vSu2Ax63Vj4TrTG9Z0gYQ6e6u-JuMIIO8X6Vk4MB5-JFhsBhYV34mYidHa4JYr-2/s640/20130817_101448.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Me and the trophies. Beth couldn't wait to find a spot for this to collect dust for the next 12 months!!!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivrP95-BaMTNegWE2-GJYLOjrsy9IqgReyUoqj40Usxcn9Ish1b6RQbEiRB4EyLtXwMVmzrSKIH-BWSh3_8ylr48bcc8jfgahER0u8dYsGbfHT6GCIJCcF20InYoJGDiQkGZ-gQ-PzOPra/s1600/20130817_101516.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivrP95-BaMTNegWE2-GJYLOjrsy9IqgReyUoqj40Usxcn9Ish1b6RQbEiRB4EyLtXwMVmzrSKIH-BWSh3_8ylr48bcc8jfgahER0u8dYsGbfHT6GCIJCcF20InYoJGDiQkGZ-gQ-PzOPra/s400/20130817_101516.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Me and dad after the race</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnxC7pXND6Um1cwvwCbsHSlUK3IvQbCqT_qocDH-4R6qUqPsDf9UpIz02Axbdvi8GBJi38XNmepngOFRQMAF1b_nqtDpOW2Y-U4HDJwWuVHPbpipPh8sNokxgYpuwMK6xaMsFgeTqq1hZ4/s1600/20130817_101802.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnxC7pXND6Um1cwvwCbsHSlUK3IvQbCqT_qocDH-4R6qUqPsDf9UpIz02Axbdvi8GBJi38XNmepngOFRQMAF1b_nqtDpOW2Y-U4HDJwWuVHPbpipPh8sNokxgYpuwMK6xaMsFgeTqq1hZ4/s640/20130817_101802.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The trophies</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, back to my original theory, all of this occurred since Beth and I were in Muncie. Beth's PRs. My 2 wins, and 5k & mile PR. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My theory is that there must have been something in the water in Muncie (I did see Beth bottling some, I think!). In other words, look out Ironman Wisconsin for Beth to come flying through!</span>OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-61396655054246427042013-07-21T20:06:00.000-04:002013-07-21T20:09:44.879-04:00My Trip To See AltoonaNo, not Al Tuna....<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-frVUlEUVh1N5iE7L3vTIQP3UoW1ryqWJc-fZhTrKO5pkVbeHiHEX9uI7I4oR9lwQgmrXO3AS8rZeVEd9XoxV9nCV7ZeEwEYSbNVlPAF_bYnEeI1FXdyBJ3ieLK8qPaQYlclLF2R3T1uH/s1600/Al+Tuna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-frVUlEUVh1N5iE7L3vTIQP3UoW1ryqWJc-fZhTrKO5pkVbeHiHEX9uI7I4oR9lwQgmrXO3AS8rZeVEd9XoxV9nCV7ZeEwEYSbNVlPAF_bYnEeI1FXdyBJ3ieLK8qPaQYlclLF2R3T1uH/s320/Al+Tuna.jpg" width="222" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>That loveable mascot of the Curve!</i></td></tr>
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But rather the Altoona Curve, the Pittsburgh Pirates' AA minor league baseball team.<br />
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My first attempt got rained out in the third inning a few weeks back. But, it actually worked out for the better as Gregory Polanco was not in the lineup due to a sore shoulder from a play in the outfield and Casey Sadler was on the mound. On Thursday, top Pirates' position player prospect Gregory Polanco was in the lineup and top Pirates' pitching prospect Jameson Taillon was on the bump.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrg3ufFlAQ32mHLZxpmuXbZOsxEc7Boewj28mwWaKKHM_m7wxHtrrjDqs7qhFu0_brnXVGTRKjtkC9c53hyphenhyphenzNE_QZQXQCXt82prAr-dvU0Yv8V1DvSEAGUyFWh4B2kcf834NbYvP8jne53/s1600/20130718_190202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrg3ufFlAQ32mHLZxpmuXbZOsxEc7Boewj28mwWaKKHM_m7wxHtrrjDqs7qhFu0_brnXVGTRKjtkC9c53hyphenhyphenzNE_QZQXQCXt82prAr-dvU0Yv8V1DvSEAGUyFWh4B2kcf834NbYvP8jne53/s400/20130718_190202.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Jameson Taillon warming up before the first inning</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2WGjj5wFPeykameIyaJMMGXDRJEe09j1aHgpl2wS-u5BhkVbTFcMMlhxF7mmhOPbRDoKVCK863YuahaFKdCPsBYlZQisd6w3WfHInjisoyjfhxHqUSSqprmSP2VpOFaATZzf-tzwUAxcZ/s1600/20130718_190852.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2WGjj5wFPeykameIyaJMMGXDRJEe09j1aHgpl2wS-u5BhkVbTFcMMlhxF7mmhOPbRDoKVCK863YuahaFKdCPsBYlZQisd6w3WfHInjisoyjfhxHqUSSqprmSP2VpOFaATZzf-tzwUAxcZ/s400/20130718_190852.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Jameson Taillon beginning his night</i></td></tr>
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I tried something new at the game and attempted to post to twitter my observations for every half inning of Taillon's outing, as well as any positives from Altoona's offense in the bottom half of each inning.<br />
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It looked something like this:<br />
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<b><i>(First Inning) In Altoona seeing J Taillon for 1st time. After if single
&SB, retired the next 3, striking out 1 & 2 GO 3-u. Hitting 94-95</i></b><br />
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It seemed like he was getting warmed up to full speed still in the first. The first batter hit a weak grounder up the middle that got past Taillon and second baseman Jarek Cunningham flagged down, but didn't have time to get the speedy runner, Jamie Johnson. Johnson then stole second on a close play, but he's a good base stealer (15 SB, 2 CS). The strikeout was an 8-pitch at-bat, the most pitches of any of his strikeouts again showing he was still getting ramped up. The next two batters helped out Taillon's pitch count by grounding weak rollers to first base.<br />
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<b><i>Taillon 2nd: PopupSS, line 1B to RF, seeing eye 1B to RF, sawed
off 96mph popup, sb, bloop1B scores2, BB, 4-3. tied 2-2</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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This was a frustrating inning that goes back to the box score doesn't tell the whole story. He didn't get hit hard, but ended up giving up two runs. Taillon's fastball was much more consistently 96 mph in the second inning.</div>
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<b><i>J Taillon 3rd: 3-pitch K- 96fb, 85 change (swing), 81 curve
(frozen looking); go 6-3; go 3-u;43 pitches totthru 3. tied 2-2</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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A good recovery inning after the second. He made the first batter look like a high schooler with the pitch sequence. Overall, a 7-pitch inning.<br />
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<b><i>Taillon 4th: weak go 4-3,
K (95 fb, 95 fb, 96 fb ball, 81 curve looking), lazy inf popup. 3-2
Curve after 4. </i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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More weak contact, another statue of a batter on a curveball, and a weak pop up. 9 pitch inning.<br />
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<b><i>Taillon 5th: ripped 3B to RC on 95fb, rbi 4-3 go, K
(fb,fb,96fb,change,fb looking), K (fb,change,foul fb, 81curve swinging)</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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The triple was pretty much the only hard-hit ball on Taillon the whole night. I'm assuming the 1-2 fastball wasn't where Taillon wanted it. But, he managed the rest of the inning even though you would've like to have seen him strand the leadoff triple.The first strikeout off the inning you had to think the batter was looking off-speed and got locked up on the fastball. The second was probably the opposite and went flailing at what he thought was going to be a fastball.<br />
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<b><i>Taillon 6th: 3-pitch easy f8, dicey 2-pitch go 4-1 (1st
pretty 82 curve), K (fb,change, curve, ch, 96fb, 83curve swinging)</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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A lazy fly ball to lead off the inning. I described the second out as "dicey" because 1B Justin Howard came off the line to try to get it, but wasn't able to reach it. 2B Cunningham did get to it, and Taillon beat the runner to the bag and received the throw. It wasn't pretty but another out on weak contact. And the whiff on the curve again set up by premium fastball velocity.<br />
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<b><i>Taillon 7th: 1 pitch 92fb sliding f8 (polanco), k (95 fb,
fb, 81curve swinging), 3-2 BB, go 4-3 (96fb on pitch 95)</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Gregory Polanco made a nice grab and covered a lot of ground to make it look like a "routine" sliding catch. The strikeout was again an overwhelmed batter with the speed and then curve. Only his second walk of the game (and first since the second inning). Then, a routine grounder finished his night with Taillon still putting 96 on Peoples Natural Gas Field's radar gun.<br />
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Taillon's final line: 7IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7K<br />
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My impressions of Taillon didn't change much since I saw him look like he belonged in the World Baseball Classic against Team USA back in March. That curve is devastating and his fastball is major-league caliber. He needs to work on his control more, especially of his 87-88 mph changeup/slider. It seemed like he was searching a little on that pitch and it was up and in the right hand hitter's batter's box.<br />
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As far as the offense, the leading role is played by Gregory Polanco. No other hitters are ranked in <a href="http://www.piratesprospects.com/2013/06/pittsburgh-pirates-mid-season-top-20-prospects-minus-gerrit-cole.html" target="_blank">Pirates Prospects mid-season top 20</a>. Players like Adalberto Santos, Alex Dickerson, and Jarek Cunninham have shown flashes but nothing to make you think they will be a standout player in the majors. The additional factor that made it difficult to look at the hitters was that Erie's pitcher, Patrick Cooper was only throwing in the 80's so was this night's 6-run outburst good hitting or poor pitching on Erie's part?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihThUpsPR4Ai4VIbz7EP0ICnLNTl2h6UNnfPRRFPqAVRmbQYB1vB7NsxuuqUroT0KVxjumoemBXmxvTq8xEnkU-MGQpfLdra6CJy-gJH3ZdGh5hoCS8pPcOjL9ly9LERgePpfTye1OojFm/s1600/polanco+close-up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihThUpsPR4Ai4VIbz7EP0ICnLNTl2h6UNnfPRRFPqAVRmbQYB1vB7NsxuuqUroT0KVxjumoemBXmxvTq8xEnkU-MGQpfLdra6CJy-gJH3ZdGh5hoCS8pPcOjL9ly9LERgePpfTye1OojFm/s320/polanco+close-up.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Gregory Polanco coming to bat in the first inning</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMRRTuPslxsb4Fgdbz17dr_YB2dTmUmKOuLIaLhC82k1N1bvBP-kgd1YPw9U3gXaSuonGuJj2iqpVO65NlvbY33mIJ9Xgbdq_9JWdHjUTY9MZiAPnTz8SOjz6w20h88fgwRNL7MOAjuprE/s1600/20130718_201523.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMRRTuPslxsb4Fgdbz17dr_YB2dTmUmKOuLIaLhC82k1N1bvBP-kgd1YPw9U3gXaSuonGuJj2iqpVO65NlvbY33mIJ9Xgbdq_9JWdHjUTY9MZiAPnTz8SOjz6w20h88fgwRNL7MOAjuprE/s400/20130718_201523.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Gregory Polanco just before hitting a sacrifice fly into foul territory in right field</i></td></tr>
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Regardless, a few observations on Polanco. His first at-bat he struck out after working the count full. In the third inning, he put a bunt down the third base line. I didn't notice where the third baseman was playing before the pitch, but there was no chance of getting Polanco as he glided down the line. In the fourth inning, he lofted a 2-1 pitch into foul ground out in right field by the Altoona bullpen, deep enough to score Andy Vasquez. In the seventh inning, Polanco led off the inning by grounding a 2-2 pitch to the shortstop but made the play close with his hustle down the line.<br />
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Defensively, he didn't get many chances with Taillon's strikeouts and many weakly-hit ground balls. He had one ball hit to him, charged in three quick steps, but then glided back two lazy steps to catch the ball. Also, there was the previously mentioned sliding catch in left center.<br />
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All-in-all, a worthwhile trip to Altoona and I hope to make it out again before school starts. I'd like to see Nick Kingman and perhaps Alen Hanson will be up then.OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-68551171003971586562013-07-15T12:44:00.000-04:002013-07-15T13:10:27.875-04:00Home of the Hoosiers<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beth and I didn't really know what to expect with our trip to Muncie. What was the area like? What was the race like? What were the people like? How would the homestay work out?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well, things certainly couldn't have been better! Although, it started off with a rocky beginning on Wednesday trying to get out of the 'burgh.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I learned the definition of "flash flooding" on my way down to cross country practice in the morning. The roads I travelled on were becoming rivers. There were some areas that were impassible due to 2-3 feet of water. It was crazy! I finally made it to the 8:00 practice around 8:45 with all the detours and road closures. And, sure enough, there were our guys doing some "ball-toss" laps (similar to an indian run) on the non-flooded track with Coach A. #commitment</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The return home wasn't as harrowing and I made it back in time to join Beth for a run. Then we packed up and got on the road around 3pm, dropped off the dog at my parents', and started heading west on I-70. We stopped for dinner near Wheeling and then round two of the major thunderstorm lines came through as we were crossing into Ohio. It slowed us down a little more and we were doing the calculations realizing we wouldn't make it to Muncie and our host's house until 11pm or so. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This prompted us to search for a hotel along the way and finish the trip on Thursday. Thank goodness for the internet, and we settled on a spot outside of Dayton. It worked out well as there was a YMCA about a mile away to get our Thursday morning scheduled swim taken care of. It also didn't hurt that there was a Tim Hortons next door to the hotel (Hooray for Timbits!).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We finished our drive Thursday morning, stopping at the race site at the Prairie Creek Reservoir, about 20 minutes outside of Muncie. Beth did her usual ride and run and I did a run and run (without then with Beth). After driving the courses, we then got to our host James' place and got settled in. James was an amazing host! As we entered our room, we have souvenir shirts, local travel guide info, and the wifi password waiting. Very prepared!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjewFlcQzKT1yHXD5_0s5p-LIKSlzZP1nR8WbvvvGVCKmA7telIQ4lPKp2GAStg6dFE9XUVe4oQdkUnl4pRFpTxHmoAYlIy55kYKXtNbSiHEvbJY8iHk5Owr0ATodrnPtK71tYaNFOWJWzy/s1600/BO+BSU+Shirts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjewFlcQzKT1yHXD5_0s5p-LIKSlzZP1nR8WbvvvGVCKmA7telIQ4lPKp2GAStg6dFE9XUVe4oQdkUnl4pRFpTxHmoAYlIy55kYKXtNbSiHEvbJY8iHk5Owr0ATodrnPtK71tYaNFOWJWzy/s400/BO+BSU+Shirts.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We're now Ball State Fans! Go Cardinals! #ChirpChirp</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We drove around Ball State's campus after dinner Thursday and it was really nice. Everything looked so new!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Football Stadium</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A large bell tower in the middle of campus</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">David Letterman's Communication Building. We found out he had the quote of <br />calling the cardinal the "fiercest of the robin-sized birds."</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They are proud of their Cardinals!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Friday morning I ran as Beth had the day off from training. Then our day involved IHOP, the expo to check in, lunch at the Pita Pit (with great triathlon supporters Luke and Lisa), pro meeting, a movie (Despicable Me 2.....love those minions!), dinner at Noodles, and then final preparations for the race.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Going into the race, I knew I had an opportunity to see Beth on both the bike and the run, but it was going to take some work. Beth has outlined her day <a href="http://thetrialofmilesmilesoftrials.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">here</a>, so here was my race day.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Getting things ready in transition before the race</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another 75-degree wetsuit day. #Boiling</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And they're off! Beth was on the right</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYWulSZZ5e_HO1kGp8cXtIvj-FpVRts0h5RcyatLMdl2jDsbzhMsRVMYOxTG0fuaQQ9MM6Vu2PTdbhLmB4H8GcFA7peIFaCVFxWQ3shKfhSAlvuWhajw_0X0PpezSS_4yyDBC0ND8MdruE/s1600/20130713_070302.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once, she left on the swim, I went back to the car to drop off her swim stuff and get prepared for the day ahead. Beth came out of the water 9th and left on the bike.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Coming up out of the water with wetsuit in hand thanks to the wetsuit strippers</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Leaving for the 56-mile journey on the bike</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I proceeded to do a 2.2 mile tempo run south to a spot about 13 miles into the bike course to see her go out and back.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH8eAIkOwvzSkJeFrhnvU-JnWZPZC9DoB2T7k5mln__AbGMP8Hwfsf9xdEH1giB7NzlDSVoYqHZzPzp3HzwN64aWsUfn89eKdimu1yM_81Hu0XHTw1Ca_FHqJiar46IxUGXE8weTVDD9rZ/s400/IM703MuncieBike.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="293" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My tempo to get to the bike course</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beth flying by on the bike</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I snapped a picture of her going out and then had some time to kill so I cheered on the other racers, helped unload a truck with 22 lb bags of ice, and helped keep fumbled bottles from the exchange off the road.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then, Beth came back by in 7th and it was another tempo back to the car and then transition for her to start the run. I decided to leave the phone/camera at the car because it was getting really sweaty and I didn't want to have to carry it for part two of my tempo workout - a 4.2 mile jaunt before Beth covers 5.5 miles.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikGR3y4N7bVZGAW6Sc3nzkrEosT9zY9vQx9F8U7Ms8duzotbItR8YDFUk6yyl2KGRG15sCJJN40vpuUqySEBWJ5BNlCis5_8oROaI5MADNh6vtLOIdN-LQRUJ197Do-RUqxvSfmlYf6wm_/s400/IM703MuncieRun.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The even longer trek to get to see Beth on the run course!</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikGR3y4N7bVZGAW6Sc3nzkrEosT9zY9vQx9F8U7Ms8duzotbItR8YDFUk6yyl2KGRG15sCJJN40vpuUqySEBWJ5BNlCis5_8oROaI5MADNh6vtLOIdN-LQRUJ197Do-RUqxvSfmlYf6wm_/s1600/IM703MuncieRun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beth left transition in 6th place and I hustled to meet her out near the turnaround. I was starting to get that bonking feeling, but thank goodness I had packed a gel and felt a lot better. Beth was 6th still but closing in on 5th.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">She ended up closing the deal and finished the race 5th, so a good day all around!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Climbing up the final hill to a 5th place finish!</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0lJMuzjcxCEUm3Gq8M8kv_LbqhBrzbAxKubXHJxmV1A2JwyvuFXfQ03K1XVihWFXVuHLKWd2R-WFO9fuvTFG7sEFmrvfVdq-1YgvsxKaVxIX6QHhB4rnPmh47OJoD6zcAOaER_k5wTaaR/s1600/20130713_113008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After cleaning up and getting some Little Caesar's Hot-n-Ready pizza for lunch, we made our way back over for the awards ceremony. We then met James for dinner at Amazing Joe's (and it WAS amazing!) and some frozen yogurt at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/BerryWinkle-Frozen-Yogurt/280755488607380?rf=274726095888179" target="_blank">BerryWinkle's</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Saturday night, I fell asleep listening to the Pirate game (though they did end up winning). Sunday, we went to the <a href="http://www.cardinalgreenways.org/index/Maps/Trail-Maps.asp" target="_blank">Cardinal Greenway</a> trail and Beth did an easy spin and I did an out & back run. Great paved trail with markers every half mile.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We made our trip back towards home, but of course we got delayed by an accident that closed I-70 east of Columbus. Eventually we picked up the dog and made it to the Heights. Back at it for me this week with training and morning cross country fun runs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All in all, a great weekend and I hope we go back to Muncie for Beth to race next year. James was such a great host and I dubbed him the "Ambassador of Muncie and Ball State" with all of his knowledge and helpfulness to us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Oh yeah - congrats to great friends <a href="http://berdeljac.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Ben</a> and Laura on the birth of little Matthew!</span></div>
OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-47030271289423415612013-06-27T20:47:00.000-04:002013-06-27T20:47:31.321-04:00June's Recap<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Things sure have been busy since school wrapped up. Here's a snapshot (get the pun!!!) of the goings on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I started off running back-to-back 5k's the weekend Beth was in Raleigh. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifgekE2lwT1hvvctitvb8FIvyblEPrjABZL2CNJ_A0FumgJp5e0uqR2LUVA1YLwa__USEQa8XULwVRcwqaA2I2UVRuidR06DKlepT5H0ah6dGY3O0DtKqpEIFkqeBtRM_lT1HssTet1EZS/s1600/5ks+in+June.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifgekE2lwT1hvvctitvb8FIvyblEPrjABZL2CNJ_A0FumgJp5e0uqR2LUVA1YLwa__USEQa8XULwVRcwqaA2I2UVRuidR06DKlepT5H0ah6dGY3O0DtKqpEIFkqeBtRM_lT1HssTet1EZS/s320/5ks+in+June.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A couple of plaques for 5k's</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first one in Freeport was kind of sluggish (18:29 vs 17:56 last year), but it was hot and humid. And I still got 2nd. The Sunday race was the Greenfield Glide in Schenley Park. I've been wanting to run it for a couple of years now because it is essentially the same course as our high school runs for the Red, White, & Blue invitational. Now, I know what the kid go through during the race. The leader ended up cutting off a little chunk early in the race (and the rest of us followed), so my 17:02 comes with the disclaimer that it was more like 2.95-3.0 on mapmyrun.com. But, coming off a so-so race Saturday, it was a nice recovery. And, top 5 got overall plaques.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beth went from Raleigh to Baltimore and hung out with my parents for a day in Frederick. I met her down there Thursday night and we made our way down to Eagleman. We met up with Ben and his dad the day before the race. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Good stories from Mr. E over lunch!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beth had a great race and then we came home the same day because the last day of school for teachers was that Monday. I had to pack up and say goodbye to my room because I'm moving to a newly renovated room with the construction project at the school.I'll miss my fellow Penn State alum English teaching neighbor!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The rule for packing: If you haven't used it in the last two years, throw it out!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beth and I then did something we don't usually do, get away for a weekend that isn't related to some sort of race. We looked at the calendar earlier in the spring and saw that mid-June had an opportunity to take a trip. Of course, I suggested that it should involve baseball. What we ended up doing was taking a weekend to the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater-Dunedin area.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Friday night was a Tampa Bay Rays game. I have probably mentioned in the past how I admire the way the Rays are run. The book "The Extra 2 Percent" was a great read. I had heard and read a lot of mediocre things about Tropicana Field, but still thought it would be neat to see the Rays and to see a baseball game inside a dome.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinJ9CAlxNq_1pJFwupq-1hK-9ZwVtDHjuZbqZGUY-XaVr74rVi0WhGgJ-0lbZXWK2fzJux56JwWtmWp_7wChyphenhyphen0VBysFEO-9QHfCpeZxbzJiA2R62AA_fx8JSYXA1nGMIV9njeiexNKHak8/s1600/20130614_182904.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinJ9CAlxNq_1pJFwupq-1hK-9ZwVtDHjuZbqZGUY-XaVr74rVi0WhGgJ-0lbZXWK2fzJux56JwWtmWp_7wChyphenhyphen0VBysFEO-9QHfCpeZxbzJiA2R62AA_fx8JSYXA1nGMIV9njeiexNKHak8/s320/20130614_182904.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Is it me, or does the roof look crooked?</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Indoor baseball!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the bottom of the first inning, we had our first excitement and Matt Joyce led off the frame with a shot to right center field, just a row up and a few seats over from where we were sitting. So close!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwY4bYFBa-IoNS8jQEVDe6pgsMJiOtxiOUkbsoNC0vB76y7_52f4pr4KWoXRjmmCEQyfkdlXbDWmS9sSng_wdGswWpxik5tUcAE0pHzoUA3aAMsWzZe75EueDnSCbRxb5OzuFUJs3RP5hA/s826/tb+joyce+hr1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwY4bYFBa-IoNS8jQEVDe6pgsMJiOtxiOUkbsoNC0vB76y7_52f4pr4KWoXRjmmCEQyfkdlXbDWmS9sSng_wdGswWpxik5tUcAE0pHzoUA3aAMsWzZe75EueDnSCbRxb5OzuFUJs3RP5hA/s320/tb+joyce+hr1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Notice me reaching for the ball and Beth moving the other direction!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizdF0tTybhB96rmOso1rFy7e-cRZoxDc-h659dx5gQrsazpOSED6vmR0KgNu2APHMpIEtEamBX79vzGhqbM7oqQnubpvBwIJpC897lMSyayQ1AN0ZwaRImzUM0bwaQQO8CbWaWHTtRXdDA/s806/tb+joyce+hr2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizdF0tTybhB96rmOso1rFy7e-cRZoxDc-h659dx5gQrsazpOSED6vmR0KgNu2APHMpIEtEamBX79vzGhqbM7oqQnubpvBwIJpC897lMSyayQ1AN0ZwaRImzUM0bwaQQO8CbWaWHTtRXdDA/s320/tb+joyce+hr2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Oh so close!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There was also a live stingray tank in center field and you can go and tour it. Beth wanted to take one home, but I didn't know how well it would get along with Roxy.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwgsogu2XTZW2fssVmALspQQndpV8Wb00MiGBx6DniKxfaKHLSfgYJE22SMkqH24zZwM6OmInqoKmW1Zwj0imQNVJDQSMLL0z_raFKD6ZcPlAURWh0H4l800L6_VQQ2uimTF9dv0NvozGA/s1600/20130614_200022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwgsogu2XTZW2fssVmALspQQndpV8Wb00MiGBx6DniKxfaKHLSfgYJE22SMkqH24zZwM6OmInqoKmW1Zwj0imQNVJDQSMLL0z_raFKD6ZcPlAURWh0H4l800L6_VQQ2uimTF9dv0NvozGA/s320/20130614_200022.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Netting to protect them from home run balls to center field!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgShOtyEbxunJfPky0MRMnkdCuP5DCdNMte2qxNaitfgpeyydE3wMdJ77msRDpx7LcLNK0HOvrzWDnSghsembnK2o19BbTp4OS5BOgil2ufdAS_IJzU_uvfZz5UbfGtDB5gA_bygHF2OVv6/s1600/20130614_202122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgShOtyEbxunJfPky0MRMnkdCuP5DCdNMte2qxNaitfgpeyydE3wMdJ77msRDpx7LcLNK0HOvrzWDnSghsembnK2o19BbTp4OS5BOgil2ufdAS_IJzU_uvfZz5UbfGtDB5gA_bygHF2OVv6/s320/20130614_202122.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Can we keep one!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then, we move around to check out a different angle and sat by the right field foul pole, near the Rays bullpen. In the 9th inning, a fly ball came our way. Since I was sitting on the aisle, I was able to go down a few steps and make an attempt to catch it. I had it in my hand, but then E-Shutt. I couldn't hold on. It bounced out (not soft enough bare hands I guess) rolled down a step, two kids checked me to the side and some lady ended up getting the ball. I wanted to say to her, "Hey, I did the hard work. Can I have the ball?" But, I left disappointed at not having a ball and, more importantly, not catching the ball.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmSJ6GI3e9G48QfoNt1qsi4Q-tI6fGIDqWgnSZDiHhlXPVqG6N6ZjzsUFTHEE2N4fCDe8KvjbFBqEMM23CJRxe3TgEnov3ehLnVJNr5TLGX_-p2L89cThNzJN8uLPTrzA-vpyS910rSQVQ/s1600/20130614_204328.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmSJ6GI3e9G48QfoNt1qsi4Q-tI6fGIDqWgnSZDiHhlXPVqG6N6ZjzsUFTHEE2N4fCDe8KvjbFBqEMM23CJRxe3TgEnov3ehLnVJNr5TLGX_-p2L89cThNzJN8uLPTrzA-vpyS910rSQVQ/s320/20130614_204328.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Location of my "error." I should've brought the glove...</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Saturday involved running along the St. Petersburg bayfront where the St. Anthony's triathlon is located. Beth did that race many years ago.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then the afternoon involved a stop at a mini golf and more locale.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0MXNeISHgxphbnMZCmQkPNGt2dTkxrtiy3fuRK3dgZ8VK9IU_5nus5CZzoYb-9vV4aESTI0cex05wmMgesGurRAs8MRyiNCmBeNEZfnLNIEYZmZcvsC0CW-LUlqXmZY5UUbUGt5vH75yx/s1600/minigolfO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0MXNeISHgxphbnMZCmQkPNGt2dTkxrtiy3fuRK3dgZ8VK9IU_5nus5CZzoYb-9vV4aESTI0cex05wmMgesGurRAs8MRyiNCmBeNEZfnLNIEYZmZcvsC0CW-LUlqXmZY5UUbUGt5vH75yx/s320/minigolfO.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Keep the head down!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRcFOKun1SbOpkhbd5r7guiZ6SrqmvhUw2cgIfRAlIK0tn083px7B9EKTljDLSA91qZczE2MgssFCmA-QpBocHlgeXr7lKu8EE2PSQGCHtiz9Z5m-5ic8ZHcxQ_fYHhJcxe-JrxeKOZAbl/s1600/20130615_145527.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRcFOKun1SbOpkhbd5r7guiZ6SrqmvhUw2cgIfRAlIK0tn083px7B9EKTljDLSA91qZczE2MgssFCmA-QpBocHlgeXr7lKu8EE2PSQGCHtiz9Z5m-5ic8ZHcxQ_fYHhJcxe-JrxeKOZAbl/s320/20130615_145527.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So close to being under par. Those crazy water trap holes!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpfj_KubzcXPt5vShIQD6uE17xXPv8u04VQ1OmY0M0WT55Q0474ygv8hGpZ_YEp8XcYMP2yb2KHmFVtwecKawPFk2mm7vC7B6Bm4Ml9ogx39ksOFYNUq8k4EiDp8UYdQQgUm_XYl2xeysF/s1600/driving+range+O.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpfj_KubzcXPt5vShIQD6uE17xXPv8u04VQ1OmY0M0WT55Q0474ygv8hGpZ_YEp8XcYMP2yb2KHmFVtwecKawPFk2mm7vC7B6Bm4Ml9ogx39ksOFYNUq8k4EiDp8UYdQQgUm_XYl2xeysF/s320/driving+range+O.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A little driving range action!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqdiQgTkvlIKc6A8FXfIbqAuWi7ZFr-Cqj92FGuYOCODi82p4rMsa0EdLU580qipSfHj_KCfCwNYhV02a5XkFhpM0njIM8S0p466BbL83z2XFtRTzyRJGkKQaKlSV9ALKqVfy2UObqAJfG/s1600/batting+cage+O.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqdiQgTkvlIKc6A8FXfIbqAuWi7ZFr-Cqj92FGuYOCODi82p4rMsa0EdLU580qipSfHj_KCfCwNYhV02a5XkFhpM0njIM8S0p466BbL83z2XFtRTzyRJGkKQaKlSV9ALKqVfy2UObqAJfG/s320/batting+cage+O.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Seeing if I could still put a sting on a fastball (notice the batting gloves - I wasn't messing around!)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After tiring ourselves out, we swung by Clearwater (another spot of Beth's triathlon lore) and went north up to Dunedin. We found out Dunedin didn't have any commercial restaurants (we like those because they're safe and you know what you'll get). So, we adventured and went to a little brick-oven pizza restaurant and it was great!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The main reason we ended up in Dunedin was part 2 of the baseball experience: The Florida State League (High A) All-Star game. Ideally, I would've like to have driven down to Bradenton and seen the Pirates' Spring Training facilities and McKechnie field, but they were on break with the ASG. Still, Gregory Polanco, Nick Kingham, and Alen Hanson were scheduled to play in the game. However, Polanco and Kingham were too good of All-Stars and got promoted to AA Altoona days before the game.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCDq1yDCPxkhF9QSrGrcnmwZYmF3M1-Cj5aBO-yOnYypr2wwOdXadXrD8hr67VRajqeh-HBppJJqdUytHRF90q0F7WfIPOyW3apAyBK8Kog_mYRZtjVpkU-MMcbyunW7VW9lQz7sQPLbD/s1600/20130615_191853.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCDq1yDCPxkhF9QSrGrcnmwZYmF3M1-Cj5aBO-yOnYypr2wwOdXadXrD8hr67VRajqeh-HBppJJqdUytHRF90q0F7WfIPOyW3apAyBK8Kog_mYRZtjVpkU-MMcbyunW7VW9lQz7sQPLbD/s320/20130615_191853.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">FSL All-Star game MVP Alen Hanson warming up in between innings</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But, Hanson didn't disappoint as he hit a home run and looked smooth at short stop, earning him the All-Star game MVP.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We came back on Sunday, and Roxy proceeded to get sprayed by a skunk in our backyard when I let her out in the middle of the night Sunday night-Monday morning. That was an adventure to corral her back in and then to de-stink-ify her over the next couple of days.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCC2DRj2j0pIgCCtvpra1z_j3HPVyUiJMe1ElN6w51zHjdYG9OnTMz9DF2NoxBFtdrFFxqsUf-DT5fdD2XsCqNilKvOrozyjOdbiyZ1NWCRPTjqTzyXwsq2uMaEKiEQnPZglG2-7vSMx99/s960/skunk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCC2DRj2j0pIgCCtvpra1z_j3HPVyUiJMe1ElN6w51zHjdYG9OnTMz9DF2NoxBFtdrFFxqsUf-DT5fdD2XsCqNilKvOrozyjOdbiyZ1NWCRPTjqTzyXwsq2uMaEKiEQnPZglG2-7vSMx99/s320/skunk.jpg" width="180" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Stinky dog!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I did my summer program "Math in Sports" with the elementary kids these past two weeks and it flew by.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Pittsburgh Marathon sent me a gift the day after my birthday.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5qjRmeF6rCymA2ZdyY78boNn2u1NBMcVEzog5xoR8hFMRNWMehmmC-CG_CoxpxuVsS4zC7jj_SQgNv4yOqzEHtnO0h2r_k5P6mdk3xUZ2uHLOTAFISHkMS5PcxTqdYXCQ-BUH2EXgALyn/s960/half+marathon+award.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5qjRmeF6rCymA2ZdyY78boNn2u1NBMcVEzog5xoR8hFMRNWMehmmC-CG_CoxpxuVsS4zC7jj_SQgNv4yOqzEHtnO0h2r_k5P6mdk3xUZ2uHLOTAFISHkMS5PcxTqdYXCQ-BUH2EXgALyn/s320/half+marathon+award.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thanks again to Jeremy Cornman for only being 34!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tuesday, I went up to Altoona to try to catch the elusive Gregory Polanco, but he was out with a sore shoulder from a diving catch over the weekend. I did get to see top minor league prospect Miguel Sano and some of the Altoona gang.....for two innings when the skies opened up.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKEeZSABvt7zoBqE_hZB9IseorHaIaynw_scRuZNvDmTqJ3H6uL0frsGBooHqULjQyZNKgnSrHLZMhVjiOiL_B-q4AMTwe4PWccoZeEIRulrPiB2VNoCbOg6yGGgJmgTtZpix2Xu6ipeND/s960/Miguel+Sano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKEeZSABvt7zoBqE_hZB9IseorHaIaynw_scRuZNvDmTqJ3H6uL0frsGBooHqULjQyZNKgnSrHLZMhVjiOiL_B-q4AMTwe4PWccoZeEIRulrPiB2VNoCbOg6yGGgJmgTtZpix2Xu6ipeND/s320/Miguel+Sano.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Imagine if the Pirates could have closed the deal and signed Miguel Sano as an IFA a few years ago!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First it was very windy and the field crew had a whale of a time trying to get the tarp in place. They were being blown all around!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrPw58P2s8uafo_o0EHR8l-86JgFmig2mtMPfupI8gx52Bhw2rAeQalC_3H0UHrxeZX0iHsWEYpcmNVW5qIiAe1frKanqhUhCI57bvAT84_lVwWHjvuhbFVVmlZNAzaPPs48CK000zawZ7/s960/altoona+dark+skies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrPw58P2s8uafo_o0EHR8l-86JgFmig2mtMPfupI8gx52Bhw2rAeQalC_3H0UHrxeZX0iHsWEYpcmNVW5qIiAe1frKanqhUhCI57bvAT84_lVwWHjvuhbFVVmlZNAzaPPs48CK000zawZ7/s320/altoona+dark+skies.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dark skies!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIpDgLn-25opw9Fq2mr5jSigIF3ekM17Mp1DijmRoQK_VtWY8BMojKZtnPCAkFCQ35496I1bO9laM8XXEutA0jxi94fbcftLee2Oyvf_PcU8c3L7gK4zdLY9OVCQXPnOqZZqiGL0Hxn3hu/s960/Altoona+tarp+blowing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIpDgLn-25opw9Fq2mr5jSigIF3ekM17Mp1DijmRoQK_VtWY8BMojKZtnPCAkFCQ35496I1bO9laM8XXEutA0jxi94fbcftLee2Oyvf_PcU8c3L7gK4zdLY9OVCQXPnOqZZqiGL0Hxn3hu/s320/Altoona+tarp+blowing.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hold on to that tarp!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, the game got cancelled meaning I'll just have to go back up later this summer.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCN3HVl0rgu0Og21CT_DdYMMsy0b3VcO6FQNchBe7z0v5tys69Pwv48AQ4oGBNBFyDawSPtRRIe5sH-oeqpTcWKgV0G0yrJ5A_bEna3wzQY0fQq0kFRw5zPqn_OS5u_9BSIEk07aZv_BP7/s960/Altoona+Oscar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCN3HVl0rgu0Og21CT_DdYMMsy0b3VcO6FQNchBe7z0v5tys69Pwv48AQ4oGBNBFyDawSPtRRIe5sH-oeqpTcWKgV0G0yrJ5A_bEna3wzQY0fQq0kFRw5zPqn_OS5u_9BSIEk07aZv_BP7/s320/Altoona+Oscar.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'll have to hang out with my buddy Oscar again some time in July</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Oh by the way, the Pirates are tied for the BEST RECORD IN BASEBALL! But, like I said last summer, the season is a marathon and we're only at mile 12. A lot of crazy things can happen between now and October.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-69361986754407323862013-05-15T20:28:00.000-04:002013-05-15T21:00:21.770-04:00Helloooooooo....and the Pittsburgh Marathon Weekend<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, after a brief three and a half month hiatus, here comes an entry.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The reason for the gap was a combination of wanting to wait to write a "perfect" blog, being busy with training & coaching, and/or being lazy but mostly the last one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Many things have transpired since the beginning of February. The baseball season is underway and the Pirates are staying on the positive side of .500. Our church did an amazing Wednesday night series investigating how <a href="http://cornerstonelive.net/#/media/origins-class" target="_blank">evolution and creation are taught in school</a>, bringing in some heavy-hitting experts to get deep into the science (my head hurt a lot at the end of sessions). Track season somehow went by in a blur (after having the first three meets SNOWED OUT!!) and our district championships is on Thursday.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since the Feb 1 entry, Beth and I did a bunch of races. We did a race on Valentine's weekend where I did the <a href="http://www.runhigh.com/2013RESULTS/R020913AB.html" target="_blank">5k</a> and then we <a href="http://www.runhigh.com/2013RESULTS/R020913AD.html" target="_blank">did the 10k</a> together (how romantic!). We did the annual Spring Thaw. I raced the <a href="http://www.runhigh.com/2013RESULTS/R022313AC.html" target="_blank">10 mile</a> and then did a 5-mile cool down and Beth <a href="http://thetrialofmilesmilesoftrials.blogspot.com/2013/02/spring-thaw-10-miler.html" target="_blank">did the 10 mile also</a>. We both did the <a href="http://www.runhigh.com/2013RESULTS/R031013CB.html" target="_blank">Athletic Trainer 5k</a> where I went sub-17 for the first time (16:58!) and Beth <a href="http://thetrialofmilesmilesoftrials.blogspot.com/2013/03/double-race-weekend-2013.html" target="_blank">went well under 19</a> after also racing a 5k on Saturday.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then, Beth got busy with her tri's and did <a href="http://thetrialofmilesmilesoftrials.blogspot.com/2013/04/oceanside-703-race-report.html" target="_blank">Oceanside</a>, <a href="http://thetrialofmilesmilesoftrials.blogspot.com/2013/04/new-orleans-703-race-report.html" target="_blank">New Orleans</a>, and <a href="http://thetrialofmilesmilesoftrials.blogspot.com/2013/05/st-george-703us-pro-championships-race.html" target="_blank">St. George</a> half ironmans over a 5 week span. I was able to go with her to Oceanside, but was a terrible spectathlete (perhaps just rusty) but only took a photo at the start and didn't do any updates for the run. I did get in two beautiful long runs in the warm San Diego weather after getting beat down all of February and March in the coldness of the 'burgh.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Also, there was the terrible tragedy of the bombings at the Boston Marathon in April. How sad and senseless. I am so glad they were able to find and apprehend the bombers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The weekend Beth was in New Orleans, I did a Sunday double. I wanted to see how my legs would respond to a 10k and then a 5k that evening. At <a href="http://www.runhigh.com/2013RESULTS/R042113AD.html" target="_blank">Burgh's Pizza & Wings 10k</a>, I held a solid sub-6:00 pace and ended up with a 36:50 (5:56 pace). Then, I went home, cut the grass and then put my feet up until late afternoon. Then, I went to the <a href="http://smileymiles.com/2013/RES13%20SET%20SPIKE%20SPRINT%205K.HTM" target="_blank">Set, Spike, and Sprint 5k</a> at South Park High School. It was a smaller race (33 finishers), but it was a fundraiser for a fellow Elizabethtown College alum's volleyball team so a few of us alums came out for it. It was fun because you had the usual teenagers sprinting the first quarter mile before tuckering out. I ended up leading it the rest of the way and was very pleased to bounce back from the morning 10k to run a 17:38 (5:41 pace) after already racing that morning. Hopefully this meant my legs were ready for the "A" race.....the Pittsburgh Half Marathon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While Beth was out racing in Utah, my race that I've been working towards since January had arrived. My goal was to try to hang on to 6:00 pace for the entire 13.1 mile course.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The morning started cool & crisp as I met fellow teacher & runner Ben in a parking garage across the river from PNC Park.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4LFwqvPsBIBtjalMKEaHkqtd-EKvbwCxBUy9paRvbmoUTx_kNF-p5m8mnrh6Y3sapujmIzqLNcLsNpr3T4p7LTUBIkWwu3SUlk8Od2yNRL7Pbu9mwTVIKRnECacZQs0_RhjhFLKh8ecrq/s1600/pit+marathon+race+morning+PNC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4LFwqvPsBIBtjalMKEaHkqtd-EKvbwCxBUy9paRvbmoUTx_kNF-p5m8mnrh6Y3sapujmIzqLNcLsNpr3T4p7LTUBIkWwu3SUlk8Od2yNRL7Pbu9mwTVIKRnECacZQs0_RhjhFLKh8ecrq/s640/pit+marathon+race+morning+PNC.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Perfect weather for (half) marathon morning!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We warmed up and saw Beth's college teammate MB just before the start. With shooting for the fairly fast pace, I said good luck to Ben and then worked my way up to near the start of the group underneath the start banner. I see triathlete extraordinaire</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Jeremy Cornman and thought maybe I could pace off of him until he said he was shooting for 1:15 (and ran 1:13+!!!!). So, I tucked in behind some guys wearing Penn State Club Cross Country jerseys and paced off of them and let them break the wind.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Miles 1-3 in the strip went predictable - 5:55, 5:48, 5:50. I knew I would go out fast. But, I reigned it in and did a 5:57 as I crossed the 9th street bridge to downtown to go back over the 7th street bridge to the North Side. More settling in for miles 5 (6:05) & 6 (5:57) and I'm just about halfway with about 30 seconds in the bank on 6:00 pace. We head over the West End bridge, run through the West End for miles 7 (5:56) and 8 (6:00). We're then on Carson Street on the South Side and I felt a little tug in my hammy and I think it caused me to lose focus and be cautious, causing mile 9 to be 6:08 and miles 10 and 11 to be 6:20 and 6:22. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mile 11 was on the Birmingham Bridge and my overall time bumped over 6:00 pace. After I felt sorry for myself, I figured to just toughen up and see what kind of finish I could have and to not lose the two guys in front of me. I split my watch for mile 12 to be 5:36 but I wasn't moving THAT fast (especially since part was up hill). I did notice about 20-30 seconds up from the mile 12 banner was a painted "12" on the road and I was thinking that seemed a little more like it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Regardless, I ran down the hill from the bluff and tried to race the last mile with a guy I was right beside. I passed him as we got down to Grant Street. He passed me back around Smithfield St. I tried to put in one last surge but couldn't reel him in. My mile 13 (from the 12 banner) was 6:12 but no way coming off the downhill and racing with the guy beside me was it slower than mile 12. So, I figure you can almost flip those two splits. With a final 0.1 split of 39 seconds I finished in 1:18:45, or 6:01 pace...right around my goal. Good enough for 44th overall out of 14,000 runners and somehow 1st in the 35-39 age group (good thing Jeremy's still 34).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbiz9o1F8pVTmWceMU-A8ky26ojWcMC36SD7UKQHw8McgXvRxKbF4VtR99Hh5prdfDtjiIzl1Y3uLNVOrk92KYWrMArabxFDblkD1wyyInOP7ZOQIOOol3gaSKwW4e7yZd3T3qmuLzelUj/s1600/pit+marathon+finish+2013+large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbiz9o1F8pVTmWceMU-A8ky26ojWcMC36SD7UKQHw8McgXvRxKbF4VtR99Hh5prdfDtjiIzl1Y3uLNVOrk92KYWrMArabxFDblkD1wyyInOP7ZOQIOOol3gaSKwW4e7yZd3T3qmuLzelUj/s640/pit+marathon+finish+2013+large.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Couldn't quite reel him in! Thanks to Jocelyn Cornman for the action shot and the cheering out there!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After going through the finish area, I stopped by the Running for Laptops tent and then went to the car, talked to Beth, changed into some dry clothes and went out to cheer in the marathoners in the strip. That was fun and a much less stressful time for me in the Strip District than my last two years of death marches to finish the marathon. I picked out a spot around mile 24.5 and just cheered all who came by and especially all the friends I had running (back into spectathlete mode!) I had missed the top males but did see the top few females. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then, some familiar faces - Tim Wu (2:40), Doug Basinski and Brian Caskey (2:55), Tammy Slusser (still sub 3:10 at 48), Jo Rupp (3:12 after just running up at Boston), Lauren Henzler (3:13), MB Acker (I think she can roll out of bed and run 3:14), <a href="http://berdeljac.blogspot.com/2013/05/pittsburgh-marathon.html" target="_blank">Ben Erdeljac (3:14 for his first ever open marathon....and a negative split half to boot!</a>), Kati (Hughes) Alteri (3:20 - I blanked on her married name so called her 'Hughes'), Mike Yazvac (3:22 after running a 3:50 last year!!), Tara Fagan (Etowner who's 3:28 is her first under 3:30), (Mr.) Tim Hewitt (of running the Iditarod fame did a 3:29)....and then I figured I should head back to the Running for Laptops tent so I didn't miss our Elizabethtown College alumni festivities.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After the race, the Etown crew cleaned up and we went across the river for the Pirates game in the All You Can Eat Seats. The Pirates lost (of course), but I got my money's worth after working up a big appetite with the race: 4 hamburgers, 2 hot dogs, 1 nacho, 1 popcorn, 2 ice cream sandwiches, and 4 x 12 oz of pop. Yum!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitsE4NzsYRLrw31Uj6ZmXvMUKhWOUJO1x8iAC5JOGE8QFlqI_6NZHa3KBqOoR60y0bKH9P3GLmcV9PeY_OcysaEM7ECIk3782j0-n51aMXF8hrnHtTNkYLp4ZMVAgZIcCXAPaFtz_tg7_h/s1600/ayce+after+pit+marathon+13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitsE4NzsYRLrw31Uj6ZmXvMUKhWOUJO1x8iAC5JOGE8QFlqI_6NZHa3KBqOoR60y0bKH9P3GLmcV9PeY_OcysaEM7ECIk3782j0-n51aMXF8hrnHtTNkYLp4ZMVAgZIcCXAPaFtz_tg7_h/s640/ayce+after+pit+marathon+13.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Round 1 of 5....the Pirates lost money on me today!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixqG30s9oy_x1ynbF76WlUQzL6DYHBTn_POlnnBYE3JPyOlXb9N9J0cqfsZns61b4UfR5oc2KkLxAmP5aZnRmfEjWD9bOpoH0NhGsirAiV5QWfAmCbw-sKmckcTZ5HYb9gfpAHvS8w0Ldu/s1600/IMG_8111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixqG30s9oy_x1ynbF76WlUQzL6DYHBTn_POlnnBYE3JPyOlXb9N9J0cqfsZns61b4UfR5oc2KkLxAmP5aZnRmfEjWD9bOpoH0NhGsirAiV5QWfAmCbw-sKmckcTZ5HYb9gfpAHvS8w0Ldu/s640/IMG_8111.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taking a break from eating to pose for a picture</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Congrats again to all who ran, including the Etown crew:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLILoOvgpQwuTsY_BpeYtM1T44EAyrUIxSh_hCk4CJgTIJbyz-uwKK8e8J-ho8pKOQCPx_Z5d1NQaiJwnSGNk3kp1zE-BJxUAESUUVpFXFtsVp3ureTeWp6V1QAY0Y9jlo9wlfQAYBDzj3/s1600/etown+runners+pit+marathon+13.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLILoOvgpQwuTsY_BpeYtM1T44EAyrUIxSh_hCk4CJgTIJbyz-uwKK8e8J-ho8pKOQCPx_Z5d1NQaiJwnSGNk3kp1zE-BJxUAESUUVpFXFtsVp3ureTeWp6V1QAY0Y9jlo9wlfQAYBDzj3/s640/etown+runners+pit+marathon+13.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy to be done, ready to eat cake, and then feast at PNC Park!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Mt. Lebanon crew:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgngRfFnhSta6MR3p8C2_daFu4PkA1WhRH8R4DhiLQVsQgXFxKJlfaow374T78I0htm-rOHmq07WKPAXZaNd_g_iUhywK6C44C6uuYmzASrbYq4hOc3xTo6uLyJhtRE_xdIZ20Of_pHP_CE/s1600/lebo+runners+pit+marathon+13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgngRfFnhSta6MR3p8C2_daFu4PkA1WhRH8R4DhiLQVsQgXFxKJlfaow374T78I0htm-rOHmq07WKPAXZaNd_g_iUhywK6C44C6uuYmzASrbYq4hOc3xTo6uLyJhtRE_xdIZ20Of_pHP_CE/s640/lebo+runners+pit+marathon+13.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's a lot of speedy teachers! Lots of PR's<br />
PS - Ben's not wearing his shirt because he wore it Saturday at our track meet because he was cold and didn't have anything else to wear. Major runner no-no to wear the race shirt before the race!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">....and a whole bunch of others who did the full, half, and relay. It was fun to see so many people get involved and I was happy to help be a part of some "consulting" with a handful of the people pictured above.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Speaking of Boston, my <a href="http://oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-breakthrough.html" target="_blank">3:00:46 from Columbus in October</a> meets the standard for my age group and is within the window for submitting times (September 2012). Perhaps that may be in my future. Stay tuned....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-28136913029324172242013-02-01T21:02:00.000-05:002013-02-01T21:02:02.699-05:00Pirates Batting Order 2013<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's finally February, so it's almost spring training, so I'm starting to get Pirates fever (especially with all this cold and snow). After reading some articles on the Pirates, I started thinking about their batting order. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, I opened up an excel sheet and starting tinkering with lineups.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The assumption was the following opening-day starters (2012 OBP/SLUG):</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">RF - Travis Snider (.324/.328)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">CF - Andrew McCutchen (.400/.553)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">LF - Starling Marte (.300/.437)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">SS - Clint Barmes (.272/.321)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3B - Pedro Alvarez (.317/.467)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2B - Neil Walker (.324/.426)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1B - Garrett Jones (.317/.516)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">C - Russell Martin (.311/.403)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bench - Presley, Tabata, Harrison, Sanchez, McKenry</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just about all of my tinkering with lineups resulted in Neil Walker leading off. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm concerned about putting inexperienced, low on-base percentage players at the top of the lineup (Marte, Snicer) with the most at-bats.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's the one I liked the most, taking into consideration on-base percentage and balancing left and right-handed batters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
1 Walker S<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2 Jones L<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
3 McCutchen R<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
4 Alvarez L<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
5 Martin R<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
6 Snider L<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
7 Marte R<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
8 Barmes R<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
9 P </div>
<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 156px;"><colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 1462; mso-width-source: userset; width: 30pt;" width="40"></col><col style="mso-width-alt: 2779; mso-width-source: userset; width: 57pt;" width="76"></col><col style="mso-width-alt: 1462; mso-width-source: userset; width: 30pt;" width="40"></col></colgroup><tbody></tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From all that I've been gathering and reading, it seems like speed is overrated at the top of the order if the player doesn't get on base. I could see it changing if Marte, Snider, or any of the other outfielders (Tabata, Presley, Sands, etc.) start getting on a lot. If so, you could move them up. But, to start the year, it seems like you shouldn't be giving away outs and at-bats to lower-performing players.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If Marte hits like he has this winter in the Domincan Winter leagues, you could see a lineup like this:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
1 Marte R</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2 McCutchen R</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
3 <o:p></o:p>Jones L</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
4 Walker S</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
5 Alvarez L</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
6 Snider L<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
7 <o:p></o:p>Martin R</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
8 Barmes R<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
9 P </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The weather is going to get nicer one of these days and, before you know it, it will be opening day. Let's Go, Bucs!</span></div>
OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-7716698292084534552013-01-20T21:47:00.001-05:002013-01-20T21:47:48.278-05:00We're Not PerfectI've definitely been having a theme develop in my observations and experiences over the past month or two:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
WE'RE NOT PERFECT</div>
<br />
It all started with the theme around our Christmas season messages at our church in December. It was entitled "A Misfit Christmas" as the intro to each week's sermon was the song of the Island of Misfits from the Rudolph Christmas special. We're not perfect. God's pick of Mary and Joseph was not a selection of royalty. It was two, young, imperfect people. That's who God looks for, imperfect people willing to follow him.<br />
<br />
This theme has continued as I've been going through the Book of Genesis as I'm going to attempt to read the entire Bible this year following the plan on Our Daily Bread. Adam & Eve - took the fruit from the forbidden tree. Cain - killed his brother. Fast forward to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, .... they all were far from perfect. But, God still used them.<br />
<br />
Bringing me to what's been going on in the news lately: Lance Armstrong - far from perfect with his finally admitting to PED use. Manti Te'o - this perfect story from the fall turned out to be not so perfect. Rewind to last year when it was found out that Coach Joe Paterno wasn't perfect.<br />
<br />
What to make of all of this? Take the good with the bad and try to live for God each day and encourage others to do the same.<br />
<br />
In other news, this is the first entry of the year, far from my "perfect" <a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2012_01_01_archive.html" target="_blank">January of blog posts</a> last year.<br />
<br />
Beth is in the middle of an epic 3-day ride along the California coast from San Francisco to Los Angeles.<br />
<br />
We did a 5-mile race last weekend. It's the one with the epic hill at the end. Beth PR-ed by 40-some seconds. I wasn't feeling great from about mile 1. In spite of this, I was still in decent shape to be finish around 6:00 pace as I came through mile 4 at 23:06 with only the uphill mile to go. But, the Heights Hilltopper was not in peak form and actually got passed by one runner and almost caught by another with a final mile of 7:25.<br />
<br />
Perhaps the reason why was that I was under the weather. I didn't eat much after the race, I laid around all day and then developed a really clogged nose for Monday-Wednesday. But, the kickoff for my training for May is now underway. I'm going to run the Half Marathon at Pittsburgh to shift my goals. I was thinking about this even before the 3:00 (and 46 second) marathon in Columbus. Just something different. See how far below 6:00 pace I can go for a half marathon.<br />
<br />
I'm working with the Running For Laptops Charity again this year. I had so many awesome people over the past few years donate on my behalf. I'd love to be a part of a special connection again this year.<br />
<br />
Can you be part of it? If so, you can click <a href="http://www.crowdrise.com/runningforlaptops2013/fundraiser/oscarshutt" target="_blank">HERE</a>. Thank you!OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-53453079937676464182012-12-31T17:20:00.000-05:002012-12-31T17:20:06.221-05:002012 Finale; Hi's & Lo'sAs the minutes wind down in 2012, I figured I might as well sneak in one more entry...<br />
<br />
The Christmas break has been great (other than the snow!). I was able to get in some runs with Beth, we saw a few movies together, and I even fixed our ever-persistent leaking sink in the bathroom. One of the themes at church going into Christmas was to "Awaken." One specific message that hit home with me was to not stop at thinking of Christmas as Jesus coming to earth. It's like you're not finishing the sentence. Rather, we should think Christmas is when Jesus came to earth...to become the sacrifice for us so we can spend eternity with God.<br />
<br />
On to the highs and lows for the year....<br />
<br />
Lows:<br />
1. Beth's <a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-swing-and-ankle-update.html" target="_blank">grandfather passing away</a>. He will be missed.<br />
2. The many tragedies (Colorado, Connecticut, etc.) and the continued fallout from the terrible things Jerry Sandusky did.<br />
3. Such a small one in relative comparison, but <a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2012/05/marathon.html" target="_blank">falling apart yet again</a> in May at the Pittsburgh Marathon.<br />
4. The Pirates with another 2nd-half collapse. Perhaps 2013 will be the year.<br />
<br />
Highs:<br />
1. Hitting 3:00 (...and 46 seconds) <a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-breakthrough.html" target="_blank">at the Columbus Marathon</a><br />
2. Watching Beth and her success in her rookie professional triathlon season.<br />
3. Seeing our cross country girls team <a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2012/11/whirlwind-ending-in-thanks.html" target="_blank">win the WPIAL</a> (district) Championship in convincing fashion<br />
4. Another fun summer of baseball, going to games in Altoona and Pittsburgh.<br />
<br />
Happy New Year, everybody!OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-78464395360030775762012-12-13T19:49:00.001-05:002012-12-13T19:51:48.658-05:00Now I Know Bo Better...and other commercialsESPN has a great series called 30 for 30 where they document athletes and their lives. I mentioned <a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-great-weekend.html" target="_blank">back in September</a> about the powerful feature on Vlade Divac and the Serb-Croat war. Well, I got hooked on another one Saturday night about Bo Jackson.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
His prime athletic years were from '86-'92, which put me in the 9-15 year-old range. Old enough to follow sports, but too young to appreciate the big picture and have perspective. Did "You Don't Know Bo" sure open my eyes to the amazing athlete and humble man he was. My impression of him was from this commercial and the campaign surrounding it.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/AXVAiFBEpwA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
I saw this and saw him breaking bats over his leg and thought he was a showy me-first type guy.<br />
<br />
Wow, was I wrong. It turns out he was just an amazing athlete and was very humble. What he did as a high school track athlete was amazing. Seeing highlights of him playing football at Auburn he looked like a man among boys (makes sense since he won a Heisman). Hearing his college baseball coach talk about him. Hearing how he became ineligible for baseball his senior season because of a trip to Tampa Bay (where the Buccaneers officials told him it was within NCAA rules) and how he took it. Reliving the beginning of his baseball career culminating in the "HEY!" from President Reagan in the 1989 All-Star game (3:17 into the video).<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/5AFLeGKRQg8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
Seeing him outrun the fastest players in the NFL and run over others. Going into football halfway through the season (without training camp) and not showing rust.....I could go on. Such a shame how his career got cut short. What could have been with his career.<br />
<br />
What I was also impressed with was Jackson's interviews in the 30 for 30 episode. He came across as very articulate and having a good head on his shoulders. Great episode and I heartily recommend it.<br />
<br />
Reliving the Nike "Bo Knows" commercial was fun. It was amazing how many big time athletes there were in that one 60-second spot.<br />
<br />
It also made me think of what other commercials I've really enjoyed. Two come to mind right away:<br />
<br />
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<br />
My two favorite lines are the "....zzzzz. Out." and then him saying "Grandma." at the end.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/P3I7jMT-xeI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
I love the guy's resigned waving of the hand before pushing the button and just the little elf's point at the guys before doing the circle.<br />
<br />
So, that's about it for today. Be sure to catch the "You Don't Know Bo" 30-for-30 episode if you're stuck inside working out this winter!OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-61117114341733292622012-12-10T20:21:00.002-05:002012-12-10T20:40:15.811-05:00Execute a Plan<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">John McKay, Tampa Bay Buccaneers football coach from the '70s, was asked what he thought of his team's "execution." He replied, "I'm all for it." </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">They weren't all that good as the expansion team went 2-26 in their first two seasons....</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Well, I had a plan for my final race of the 2012 season, the Jingle Bell 5k, and hoped to execute it as well. This was my first race since the Columbus Marathon. I've enjoyed the down time....perhaps a bit two much according to the scale in our bathroom. But, over the past few weeks I got my mileage up into the mid-20's and also did a 6 x 400m workout each of the last two weeks to remember what it was like to run fast (and not embarrass myself).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">The plan for this flat, fast course was to be conservative in the first half of it and negative split. Where would that get me? Under 18 maybe? Who knows.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMjUt0CYOkmOyJdFYqSBAEh3V6zydPhnsavRmDcISTNtbnZnqAnrYx5_AsjUGqVNQ8oxXQlNDBJMKQpZ_dIV76kStKuM6jIkHTySbuf48_StZNKs66IbGrja8bo5i-7JM5ZpklMGsJZvzW/s1600/20121208_100258.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMjUt0CYOkmOyJdFYqSBAEh3V6zydPhnsavRmDcISTNtbnZnqAnrYx5_AsjUGqVNQ8oxXQlNDBJMKQpZ_dIV76kStKuM6jIkHTySbuf48_StZNKs66IbGrja8bo5i-7JM5ZpklMGsJZvzW/s320/20121208_100258.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where's the snow? It's December!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">I met up with Chad and Eric A on the North Shore and we ran the course together as a warmup on a beautiful high 40s/ low 50's, partly sunny December morning (normally it would be snowing). As we ran, I showed them where I thought the turnaround was based on the <a href="http://www.arthritis.org/media/chapters/cpa/2012ArthritisFoundationJingleBellRunroute.pdf" target="_blank">online map and directions</a>, right by the Heinz Plant. We finish stretching and get to the line for the start of the race.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">The female starter from a local TV or radio station yells a "ready" command in a big, loud voice. But, then she nearly whispers a "go" and caught nearly everybody off-guard. Chad, was on it and went out like he was in the PIAA XC state championship (he mentioned after the race, his first mile was 5:10). I went for the more conservative approach and settled in around the top 12 or so and came through the first mile in 5:26.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9buoumdkhqMFk5lzQ_po8CH3sbyeIqqD_k8w1rXrZ1Fs6i1uPsh8ctYhfLqelAPYzh7jJwhmYqwZSb394oXNr-uOXeSBORiu49kDf6uFqHMU2elBzHPu85GveN8X26ttXz1rJZlBazgax/s1600/20121208_095853.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9buoumdkhqMFk5lzQ_po8CH3sbyeIqqD_k8w1rXrZ1Fs6i1uPsh8ctYhfLqelAPYzh7jJwhmYqwZSb394oXNr-uOXeSBORiu49kDf6uFqHMU2elBzHPu85GveN8X26ttXz1rJZlBazgax/s320/20121208_095853.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiV-Mq2JA93O0G9MB3nRu1Q26YL7VkpWJO22Dl6taDQnsOHgWGV2GRVKEAfIm3BaEFE-t8N4Uzq3tt9-5exYPD_aOMAPgA3ntEVd17xIsotqQViRzKA_IpMz-SUpuLtJcihplyoUk0UGWs/s1600/20121208_095903.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiV-Mq2JA93O0G9MB3nRu1Q26YL7VkpWJO22Dl6taDQnsOHgWGV2GRVKEAfIm3BaEFE-t8N4Uzq3tt9-5exYPD_aOMAPgA3ntEVd17xIsotqQViRzKA_IpMz-SUpuLtJcihplyoUk0UGWs/s320/20121208_095903.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chad's WAY up in front after his start</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">We go down along River Road and I see ahead of the police motorcycle escort a police barricade across the road WAY too early from what I saw on the map. But, I figured since everybody in front of me was turning I needed to turn, too. From the turnaround to the "2" mile marker, I was starting to work my way up....10th place.....8th place....7th place....then beside two other runners for 4th-5th-6th. I split my watch at the marker and saw that my "2nd mile" was 4:25. Ha, ha. My theory about turning too early had been confirmed. But, knowing that everybody was doing the same course and also recognizing that I was going to race even a shorter distance, I put on a surge to get ahead of the other two runners into 4th.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">We go up a short hill to get back up to the main road, do a 180-degree turn at a switchback and head for home. I took a TERRIBLE line coming off the path and swung WAY wide, but recovered enough and kicked to hold off the runners behind me.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVenHpfOhZwb0kGlzQ-_WMNEdSsLO1oip_clseMjGBTyqxnPIrbk877AKT3ZelYriNotks6EvPvVhk4pQp46gapuwxydNA6Q4CLZH25jy-USU3eNIq3TN5hxHM82yHO0kNyLajWqLedKBJ/s1600/20121208_101116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVenHpfOhZwb0kGlzQ-_WMNEdSsLO1oip_clseMjGBTyqxnPIrbk877AKT3ZelYriNotks6EvPvVhk4pQp46gapuwxydNA6Q4CLZH25jy-USU3eNIq3TN5hxHM82yHO0kNyLajWqLedKBJ/s320/20121208_101116.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It took me 3 lanes of the road to make the turn. Oops!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">The winner was WAY ahead, then it was Eric J (another triathlete) 2nd and Chad 3rd. I came across 11 seconds later for 4th AND A FINISHING TIME PR OF <a href="http://www.premierraces.com/ViewResults.asp?resultsID=1319" target="_blank">14:10</a>!!!!!! US Olympic Trials here I come!!! Okay, so it maybe was 2.58 miles.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">I'll take that and file it under the "race executed as planned" category. Picking off 7 or 8 places in the last 1+ mile was rewarding and suited my fitness.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">The scary thing is that I probably would've been right around my 5k PR of 17:06, in spite of it being the "off-season." Here's the calculations (I am a math teacher):</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><br /></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCw0OdjrLpMvikJDeP-lBN5R74jIPZAN9VRwB-s7Q88e53gE-OKZgIgzmMTOB5O_vkHE80VxQ5W6Yn_63LFQ5Ne_QO1CI-aCVQBdv31jhD6G2P5-eO0R_82fSZ-ui1-uIfh3gBlYOavaqW/s1600/jingle+bell+5k+proportion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCw0OdjrLpMvikJDeP-lBN5R74jIPZAN9VRwB-s7Q88e53gE-OKZgIgzmMTOB5O_vkHE80VxQ5W6Yn_63LFQ5Ne_QO1CI-aCVQBdv31jhD6G2P5-eO0R_82fSZ-ui1-uIfh3gBlYOavaqW/s320/jingle+bell+5k+proportion.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">According to this, it would have projected to a 17:01 or 17:02, but should you add a second or two since it's a longer distance by a half mile? Could I have found a little burst to get my first every sub-17? I guess we'll never know. However, it probably could have at least PR'ed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Big thanks to Beth who, after biking 27 miles down to the start from home that morning, was cheerer, coach, and photographer extraordinaire! It was also fun seeing a lot of fellow teachers out. They all did great jobs and I'm excited to see how they do leading up to the marathon/half marathon weekend here in Pittsburgh in May.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">All in all, a good finish to a satisfying season of racing. Most importantly, I FINALLY hit the 3:00 mark in the marathon. However, also looking back, I noticed that, if you take out the two marathons and the 8,000-person Great Race (finished 54th and 3rd in my age group), all of my other races I managed to finish in single digits: <a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2012/02/all-for-1-jan-one-for.html" target="_blank">9th</a> Spring Thaw 15 mi, <a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2012/06/back-to-training.html" target="_blank">2nd</a> Freeport Flash 5k, <a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2012/07/pictures-from-june.html" target="_blank">9th</a> Man Up 5k, <a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2012/07/4th-of-july-5k-and-summer-fall-schedule.html" target="_blank">3rd</a> Hampton 4th of July 5k, 4th (Saturday).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">The plans are coming into shape for next season so I'll have to post about them soon, too.</span></span>OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-5602958951740094262012-12-03T21:28:00.005-05:002013-12-14T14:52:14.724-05:002012 BCS Playoff Proposal<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Note: for the 2013 proposal, follow this <a href="http://oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2013/12/2013-bcs-playoff-proposal.html" target="_blank">link</a>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For the fifth consecutive year, I am going to offer my two cents to the NCAA about establishing a playoff in the NCAA Division 1-A (aka FBS) level.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Objective</u></b>: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. To provide EVERY team in August the legitimate chance of earning the national championship (see Northern Illinois, Boise State, Utah State, Arkansas State, Tulsa, ...)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. To make as many teams' final game as possible a meaningful game. In other words, not a pointless exhibition....I mean bowl game. (See Pitt playing in their 3rd straight BBVA Compass Bowl, Louisville vs. Florida, N. Illinois vs. Florida State, ...)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">**<u style="font-weight: bold;">Note</u>: This is NOT an NCAA basketball bracket where you could have a tourney pick'em. Rather each round gets re-seeded much like the NFL and other leagues do</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here is the proposals from the past four years:</span><br />
<a href="http://oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2009/01/my-college-playoff-proposal.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2008</span></a><br />
<a href="http://oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-bcs-playoff-proposal-year-2.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2009</span></a><br />
<a href="http://oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2010/12/bcs-playoff-proposal-year-3.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2010</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2011/12/2011-bcs-playoff-proposal.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2011</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's what I originally devised by taking last year's template:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgngUZyaBuRKGf19WqAxFDlfDjxysmkKUI_KRnmTzOV9fz4M0QgU3HIsxZ42RJo2hmmkEXm1nRFNxSU_716F-o5nRaPYbqry5MEbtfMSYAo6EpBJ9rN9EQTYZjOyzD6QOyNYYs5UqDRgYjY/s1600/BCS2012+version+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgngUZyaBuRKGf19WqAxFDlfDjxysmkKUI_KRnmTzOV9fz4M0QgU3HIsxZ42RJo2hmmkEXm1nRFNxSU_716F-o5nRaPYbqry5MEbtfMSYAo6EpBJ9rN9EQTYZjOyzD6QOyNYYs5UqDRgYjY/s640/BCS2012+version+2.jpg" width="577" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Original 2012 BCS Playoff Proposal. <br />Conference champions/championships in yellow. At-large in green (top 2) and blue (3-5).</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, here's what I ended up with:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgHY8BAgEr5Jmz1FIDGHjKg2lCWa6VXDuCa-T58DUfY4jl2g8FBFwhnjnziGVeSVyaeIeq3XglRZutpSm-AYUCRdK0nbPYVozgwgziby31W8p1wyonTP7ewb-vsAupkbOg-Dq53D-fk7uF/s1600/BCS2012+version+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgHY8BAgEr5Jmz1FIDGHjKg2lCWa6VXDuCa-T58DUfY4jl2g8FBFwhnjnziGVeSVyaeIeq3XglRZutpSm-AYUCRdK0nbPYVozgwgziby31W8p1wyonTP7ewb-vsAupkbOg-Dq53D-fk7uF/s640/BCS2012+version+3.jpg" width="571" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Final Proposal for 2012 BCS Playoff Bracket. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Conference champions/championships in yellow. At-large in blue (top 5) and green (6-7).</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Below will be all the details, but ultimately it didn't sit well with me that in the original bracket it seemed that Florida had an easier path than the two teams in the SEC Championship (Alabama and Georgia). So, because of this (and the fact that last year I ignored the fact that the Big 12 didn't have a conference championship game), I expanded the at-large teams from 4 to 7. The teams with the first round "bye" were ONLY teams that won a BCS conference (Big 12 and Big East) or were playing in their conference championship).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, here goes year five as if it happened this year (and plan on scrolling back to the playoff bracket multiple times--I've also placed it at the bottom of the proposal also)...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>September 1:</u></b> Labor Day weekend and beginning weekend of college football season</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u style="font-weight: bold;">Saturday, November 17:</u> Completion of regular season the weekend before Thanksgiving (12 weeks) –
Non-BCS conferences can decide to complete their regular season in week 11 and
hold a conference championship on 11/17 or they can determine their conference
champion by record. That allows for a 10 or 11 game schedule leading into the playoff.</span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sunday, November 18: BCS Playoff Pairings Announcement </span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BCS Conference Championships (Nov 29-Dec 1):</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><u>ACC</u>: Florida State vs Georgia Tech</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><u>Big Ten</u>: Wisconsin vs Nebraska</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><u>Pac-12</u>: Stanford vs UCLA</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><u>SEC</u>: Alabama vs Florida</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Louisville (Big East) and Kansas State (Big 12) also
advance to December 1 weekend because of winning their respective conference
championship.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Five non-BCS conference champions (in order of ranking
from BCS or computer rankings)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A - Northern Illinois (MAC)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">B - Boise State (MWC)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">C - Utah State (WAC)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">D - Arkansas State (Sun Belt)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">E - Tulsa (Conference USA)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Seven at large teams that were not conference champions
(as determined from BCS rankings <i><u>before</u> </i>conference championships)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1. Notre Dame (1)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">2. Florida (4)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">3. Oregon (5)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">4. LSU (7)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">5. Texas A&M (9)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">6. South Carolina (10)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">7. Oklahoma (11)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Matchups would be 1-E, 2-D, 3-C, 4-B, 5-A, and 7-6 with
the conference champions as the home team (6-7 either at the site of at-large 6
or a neutral site)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>November 22-24 (Thanksgiving weekend) - Opening round (with
conference championships and second round to be the next weekend)</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">According to 2012 data, it would be:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Notre Dame (AL1) at Tulane (CUSA)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Florida (AL2) at Arkansas State (Sun Belt)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Oregon (AL3) at </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Utah State (WAC)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">LSU (AL4) at Boise State (MWC)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Texas A&M (AL5) at </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Northern Illinois (MAC)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Oklahoma (AL7) vs. South Carolina (AL6)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The winners of this round would advance to the second
round (which is also the weekend of the conference championships). Teams would be
re-seeded so the highest-ranked (at-large/non-BCS conference) team left, according to BCS rankings prior to
the conference championships, would play the lowest seeded, etc.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>November 29-December 1 - Conference Championship Games and Second Round of At-Large/Non-BCS Conference Games.</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In addition to the previously mentioned four conference
championship games on November 29-Dec 1 (as they were this year), </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><u>ACC</u>: Florida State vs Georgia Tech</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><u>Big Ten</u>: Wisconsin vs Nebraska</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><u>Pac-12</u>: Stanford vs UCLA</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><u>SEC</u>: Alabama vs Florida</span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the following
games would be played (if seeds held):</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Notre Dame (AL1; #1 BCS) at Big East Champion Louisville
(Not in BCS rankings but #52 in Sagarin rankings)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">LSU (AL4; #7 BCS) at Big 12 Champion Kansas State (#6
BCS)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Texas A&M (AL5; #9 BCS) vs Oregon (AL3; #5 BCS)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">South Carolina (AL6; #10 BCS) vs Florida (AL2; #4 BCS)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Conference champions, Louisville and Kansas State, earn home games. Additionally, if
Northern Illinois, Boise State, Utah State, etc. would win the first round
game, they would earn a second round home game.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>December 8 - Quarterfinals</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The winners would advance to a round of 8 the weekend of
December 8, with the seeds being lined up 1-8, 4-5, 3-6, 2-7. Conference champions would get home-field advantage over an at-large team. If seeds held, it would be:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1 Notre Dame at 8 Wisconsin</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">4 Oregon at 5 Kansas State</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">3 Florida at 6 Stanford</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">7 Florida State at 2 Alabama</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The semi-finals
could be around Christmas or New Years and the Championship the week after. The semi-final round would be like the AFC-NFC Championship Sunday. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then, around New Year's Day or the week after, a TRUE championship game could be held where no team could claim they didn't have a shot at winning a championship.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgHY8BAgEr5Jmz1FIDGHjKg2lCWa6VXDuCa-T58DUfY4jl2g8FBFwhnjnziGVeSVyaeIeq3XglRZutpSm-AYUCRdK0nbPYVozgwgziby31W8p1wyonTP7ewb-vsAupkbOg-Dq53D-fk7uF/s1600/BCS2012+version+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgHY8BAgEr5Jmz1FIDGHjKg2lCWa6VXDuCa-T58DUfY4jl2g8FBFwhnjnziGVeSVyaeIeq3XglRZutpSm-AYUCRdK0nbPYVozgwgziby31W8p1wyonTP7ewb-vsAupkbOg-Dq53D-fk7uF/s640/BCS2012+version+3.jpg" width="571" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Final Proposal for 2012 BCS Playoff Bracket. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Conference champions/championships in yellow. At-large in blue (top 5) and blue (6-7).</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The more I think about what this would do to bowl games, the more I feel that it wouldn't affect them. In this model as of December 1, only 8 teams remain in the playoff, so all the bowls could be filled. Also, perhaps there could be automatic tie-ins with bowls for the 4 losers of the December 8 quarterfinal games.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>ANALYSIS OF 2012 BRACKET CONSTRUCTION</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>The Fighting Irish...</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First of all, Notre Dame's resurgence threw a wrench into my previous years' brackets. In the past, I just threw them in with the Big East, not expecting Notre Dame to bolt from the Big East for being partially affiliated with the ACC. Additionally, I wasn't expecting the Big East to become more of a joke (Tulane and East Carolina, really?). Finally, I was not anticipating Notre Dame to get good again so quickly. So, that was a major reason to revise the overall template of the bracket. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">...the Big 12, Big East, the future</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Also, along with the Big East, since the Big 12 was not having a conference championship in the near future plus more conference realignment on the horizon (see Maryland, Rutgers, Louisville, etc.) there needed to be more flexibility in the bracket.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Expansion to more at-large teams</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While it might have been fair to give the Fighting Irish a bye to the "2nd round" in the bracket since they are rated #1 in the country, I couldn't justify giving Florida an easier path for NOT being in their conference championship (see original bracket). So, began the "expansion" of my bracket to seven at-large teams, and 22 overall. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Was this too many? Well, I checked the other divisions that DO have actual playoffs--<a href="http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/football/fcs" target="_blank">I-AA (FCS)</a>, <a href="http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/football/d2" target="_blank">II</a>, and <a href="http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/football/d3" target="_blank">III</a>--and here's what I found:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In Division I-AA, there are currently 20 teams with 10 receiving automatic berths from winning a conference championship and the other 10 receiving at-large bids as determined by a "committee." In 2013, it is going to expand to 11 automatic berths from conference championships and 13 at large for a total of 24 teams. The top 8 teams will receive first round byes. The playoff lasts from November 24th to a semifinal December 15th with a championship on January 5th.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In Division II, there are 24 teams with 8 in a first-round play-in on November 17th with the finals on December 15th.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In Division III, there are 32 teams with the first round on November 17th and the championship on December 14th.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My playoff bracket proposal for Division I-A (FCS) seems in line with the dates and amount of teams as the "other" divisions who are (allegedly) more concerned about the student-athlete with their academics and not missing classes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Home game for the "little-guy"</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While it's intrigued me in the past, I think the first round match-ups this year are even more intriguing than in previous years' brackets. Notre Dame at Tulsa (who just hosted a Conference USA Championship), LSU going to the Smurf Turf at Boise State, Oregon having to go to a fellow western school (Utah State - is that at elevation?), Texas A&M maybe being the underdog at Northern Illinois(?). And, if a non-BCS conference champ would win their first-round game, they would receive another home game in the second round (and the same for moving on to the quarterfinal). Imagine the money that would bring in for their athletic department to have one, two, or three additional nationally-televised home games.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Would these schools be able to put on a home game in that short of notice? It happens in all of the other divisions so I don't see why not.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One question still out there for me is what to do if/when two at-large teams meet up in the 2nd or 3rd rounds. Play it at the site of the higher-ranked team? Play it at a neutral site? I'm all for giving the highest incentive to play in your conference championship game (unlike in the NCAA basketball tournament)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Little Guy's Last Game</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One other note, would Utah State rather finish against Toledo in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl or try their best against #4 Oregon? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Boise State - versus Washington in the Las Vegas Bowl or hosting #8 LSU? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Arkansas State - facing Kent State in the GoDaddy.com bowl or trying to knock off #3 Florida at home? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Northern Illinois being questioned for being in a BCS Bowl game or showing whether or not they belong in a home game against Texas A&M? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Would Tulsa rather play Iowa State in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl or have a shot at taking down the undefeated, #1 team in the country on their home field?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Easy answers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Northern game for southern team?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It didn't play out yet again in this year's bracket model either, but I'd love to see the SEC powerhouses have to play on the road in a northern stadium in the snow in December.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The SEC is too good?</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The SEC is having a great year. Like 6 of the top 10 (and 7 of 14) in the final BCS rankings great type of year. However, BCS rules state that a conference cannot have three teams in BCS bowl games. So, Georgia (who was the #3 team in the country before losing the SEC Championship game) is relegated to the Capital One Bowl against Nebraska. What a let down. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The playoff bracket would solve that. While 4 of the 7 at-large teams were from the SEC, maybe they deserved it. If the SEC teams were THAT good, they could command 4 of the 8 quarterfinal spots and 3 of the 4 semi-final spots in my proposed bracket. Let the games, not opinions, determine how good they are.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Time-space continuum</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The one obstacle I have in creating the bracket is I'm taking 2012 data from three separate time periods - before the conference championship games (for at-large seeding), after the conference championship games (for non-BCS champion berths and seeding plus BCS conference championship results), and how the results affect the computers and pollsters at these points both before AND after. So, don't get too tied up on where a team is in the bracket, it's more of the process.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So that's my suggestion to send along to NCAA President Emmert </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(...still need to get around to voicing my displeasure to Mr. Emmert about the severity of the Penn State sanctions, but I'll save that for a future date).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All constructive feedback and dialogue is certainly welcome (please withhold all name-calling and negative, destructive comments for the next presidential election).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">References:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://espn.go.com/college-football/bcs" target="_blank">BCS Rankings</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/fbt12.htm" target="_blank">Sagarin Computer Rankings</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/football/fcs" target="_blank">NCAA lower division playoff brackets</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8048429/2012-13-bowl-schedule" target="_blank">Bowl Schedule</a></span></div>
OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-16256674878957952842012-11-25T16:50:00.001-05:002012-11-25T16:50:13.842-05:00Updated Standings<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Number of wins since September 6th</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. Penn State - 8 wins (with the season over)...hard-fought win and a fitting end to the season</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. Pirates - 7 wins and the season over without finishing over .500...at least it's been a fun post-season to watch with all the close games </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. Steelers - 6 wins (with 5 games to go)...not looking good with Big Ben out</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. Pitt - 5 wins (with 1 game to go at South Florida)...still looking for Bowl eligibility</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. Penguins - 0 wins (still in a lockout with no end in sight)
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Nittany Lions are the leader in the clubhouse. Will the Steelers surpass them?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I created my first draft of my 2012 BCS Playoff Proposal. More details to come in the next week. <a href="http://oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2009/01/my-college-playoff-proposal.html" target="_blank">Here's the original</a> from 2008.</span>OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-67511387318376741282012-11-23T18:33:00.001-05:002012-11-23T18:34:37.964-05:00Whirlwind Ending in ThanksSo much fun in the last month since the marathon (and still probably haven't come off the 3-hour high)<br />
<br />
It started with the XC teams competing in the WPIAL (district) championships. The girls were the favorite coming in and they didn't disappoint. With a 3-4-6-7 top four they won by a 49-97 margin. The boys came into the race hacking, coughing, sniffling, and sneezing yet managed to weather the unseasonably hot temperatures and secure the third and final spot to move on to the state meet. For me, four days removed from the marathon, did my best to hobble around and cheer on the teams.<br />
<br />
The following weekend was the state meet. We had perfect temps and footing for the day (in spite of some mid-week rain from Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy). The girls had a good day ending up ending up 5th (but missing 4th by 2 points) and two girls finished in the top 20. The boys were still getting healthy and finished 13th.<br />
<br />
Speaking of "Sandy" it was such a shame to see the New York Marathon cancelled for all of the people who trained so hard and so long for it. Ultimately, the safety, recovery, and welfare of the residents affected need to be the first priority. However, I feel that it was unfortunate that the media and many on social sites had such outrage over it and dismissed the marathon as if it was some local 5k and they could just find one the next week. At the same time, the Giants could host a football game (against the Steelers) the same night as the marathon would've been with ambulances and EMT's available and the stadium lights blazing among homes without power in New York and New Jersey? Double standard....<br />
<br />
Another big event of November was the election. The people we voted for didn't do all that well. The results are the results and we have to move forward. Our pastor mentioned how the results could be negative in that several Supreme Court appointments could be made with a President who supports abortion. Also, we'll see how the economy works out. One other aspect was with how Catholic Churches were forced to provide aspects of healthcare that goes against their beliefs. Where does the line of religious freedom get drawn? Ultimately, we need to pray for our leaders and respect our authority (Romans 13).<br />
<br />
The next adventure was Beth's Ironman in Tempe, AZ. Beth got out there on Wednesday and I met her and Mom & Dad B on Friday night after school. Beth had her first sub-10 hour race and had a great day. I spent the day hanging out with said parents and also Kim's husband Kyle and also Cary. It was a very spectator-friendly course as we saw her 5 times on the bike and 7 or 8 times on the bike. We got our exercise in!<br />
<br />
After we ate dinner and Beth cleaned up we went back to see the final finishers before the midnight deadline. Very energetic and inspiring! We got back to the room and to bed...and it hit me that I would be getting up to go to work in PA in 27 hours. So, Monday was the return flight and I got home around 1am. Got up and survived Tuesday, picked up Beth after work, then picked up the dog in Greensburg and got home around 9pm. We went to bed, I went to work, then came home for us to start our journey southward for Thanksgiving.<br />
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We stayed overnight at a "pet-friendly" hotel in Beckley, WV. Roxy did not do well with the surroundings. Every time someone went down our hallway Roxy ran to the door and started barking. So, not much sleep. But Turkey in Durham, NC at Beth's sister's place was amazing and now we're just laying around, playing games of Settlers of Catan, and catching up on sleep.<br />
<br />
Finally so many thanks:<br />
<br />
-Thankful to Beth for being the most awesome wife and an inspiration to me with all of her athletic achievements<br />
-Thankful to my parents for all of the support in so many big ways and other much appreciated ways like watching the dog on all of our trips.<br />
-Thankful for the chance to coach and support amazing runners at my high school<br />
-Thankful to have an amazing church that's alive, has amazing music, and inspiring messages from the pastor<br />
-Thankful for Beth's rookie season as a pro triathlete<br />
-Thankful to everybody with their support and congratulations with Beth's races and especially my marathon. One funny story about that...<br />
<br />
After the IMAZ awards and getting lunch, Beth and I were going back to the car to pack me up and go off to the airport. On the sidewalk we happened to run into Meredith Kessler (2nd pro at IMAZ) and her husband. I knew that Beth has talked with her and gotten some great advice through her rookie pro year. Meredith goes to me, "You must be Oscar. Congratulations on your three-hour marathon."<br />
<br />
A) she recognized me as Beth's husband and knew my name before Beth could introduce me<br />
B) she takes the time to follow Beth via blog, Facebook, or twitter<br />
C) she remembered that I had run a PR marathon<br />
D) the morning after her amazing 2nd place finish at IMAZ she was just as concerned about me essentially finishing 200th or so in a marathon a month before<br />
<br />
So, let me amend my thankful list:<br />
-Thankful for the amazing and selfless triathlon community!OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-57937856324613286942012-10-24T21:18:00.001-04:002012-10-24T21:19:11.039-04:00The Breakthrough<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Things finally came together Sunday in Columbus!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Prior to this my quest for a sub-3 hour marathon went something like this:</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2009/11/philly-marathon-race-report-part-1-race.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Philadelphia Marathon 2009</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> - went out way too fast (6:18 pace for first 10 miles!!!) because I got overconfident from running a downhill 1:16:32 half marathon the previous month and crashed & burned in the 2nd half with some cramping around mile 23. 3:15:21</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2011/05/if-at-first-you-dont-succeed.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pittsburgh Marathon 2011</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> - Much more consistent pacing (1:29 at the half) but things got hard around mile 19, I had to back off a lot then my hamstrings seized up around mile 24. 3:22:38</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2011/11/harrisburg-marathon-race-report.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Harrisburg Marathon 2011</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> - Went in with the goal of 3:10, was at 1:33 at the half, but the stomach (and then legs) didn't cooperate over the final four miles and more crashing & burning to a 3:22:02</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2012/05/marathon.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pittsburgh Marathon 2012</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> - Thought I had worked out all of the kinks, went through the half at 1:31:25 with the goal of negative splitting, but I got greedy around mile 17-18, it got hot & humid, and I crashed & burned again down the stretch with some hamstring cramping at 25.5. 3:14:07</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Columbus Marathon 2012 -</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">...Well, to back up a few days I had a good week leading up to the race. I stayed off my feet as much as possible, aimed to increase my hydration, did an ART appointment on Monday, and didn't run around like a mad man at our Thursday cross country invitational.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Saturday morning, we headed west to C-bus after dropping off the dog at my parents' house. Beth kicked off her sterling spectathlete weekend by driving most of the way out (and not even getting sleepy!!). We got to Columbus and picked up the packet at the expo. After mapping out Beth's race day cheering/workout strategy downtown, we went over to our home for the weekend with Michelle & Robert and family. We stayed with them back in July when Beth did the Columbus Triathlon.They were yet again great hosts. They treated us to a super pasta dinner and watched The Lorax on their fancy 3D TV.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Race morning arrived and it was a perfect cool low 40's. We parked at the convention center and I warmed up and stretched inside. We went down to the start around 7am (they said you had to be at the corral 30 minutes before the start - kind of crazy). Once I saw that they weren't going to close off the corrals and prevent you from racing at 7:01, I took one more pit stop, gave my warmup clothes to Beth and waited with 20,000 of my closest friends as the sun rose.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The gun finally went off and I tried to work my way through the crowds and find the balloons of the 3:00 pace guy. Found them - nope that was 3:15, so keep going. 3:10, 3:05, ... and in the process I hit the first mile in 6:34. Oops! A little ahead of 6:53 pace. I found fellow Pittsburgher Billy Hughes, who I ran part of the Great Race with, and we ran together up to mile 2. However, when we came through at 13:04 (a 6:30 for me), I told him I need to execute my plan and back off and just settle in near the 3:00 pace guy. We said our good lucks and he was on his way.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I settled in behind the pace guy (along with 50 or so other people), I turned off my brain and let the pace guy do the work. And boy was he good - 6:52.5, 6:52.8, 6:52.4, 6:53.0, 6:54 over miles 3 through 7. I don't really remember much of this other than our "pack" was pretty quiet and rather business-like. I guess we were all on that mission to hit that sub-3:00 marathon. The other thing I remember is Pittsburgh legend Tammy Slusser came up beside me around mile 3 and was around me through about mile 6, but she got really upset at a runner while near a water station because she felt he slowed down too much and messed up her stride. I saw it coming and was in the middle of the road, but she got a little trapped. After that I didn't see her the rest of the way (she ended up running a very impressive 3:10).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At mile 8, we travelled southward with splits of 6:47, 6:48, 6:54, and 6:50 up through mile 11 as we then headed north up High Street. Error on the pace guy as we did an "uphill" mile with a split of 6:42 for mile 12 but he was so good through the first part of the race, I had no worries....by the way he didn't take a water or gel the ENTIRE RACE! How does anybody do 26.2 without any aids?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For the second marathon in a row, I miss the mile 13 split, so at 13.1 I hit my watch and was at 1:29:03. The half people split off at this point and then there was Beth right on cue to see me. I told her things were going well and I had about a minute in the bank.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We proceed the rest of the way up High Street around the edge of Ohio State's campus and made a left until we got to Ohio Stadium. The splits were 6:50, 6:47, and 6:46 up through mile 16. I was right with the pace guy and, maybe he was making a correction, maybe the mile markers were off, but mile 17 was 6:58 and mile 18 was 7:23? Head scratcher.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">During mile 18 was perhaps one of the coolest/nastiest parts of the race was that we entered Ohio Stadium (home of the Buckeyes) through a gate, ran right behind the end zone, and then back out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Very cool atmosphere - fans cheering the endzone stands, the band playing, being within feet of the grass of a major division 1 stadium, but..... getting there involved a 90-degree turn, a quick, sharp downhill slope to get down to the field and a quick sharp uphill to get back out (there were even warning signs about the steep hill). Oh boy was I fearing for my hamstrings cramping. But, they held up.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And, from there the next few miles went well and I started doing math to pass the miles. Mile 19 was 6:46. The math went like this: 7.2 to go (7x7 = 49 + 1 = 50, so I should be there under 2:10) and I was there in 2:09:50. There was a "little" uphill around 20 and 21 so I just focused on staying on the pace guy - 6:47 and 6:44 for mile 20 and 21. 5.2 to go (5x7 + 1 = 36, so be there in 2:24), and I was there in 2:23:20.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The 3:00 "pack" had disintegrated over the 2nd half and it was a scattered group either ahead or behind the pace guy. I was keeping my distance behind him and passing people along the way who were hitting the wall. At this point, it was either flat or a little down hill. Miles 22 and 23 were 6:50 and 6:55 (3x7 +1.5 = 22.5, so be there in 2:37:30) for a total of 2:37:05.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I remember from my trial run of the 2nd half of the course, mile 24 had some up to it. It wasn't as bad as I remembered but the hamstrings were starting to let me know they were there, much like at the Great Race. I didn't feel like they were going to go, but I wasn't about to take any chances so I backed off just a little bit. 7:18 for mile 24, 2:44:23 overall and, holy crap, I only have 2.2 miles to go and still a legitimate shot of cracking 3 hours. While the legs were tugging a little more, I urged the body on and just kept saying in my head "just give yourself a shot with the last 0.2" and "you're still in this game!" Mile 25 was a 7:19 and 2:51:43 overall. Just over 8 minutes to do 1.2.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Maybe, just maybe.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There were a couple of 90-degree turns and I swung as wide as possible through those to avoid any leg cramping from sharp turns as in years past. I was getting close to a course banner/marker when I heard a girl cheering from the side saying "only a half mile to go!" I was thinking, "Silly girl, this is the 26 mile banner and 0.2 is less than a QUARTER mile, not a HALF mile." But, sure enough, it was a "1/2 mile to go" marker. Bummer. I didn't look at my watch. Just kept pressing on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I get to mile 26 and peek at my watch, just looking at the overall time - 2:59:16. Bummer. Well, I knew I wasn't going to drop a 44-second nearly 400m so my new outlook was, "Let's get a 3:00:xx!" and "Get there before 3:01." So, with the help of a downhill, the leave-it-all-out-there-and-so-what-if-the-hammies-go attitude, I did a 1:30 for the last 0.2 and crossed the line at 3:00:46. Whew! I'll take it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No walking the entire race. No cramping (at least until I went to the post-race massage area...sorry to my PT massage guy!). I mostly kept my pace up until those last three miles. A good effort to be very satisfied because it was 3 years in the making, but at the same time keeping me hungry to know I can hit that 2:5X:XX in the future.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A huge thanks to Beth for being such as great supporter and inspiration. It's tough for one to whine and complain with training about getting up early for workouts or having a "long" day when your significant other consistently gets up at 4am during the week and puts in 8-hour training days on the weekend. What an amazing role model that has pushed me from "used to be happy to crack 20 minutes in a 5k" to low-17's 5ks and a 3-hour marathon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was also great seeing Billy Hughes crack 3 hours (2:57:44) after coming so close last year at Columbus.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Big thanks to Michelle, Robert, and family for being great hosts and congrats to Robert for walking his first ever half marathon in 3:27:01.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another big thanks is to our pastor at Cornerstone (and God's timing) for the perfect message the previous weekend about three P's when dealing with life's storms - Patience, Positive Attitude, and Praise. There was definitely patience involved with not only Sunday getting through the first 20 miles and to the end but more the patience of failures in Philly, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and Pittsburgh (again) leading up to this race. I was really trying to work on the positive attitude when things got rough and just work through the tugging hamstrings and that seemed to work. Most of all, I had my "mental music playbook" going in my head including "Forever Reign" by Hillsong (they did it was part of the worship music set last weekend) when things were getting tough as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One final thanks to all those out on the internet with all of the encouragement for not only this race but for the highs and (a lot of) lows over the past few years of racing, especially the marathons. I know that I have been inspired by many other people's journeys and I hope that I can reciprocate, even a little, some positive encouragement to others in their lives.</span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">....After Beth got some laps in at the local YMCA, we grabbed what is now becoming our traditional post-race meal at Five Guys Burgers & Fries. Then, we got some Timbits from Tim Horton's for the ride home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now it's rest and recovery time for me as Beth has two more races to go - this weekend in Austin and November in Phoenix (which I'm going to be at!). Also, our XC team has their district championships Thursday so more fun there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Good luck to everybody out there and may you have your breakthrough experience while being patient, positive, and praising!</span>OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-20427201366932401582012-10-15T20:37:00.002-04:002012-10-15T20:37:30.396-04:00Columbus Week<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(Not to be confused with Columbus Day last Monday)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Six days out until the Columbus Marathon. Taper time! Things went well with the training cycle (other than an <a href="http://oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2012/07/4th-of-july-5k-and-summer-fall-schedule.html" target="_blank">ankle delaying the start</a> of training in July and a <a href="http://oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2012/09/ankled-again.html" target="_blank">second ankle</a> that showed up at the end of September). So, we'll see what happens after about mile 15 or 18 or so and see if I can hold on to that 6:53 pace the entire way this year. There is a 3:00 pace group and you better believe I'm going to let the pack do all the thinking and all the work and hope it puts me in a happy place for the last 10k.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cross country is winding down. We have an invitational this Thursday, WPIALs (the district meet) next Thursday, and then the state meet the following Saturday (11/3). Both the boys and girls are continuing their strong season and maintaining <a href="http://pa.milesplit.com/articles/91346-2012-penntrackxc-pa-team-rankings-october-12th-update-5" target="_blank">a top-10 ranking in the state</a>. My goal this Thursday is to not run around like a mad man and save the legs for Sunday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To go back and update a previous post, I thought it would be interesting to track which local team would accrue the most wins from September 6th until the end of the year. Here's the updated standings on number of wins:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">1. Pirates - 7 wins and the season over without finishing over .500...at least it's been a fun post-season to watch with all the close games<br />2. Penn State - 4 wins (with 6 games to go)...a tough string of Big Ten games ahead</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">3. Pitt - 2 wins (with 6 games to go)...still looking for their first conference win<br />t3. Steelers - 2 wins (with 11 games to go)...not having the season they want so far<br />5. Penguins - 0 wins (still in a lockout with no end in sight)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Pirates just may hold on!</span>OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-3188674716527675502012-10-01T21:24:00.000-04:002012-10-01T21:26:28.165-04:00The Great WeekendIf you're looking for an awesome race report from an amazing athlete, check out <a href="http://thetrialofmilesmilesoftrials.blogspot.com/2012/10/poconos-703-race-report.html" target="_blank">Beth's entry from her 3rd place pro finish at the Poconos 70.3</a>.<br />
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If you want to hear about a ho-hum mediocre Great Race, continue reading...<br />
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Well, let me back up a bit. Beth left for the Poconos on Friday. We said our good-byes before I left for work on Friday morning. We chatted on my way home from practice and it seemed like she was having a good trip without her primary navigation officer. She got her packet at the expo and did a few other things, however when entering the host family's address to the GPS, it directed her to a location about 30 minutes in the opposite direction. I don't blame her because, when she called me in a panic, it gave me that same location when I typed it in to google maps. But, we figured out the issue and I talked her to getting to the house in the dark and the fog.<br />
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The rest of my Friday night was spent catching up on some on-demand evening shows from the week (Big Bang Theory, Hawaii 5-0) and then I saw that the ESPN 30-for-30 series were all available on demand. They're all great, but the one I've seen parts of but never the whole thing is called <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1738398/" target="_blank">"Once Brothers."</a> It is the story of Vlade Divac, Drazen Petrovic, and others from the Yugoslavian national basketball team of the late 80's and early 90's. They were an amazing group, but then civil war between the Serbs and Croats fractured not only the team but also the friendships. I had to imagine it would be like some sort of US National team from the 1860's that was then divided by our civil war. That would be so hard.<br />
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One of the key moments was when, after winning the World Championships, Divac took one of the Croatian flags from a person storming the court. He did it, not because he was a Serb, but because he wanted to celebrate as a unified Yugoslavian team and not from fractured divisions. Well, like many things do with the media and zealous people, it got twisted and blown out of proportion and Divac became an enemy to the Croatians and a hero to the Serbs. More importantly, Petrovic (a Croatian) couldn't view Divac (a Serb) the same even though they had grown to become such close friends to that point. The line I won't forget from Divac's narration was that "how one single moment can destroy years of friendship."<br />
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Perhaps the even more unfortunate part is that Petrovic died in a car accident before ever having a chance to reconcile with Divac. The script of the entire episode is Divac reliving the experience of the basketball and then meeting with Petrovic's mother and brother to get some closure. Very moving film. One other thing that I didn't realize was how good that Yugoslav team was. Not just what they accomplished, but seeing video of how they dominated many teams. Petrovic was a great ball handler and so good from beyond the arc. It pales in comparison to the story, but it was a shame that Petrovic passed away just as he was becoming a key part of the New Jersey Nets team.<br />
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Okay, that took a little longer than I had intended. Sorry for the tangent.<br />
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On to Saturday, I went to XC practice and picked up my packet for the Great Race. Oh yeah, did I mention I still had some questions about my ankle? Well I ran 4 miles on the South Side after picking up my packet and was able to do it in a little under 7:30 pace, so I figured (as long as it didn't swell up on me overnight) that I would give it a go for race morning.<br />
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Saturday afternoon consisted of watching the rest of the PSU game (way to go dominating the team that tried to send coaches onto Penn State's campus to "poach" players away), giving the dog a bath, and about a 2-week overdue cutting of my hair. Even though Beth wasn't around, I still went down to Noodles in Oakland (yeah I was that guy sitting there eating by myself) and then off to Cornerstone for Church.<br />
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There was a special treat at church as <a href="http://www.philstacey.com/" target="_blank">Phil Stacey</a> (he of season 6 American Idol fame) was there to help lead the music. I did a quick check up on his background via <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Stacey" target="_blank">wikipedia</a> during the announcements and found out he's a pretty cool dude with a neat background in the church. I'm going to have to check out some of his music via Itunes.<br />
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So that brings us to Saturday night and, oh yeah, finally getting around to the actual race report. Maybe this is my subconscious way of avoiding the race report by rambling on about many insignificant things during the weekend.<br />
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Sunday morning comes around and the ankle feels decent albeit a little stiff. I take Roxy out for a walk, eat my bagel & peanut butter, and get on my way down to near Frick Park and the start of the race. <a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2011/09/keeping-busy.html" target="_blank">Last year</a>, I was the first car there, so I aimed to get there about an hour before race time. Next year I'll have to split the difference because I ended having to park a little further away than I wanted but still only 2 blocks or so from the start.<br />
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I go to warm up and the ankle is a little stiff in the 40-degree temps. But, after about a 20 minute warmup it was feeling loose and ready to go. I do my final preparations and see a lot of people while I'm waiting in line for the toilets. That line took forever and I probably should have stretch more.<br />
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Okay, on to the race, but first the annual elevation chart disclaimer:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigKqkGZFcPKAMt9wAUiOsVZeDNzpiFSMeLLN7v_FZvQOyFoxahdrWOPln_A97vNLGCZGZIDD0VwM6WRSWccpJTWfCS9FrUV_VXQ1QEWOVzAm4Q8tJC4d-AuhhDd4xqbnLeM6CJ2mZI0Q9h/s1600/greatraceelevation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" kea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigKqkGZFcPKAMt9wAUiOsVZeDNzpiFSMeLLN7v_FZvQOyFoxahdrWOPln_A97vNLGCZGZIDD0VwM6WRSWccpJTWfCS9FrUV_VXQ1QEWOVzAm4Q8tJC4d-AuhhDd4xqbnLeM6CJ2mZI0Q9h/s320/greatraceelevation.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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So the gun goes off and I settle in for a first mile in 5:44. Surprisingly around where I wanted even though I thought it felt faster. Mile 2 is really down hill and I was by the top 3 females in the race. We split a 5:30 for mile 2 and 11:14 overall. Mile 3 I started to lose focus going down 5th avenue in Oakland, a gap formed between me and the top 3 female runners and I came through mile 3at 5:56 pace for 17:11 overall, leading to a 17:30's 5k. My one hamstring tugged a little at me after mile 3, but I got it to calm down. At the same time, I realized that I hadn't thought about my ankle since the race started. Also, somewhere in the mile 3 range, I met up with triathlete extraordinaire Billy Hughes and ran with him for the next few miles. Mile 4 was a 5:45, putting me at 22:55. <br />
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We were at the base of the Boulevard of the Allies and I said to Billy, "let's go get some people on this hill." He obliged and I think he was right behind me. Also at this time, I was around my "arch nemesis" (see <a href="http://www.oscarshutt.blogspot.com/2010/09/arch-nemisis.html" target="_blank">tongue-in-cheek blog post</a> from a few years back.) Going up towards Duquesne, I was able to pass a few people and put a little ground on the arch nemesis. However, the feeling of moving fast didn't translate to the clock as I split a 6:07 and was at 29:02. I think this may have been the tipping point of my "competitive racing" for the day. I'm not sure why but seeing a split above 6:00 and doing the math that I wasn't going to go sub-35 (or even low 35) took the wind out of my sails.<br />
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Thanks to it being a downhill last mile, I still split a final 5:38 but my heart wasn't in it. I was passed by a good 10 people in the last mile. I put a little surge on at the 6 mile mark when I saw the 6 mile clock say 34:41 and thought I still had a shot at salvaging a sub-36 race. Yet again, my hamstring tugged at me a little and I yelled at it to "stay in there!" I entered Point State Park and I coasted towards the line. Turns out, my arch-nemesis ended up catching me right at the line and (despite having the same time), his chip (and body for that matter) edged me out in the results.1:14 in the last 0.2 miles, 35:54 overall, 53rd place, 48th male, and 2nd in the 35-39 age group (I'm getting old)<br />
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So, I get passed a lot near the end, and then the skies open up after I cross the line as it starts pouring. (Insert phrase of "when it rains, it pours"). I chatted with a couple of guys from school, the <a href="http://www.ballouskies.com/" target="_blank">Ballou Skies</a> triathlon starts of Billy and Joe V, and a couple of other runners. It was still pouring and I was getting cold. I was planning on doing about 7 or so miles as an extended cool down to get 16-17 miles for the day so I got that going. The ankle cooperated (albeit a little stiff to start out on the cool down) and I rehashed my "soft" finish to the race as I ran back to the start area.<br />
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After a day to reflect, all in all, it was a decent day. I wasn't near my 35:07 PR, but need to remember that my ankle did mess up my week of training, still wasn't 100% for the race, and also need to keep in mind the big picture of preparing for the Columbus Marathon in 3 weeks. So, after some quad soreness today, time to get back on track and get ready for the final weeks of training.<br />
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In other news, the Pirates sure had a bang-up weekend on their way to loss #82 and a 20th consecutive losing season. Loss #81 was at the hands of a Homer Bailey no-hitter on Friday. Loss #82 was the Pirates' first loss when leading after 8 innings. A blown save. In a season of peaks and valleys, there were many peaks throughout June and July, but this past weekend sure were two extremely deep valleys. Well, there's always next year...OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-17927349566167340402012-09-26T18:19:00.002-04:002012-09-26T18:19:37.550-04:00Ankled Again!It sure seemed innocent enough. As our girls' XC race was nearing its conclusion, I was jogging/shuffling back to near the finish line. Somehow, I caught a patch of terrain that was like a "gutter" and my ankle flexed much like your wrist would when it's bent back too far. I kept on shuffling and it seemed a little sore, but seemed fine.<br />
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I wake up this morning and it was REALLY sore and stiff. Not another ankle! This time the right ankle. I tried it out for my run today, which was supposed to be 2 x 5 miles at marathon pace. Yeah. That didn't happen. After my first few strides, I thought about just turning around and going home. But, I hobbled on it up to my favorite place when I have sore body parts - the turf at our local high school's track/football stadium. I hobbled up a 9+ minute mile to the track then decided to try to break up and do some 1-mile intervals on the turf to see what the ankle could do.<br />
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Here's what it looked like as I wore a path in around the football field. According to the GPS, Coach A was right - 5 laps do equal just over a mile.<br />
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First one...7:29. Still kind of stiff on the ankle, but better than that 9:00 pace<br />
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Second one...7:25. Felt like I couldn't possible go any faster, but determined to try to pick it up on the next one<br />
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Third one...6:25. Finally started to feel a smoother stride. Decided to go for 6:00 on the next one...<br />
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Fourth one...5:39. Okay. The only thing limiting me was more muscle and lung fatigue.<br />
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The ankle's healed, right? Wrong. I go to jog home from the track and just the difference in the turf and the road made it agitated and I hobbled home in 9:25 pace. So, some icing, compression, and manipulating of the ankle in hopes of it being ready for Sunday's Great Race. This one doesn't seem as bad, though, considering it was more of a "jam" instead of a "roll" or "twist." We shall see over the next few days I suppose.<br />
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Cross Country is going well again. Both our boys and girls teams are <span id="goog_1172641869"></span><a href="http://pa.milesplit.com/articles/91346-2012-penntrackxc-pa-team-rankings-sept-21-update-2" target="_blank">ranked in the top 10 in the state<span id="goog_1172641870"></span></a>. They need to keep up the great work and stay strong over the final 5 weeks.<br />
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In other news, the Pirates had an EPIC collapse over the last 6 weeks. I thought it may be entertaining to see, as of Friday, September 7th, which local sports team will accrue the most number of wins in the rest of 2012. Here's the current Standings:<br />
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1. Pirates - 4 wins (with 8 games to go)<br />
2. Pitt - 2 wins (with 8 games to go)<br />
t2. Penn State - 2 wins (with 8 games to go)...assuming no more wins get vacated<br />
4. Steelers - 1 win (with 13 games to go)<br />
5. Penguins - 0 wins (with what was SUPPOSED to be 38 games to go in 2012...but there's that whole lockout thing)<br />
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Can the Pirates hold off the other teams...<br />
OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-57296268986941167072012-09-15T06:49:00.002-04:002012-09-15T08:37:38.386-04:00Raise the.......White Flag on the Pirates' season (I wish I was saying Raise the Jolly Roger instead). I conceded the year after Sunday's defeat against the Cubs. They have gone on and lost four more in a row for good measure. The funny part is that they are still only 3 games out of a wild card spot. A little win streak would be them right back in it but that would be hard to believe at this point.<br />
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In other news, amazing athlete and all-around good guy <a href="http://www.paturnpike.com/" target="_blank">Ben</a> completed his first Ironman distance race in sub-10 hours. He was drafting it yesterday so it may be getting posted soon. <a href="http://fuelyourpassiononline.blogspot.com/2012/09/rev-3-cedar-point-full-race-reflection.html" target="_blank">Kim</a> also had a great day there!<br />
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Cross country is off to a great start. In the first big invitational of the year, we racked up a couple of runner-up spots on the boys and girls. It's just a matter of keeping the effort and hard work as we work towards making it to the state meet. We did have some crazy horizontal rain just before the girls' JV race started. The winds were so fierce that it snapped our tents.<br />
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My training has been moving along. The ankle issue seems to have gone away. My mileage is back up in the 60's with last week hitting 72. I had a real good 25+ mile run on the Pittsburgh marathon course last Sunday. My pace was right around my "PR" of 3:14. It's amazing what a little cooler weather can do. The Great Race is coming up in a few weekend and then October 21st I'll be in Columbus.OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1672149950200021747.post-84288657973032103552012-08-12T19:53:00.000-04:002012-08-12T19:53:25.064-04:00We Went to Chick-Fil-A<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So the other week there was this big controversy over quotes concerning the definition marriage by the President of Chick-Fil-A.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Many people got very upset about this and hurled many negative, hurtful, threatening, and hostile remarks about Mr. Cathy and the Chick-Fil-A restaurants. Unfortunately, many of the remarks were ill-informed. The biggest thing I wish in any disagreement is that people come to the debate well-informed, ready to address the issue and not reduce it to a mud-slinging, name-calling affair.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here is the quote from the President of Chick-Fil-A:</span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"We are very much supportive of the family -- the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that … We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that."</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Somehow, it got turned into the equivalent of a 1950's segregation stance. Nowhere in his quote did he say "we don't want homosexuals in our restaurant" or "we don't want business from those kind of people." However, the feedback of comments seen on twitter and facebook sure made it seem that way. Mr. Cathy is living out his values and our lives should reflect what we believe. If you hadn't noticed, Chick-Fil-A isn't open on Sundays because of this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The one thing that I will completely respect from the dissenters is their choice to not support Chick-Fil-A through a boycott and to voice this dissension. However, I completely disagree with the negativity aimed at Mr. Cathy and the restaurant because they are simply stating what they believe. How would you feel if someone belittled you for what you believe? And, as was seen, the response to the declared boycott brought many people out in support of Chick-Fil-A. I guess it can work both ways.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm all for debates and arguments. But let's stick to the facts and be sure to attack the issue and not the person.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Oh yeah, where this was all going was that Beth and I ended up going to Chick-Fil-A on the conservative talk show established "Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day." (Note, it was not established by the restaurant but rather by citizens). We were on our way down to California University of Pennsylvania for a great talk that featured TWO big-time runners, Chris Solinsky and Amy Rudolph, at their high school cross country camp. Rudolph was a two-time Olympian and Solinsky broke the American 10k record and would have probably been in London for the Olympics if it wasn't for an injury. How did those two end up at the same cross country camp in rural southwestern PA during the olympics? Great motivation and inspiration from two people at the top of the sport.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway, Beth and I needed to grab dinner and we have a calendar of coupons that we got back in January for "The Chick" because we really like their food. So, we used our August coupon and waited in some really long lines but it felt worth it to show our support for a company that we believe in their morals and where we also really like their food.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Again, all I ask of the many facebook and twitter and bloggers and whoever out there: feel free to disagree--that's an American value and right. However, make sure to hold debate and discord in a well-informed way that addresses the issue and does not attack the individual.</span></div>OJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102459125955015896noreply@blogger.com4