Tornado in March

I heard on the news how a tornado in Western PA in March is very unlikely. But, it happened. Somehow, nobody was killed but a lot of people have a lot of cleaning up to do near where I grew up. I've never had something like this happen so close to home (literally) and my heart is saddened over the recovery.



Being the map aficionado I am, here's my perspective of it. The path (red) ripped through right by a house where I was babysat as a kid (off the screen left) then by the high school & middle school, past my cousin's church and then over into the neighborhood where I used to ride my bike. Then, (perhaps because of the hill-valley topography) it must have went back up in the clouds. I don't know much about tornadoes but if it had continued, my grandparents may have been right in the path (black circle). Thank God for that. I grew up in the green circle.

Here's some more shots:
Roofs just torn off of houses. How powerful.





At the high school, it took off part of an auditorium roof...

...and took down the scoreboard and other parts at the stadium.


Just left speechless.

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On a lighter note, I was all planned to write a blog Wednesday night with stories of how we dodged marble-sized hail at track practice, a great announcement, a funny story, and basketball update. So, here they are:

*With many generous donations by many great people, I have hit my target for fundraising for the Alzheimer's Association. The deadline is mid-April, so I figure I'm just going to keep asking and see how much more we can raise. If you are interested in donating, click here.

*Training has been going well. I had a 11 (supposed to be 12) mile run with 7 miles at half marathon pace on Wednesday morning. I was unsure if I'd be able to hit the pace that early, that cold, and on my own. But, I hit it and was excited about that. Due to my schedule this week with track meets, I then had to run 12 this (Thursday) morning. I was going to complain to Beth Wednesday night about the back to back hard running days. However, I remembered over the weekend she did a 4-hour bike ride then 2-hour run Sunday followed up by a 2-hour run on Monday. No sympathy in the Shutt house! But, aside from some sluggish hills, I plodded along at my desired pace and got it done. Whew!

*My brackets are busted (nothing new). Too bad Pitt lost (hee hee). Penn State played a tough game, much of it without their 2nd best player Jeff Brooks due to foul trouble and then re-separating his shoulder. In spite of all that they lost on a last-second off-balanced jumper. Arizona had a good first weekend (both close games--whew!) but now has a tough matchup against Duke tonight. I would consider Duke the big favorite, but I guess you never know. That's why they call it March Madness. The only trouble is the game isn't going to start until almost 10pm (past my bedtime). I guess I'll just have to check out the score when I get up.

Time to watch some hoops.

The Madness is Coming

One of my favorite times of the year - March Madness and the NCAA basketball tournament snuck up on me. As noticed by the absence of blogging, lots going on. When that happens I don't sit down to write a blog either because (1) I need to catch up on sleep instead of writing a blog. (2) I'm busy doing my next activity. Sleep or overscheduled. The two ends of the spectrum.

Anyway, I'm sure it's like that for everybody so I'm just enjoying the journey.

Lately:

We did the Spring Thaw a few weeks back now. My target going in was to run 15 miles (you had the option of 10, 15, or 20). I wanted to 'race' the first 10 around 6:00 pace and then try to sustain 7:00 pace for the last 5 (trying to simulate later in the marathon). Just about hit my goal - I was 60:19 for 6:02 pace. My third lap was 36:14 (7:15 pace) partly due to fatigue but also due to me being stubborn about not taking a gel right at mile 10 and waiting until mile 13. Too late at that point. Lesson learned.

But, overall a good day and training's been going well so I'm hoping I'm on track for the marathon. It was fun seeing so many people at the race - Beth (of course), fellow teachers (Ben, Heather, and Veronica), and the triathlon crew (Chad, Jen, Jeremy, Jocelyn).

This past week I hit my first 20-miler of the training cycle, and it went well.

Track started Monday. We had two nice days of weather, but today was pretty soggy. Looking like more sog and maybe even some snow on Friday.

The other big story I had was driving home last Monday. I'm coming up the hill about a half mile from home when I see a dog (40 lbs or so) running in a yard by the road with a kid behind him. This road is a two-lane road with a speed limit of 35 mph. At rush hour, it gets a little busy. I see in my rear view mirror that the dog crosses back over the road with the kid chasing it. I start thinking about if that was our little Roxy and I was scared for the dog (and the kid for that matter).

So I pull off on a side street, swing back around, park the car and get out to help out the kid. As I get closer we start to surround the dog, but then it decides to run back across the street. I play traffic cop as me and the kid go back across too. The dog wandered over to a bigger backyard and we finally corralled it as the dog laid down. I pet the dog as the kid puts on the leash and that dumb dog squirts out and starts running again.

Fortunately it didn't head back toward the road (I put myself between the dog and the road to force him away from the road). After another few minutes of the dog running around (it was all a game to him) I think it started getting tired and laid down. This time I grabbed the dog's collar and helped the kid put the leash on--no taking chances. All is well and the most stressed of the three of us was certainly me. The dog loved running around and the kid (4th grader-ish?) didn't seem too concerned about the whole situation.

Back to the March Madness, the conference tournaments wrap up this weekend and the selections are on Sunday. This are looking a little better than last year:

*Arizona - rebounded to win the Pac-10 regular season title this year after missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1986 last year. The ended up with a good record, but no real big wins. The ESPN "Bracketologist" is predicting a #5 seed

*Penn State - just shot themselves in the foot too many times this year. They ended up with a 9-9 record in the Big Ten, but it could've easily been 10-8 or 11-7. That would've looked a lot better. Overall, they were barely above .500 and ugly losses to Maine, Mississippi, and Virginia Tech don't help either. Their only shot is to probably win the Big Ten tourney.

*Davidson - they won something like 10 of their last 12 and looked like a team that may make a post-season run. However, they lost in the first round of the Southern Conference tournament. But, they've got a lot of talent coming back so hopefully they'll be in the hunt next year.

Any picks out there of who will win? I think it's so tough anymore with all the turnover in college basketball.

I'll be sending out invitations to the NCAA Tournament bracket challenge again this year. All about bragging rights and seeing who's picks stink the least. If you're interested and don't get an invitation, send me a message on Facebook. The more the merrier!

Snow 9, Weathermen 3

The actual inches vs the predicted inches on Monday...

So much to write about with the 'solo' weekend while Beth was in Tucson--I'll have to get to that eventually.

Back to Monday:

The problem with the snow (it ended up being about 9 inches) was the roads really didn't get treated before it started (3pm) because it arrived about 2 or 3 hours before they thought it would. On top of that, PennDOT then had to scramble and bring in a lot of workers (since it was President's Day holiday and a lot were off). By then, it was too late. There was 2 or 3 inches of snow on all of the roads at the height of rush hour. Cars parked on the road or on the sides of roads. Snow continuing to fall until 10pm at a rate of about 1 inch per hour. Disaster all around that made my trip home three hours.

But, I got home in one piece and the neighbor checked in on Roxy. So, all was well.

As this was unfolding, Beth's flight (supposed to land around midnight) got rerouted to Detroit because Pittsburgh had to close down the runways for a bit because they couldn't keep up with the snow. Since Detroit was 'close' they ended up letting the plane refuel and continue to Pittsburgh. She got to the airport around 2 or 2:30am. By the time she dug out her car and got home (roads still had a layer of snow on them) it was 4:30am.

We ended up having school cancelled today. It was good because I was able to catch up on sleep because I was up until midnight trying to figure out where Beth's flight was going and if she needed to get a hotel by the Detroit airport.

Another bullet blog will be saved for another day to update training, college hoops, spring training, family get-togethers, and all the boring thrilling details (yeah right) during my "what I did on my solo weekend."

Bullet Blog

After my 18-day blog streak in January, things have seemed to slow down here in February. Oh wait, I haven't written a blog YET in February. Oops! Here's some catching up:

*Most of the time has been working with the track teams. The district championship is this upcoming weekend. Looking forward to seeing great performances and increase the number of athletes qualifying for the indoor state meet.

*Running has been going well. The run Thursday was COLD, windchill below zero. I found that wearing socks OVER your gloves does a good job keeping the hands warm. If only I had kept my Steelers' playoff beard - the chin and jawline were a little raw by the end. Today's 17-miler capped off a 46-mile week. Earlier in the week, I had a 9 mile run with 4 miles at 6:10 pace. That hurt, but I can feel that I'm getting stronger. I was able to hold 7:30 pace for the 17 miles today. I may be racing in a few weekends, so we'll see if this fitness translates to the race.

*Also on the running front, the teachers from my school and the alumni group from Elizabethtown College are moving along with their training. This is the toughest time to motivate non-veteran runners, but I just keep trying to push them on so they can reach their goals on race days.

*Our Etown alumni group also picked up a sponsor for race day. Alumnus Sarah Lanphier started a granola mix company called Nuts About Granola and stepped up to support our group with a goodie bag. I asked Sarah about possibly connecting with Beth about the granola and it looks like they're setting up a partnership, too. Beth reviewed the granola HERE and it's good stuff!

*Past halfway to my fundraising goal for the Alzheimer's Association. Thanks again to all who have donated and shared stories! If you feel moved to do so, you can provide a donation online HERE.

*Beth's heading to Tucson this week with some training partners to get out of this snow and get some legitimate outdoor training, especially on the bike. Thanks again to Jen & Jerome for providing the lodging. It'll be Roxy and I holding down the fort, so hopefully we don't get into too much trouble. My weekend already has the all-day track meet Saturday and a family birthday party Sunday afternoon.

*On the college basketball front, Arizona's creeping up in the polls (16th last week) and is in 1st place in the weak Pac-10. Things are looking good for their tournament chances this year. Davidson is starting to come around. While they still have a sub-.500 conference record at 7-8, they be a couple of the conference leaders over the last few weeks and might just be putting it together at the right time for a SoCon tourney run. Penn State lost three in a row before a 24-point win against Northwestern today. The Nittany Lions are probably on the outside looking in if the tournament started today, but they've still got a handful of games agains ranked opponents plus the Big Ten tournament to improve their resume.

*The Steelers gave a good effort in the Super Bowl, but had too many turnovers at the wrong times. And, credit Green Bay for turning all three TO's into touchdowns. There's always next year I guess (like I said back in October of 1992 with the Pirates...)

*Speaking of Pirates, spring training starts Monday. Woo-hoo!

*Beth's new triathlon team, Ballou Skies, had a photoshoot this week at photo studio that used to be a firehouse and now currently doubles as the Roberto Clemente Museum. Lots of great photos and stories from there, but that'll have to be another post.

It's Coming!

Before the main story, thank you again to all who have donated to the Alzheimer's Association on my behalf. It is so exciting and humbling to see that I have reached nearly half of my goal and it's only January 31st!

I am so appreciative of the support from many and I also have learned a lot about how Alzheimer's affects families terribly from some of the stories people have shared with me. How emotionally painful it is to see a family member in that state. If you have a story to share, I would love to add it to my mental file.

As always, if you find it in your heart and budget to donate, I would be greatly honored. You can click on the link on the side or click here.

I don't want to get too preachy, but I liked a verse our pastor shared during the message last weekend about giving money. It was about Moses and the Israelites after they left Egypt. Moses spoke to the people about bringing offerings. He said in Exodus 35:20-21:

20 Then the whole Israelite community withdrew from Moses’ presence, 21 and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved them came and brought an offering to the LORD for the work on the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the sacred garments.

That's been my whole approach with seeking donations. I don't want to pressure people. If they want to donate to this cause, great. If not, that's fine too.

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The newest storm of the century is approaching as we speak. Hysteria has been created in the media. Green (rain) is good. Pink (sleet/freezing rain) can get dicey. Blue (snow) sounds like it'll mostly stay north of Pittsburgh. I'm seeing reports online about how Chicago and the midwest is getting pounded pretty good. School's even delayed already for Tuesday.

From my vantage point, it's looking like we'll have an icy Tuesday morning and then it will change over to rain, get a little icy again Tuesday night and then go away. We'll see how things turn out I suppose.

Here's an optical illusion for you--icicles forming upward. Isn't that called stalactites or stalagmites? I always get those two confused.

What happened is the icicles were forming, but then the snow that was on top of the overhang began to shift forward as temperatures warmed up. For some reason, the snow stuck together and curled around, causing the icicles to be facing upward.

Not that we ran out and got groceries due to the storm, but Sunday was when I went to get groceries. For entertainment purposes, I snapped a few photos of our our weekly cyclical pattern:

Refrigerator full.

Two people training many, many hours per week consume/devour the food, leaving the refrigerator barren.

Go to the grocery store and load up the cart to the top (even though it's only for two people).

Refrigerator is replenished. Repeat once weekly.

In other news, the Steelers are now in Dallas getting ready for the Super Bowl against Marit's Green Bay Packers (Sorry to Jen H's Bears). The picture is one I took driving home as Heinz Field prepared for a Steeler send-off rally last Friday.

Looks like a pretty evenly-matched game and will be interesting to see what big plays make the difference. Sitting back, I definitely think that Steelers fans are fortunate to have such a great franchise. Eight Super Bowls in 37 years. That's one appearance in less than every five years. Some NFL teams haven't made it. Ever.

Then, there's my beloved Buccos who won three NL East titles in a row from 1990-1992. Until...

They were a Francisco Cabrera cheap hit (and poor Barry Bonds throw) away from making it to the World Series in 1992. In my youthful ignorance of seeing the Steelers success and the Pens win two Stanley Cups in a row with Mario & company, I just assumed the Pirates would be back competing for a World Series in another year or two. 18 years later...

I was sharing that story with a student on the track team. I told him to appreciate the Steelers being back in the Super Bowl for the third time in six years. To appreciate the Penguins making it to back-to-back Stanley Cup finals (and having some of the best players in the NHL). It may not always be like this! (Okay, I feel old now)

We were at Robert Morris University last weekend for a track meet. To say the athletes were packed into the Sewell Center like sardines is insulting to sardines.

It was a good meet, the jumping is coming along--not that they get to practice jumping into sand during the week. I guess they could jump into snow?

I had a chance to run with Beth on Sunday as our training schedules meshed. It's been a few weeks for our weekend long run to match up. I have been following my marathon training plan to a T and four weeks in I haven't missed a workout. Prior to this regimented training, here's how my training was set up--especially on the weekends:

Beth: How far are you running today?

Me: I don't know. How about you?

Beth: I'm running ____ miles (or for _____ minutes).

Me: Okay, I'll do that, too.

That was that. And that's how a lot of my bike training for my half ironman went last summer, too.

Stay safe out there if you have to travel with the bad weather coming!

Progress

Progress...

*In my first attempt at serious fund-raising. It's coming along. I made my first round of directed emails to solicit donations for the Alzheimer's Association and it went well. For those of you who responded, thanks so much for the generosity. I'm already over 1/4 of the way towards my goal of raising $1,000. If you are interested in donating, you can follow the link here.

If you haven't heard from me yet about it, you probably will some time in the next three months. :) Thank you in advance!

*On the college basketball front. My three teams are definitely at different stages:

Arizona (15-4, 4-2 Pac-10) - worked their way into the rankings this past week, but then went out and lost to #20 Washington on Thursday. As long as they maintain their current efforts, Sean Miller's team should be in a position to start a new NCAA tournament appearance streak.

Penn State (10-8, 3-4 Big Ten) - seems like they're playing a ranked team every night out. After edging out #19 MSU and then #16 Illinois, they lost by 3 to now #1 Ohio State and after that by 1 to #13 Purdue, both on the road. Maybe they're on to something and are no longer the doormat of the Big Ten. Maybe. They've still got Michigan and Northwestern (twice) but all the others are ranked teams. Maybe just maybe they can hold on and go .500 in conference play and sneak into the tournament.

Davidson (8-11, 2-6 Southern)- is in a clear rebuilding year. They kind of held it together last year after Stephen Curry left for the NBA. But, they are now in a position of getting younger guys in the starting lineup. In their top 7 minutes leaders, they have 1 senior, 4 sophomores, and two freshman (one of which starts). The next two years will certainly be better for Davidson.

*In my training. The marathon mileage is coming along. 32 miles last week and, after tomorrow's 13-miler, 36 this week. I swam on Tuesday and also this morning to sprinkle in some cross training. Slowly the swimming is improving. I definitely enjoy swimming. Just not a lot of it and I'm just not that fast. However, I was happy that I was able to execute a 2x10x100yd on 2 min (w/ 1min rest in between) today.

Progress.

Will the Streak End at 18?

My blog-writing? Yes. I'm blogged out and need a break for a few days.

The Pirates' number of consecutive losing seasons? Probably not, unless they get some better pitching this summer.

Good night.