List Post

A while back a blogger/tri pal of mine did a post where she listed small snippets of truth.  I respected the honesty of being able to do that.  It also took me back to my old middle school Xanga journal days where I once made a list of things I didn't like (which makes me sound pretty negative).  

Well, it's been a long time since Middle school and I feel that I'm a little more positive.  Here is some truth about me (but mostly just things I'm thinking about right now (this parenthesis was added halfway through 27)):

1. After a year and a half of dating I married Aimee.  We've been together 5 years and I definitely feel like she's a better person than me.

2. We have two girls.  Savannah and Addison.  Turning 4 and 2 in the coming months.

3. This post seems like a good way to post something without having to think

4. I'm tired.

5. And bored.

6. Not taking much time off in the winter has made it tough to keep training for races

7. Last week my friend Adam and I came to a conclusion: training sucks.

8. I bought my first adult suit today for an interview I have Tuesday.

9. I'm extremely nervous for the interview.  A little more nervous to get the position

10. Position is 7 hours away in Richmond, Virginia.  Everything about taking the job makes sense from the business stand point.  Richmond's economy is more stable.  There's more competition in the center.  The weather down there is a little better than Ohio during the cold months.  25 people have left the dept I'm trying to get into in the past couple years.  All for better positions in the company or for other companies.  This is not a bad thing.  People in this dept get equipped for better things, work wise.

11. I've always been proud that I can disconnect work from my life.  Work to live, not live to work.

12. The only negative of the position is that it is 7 hours away.  We've made friends and grown closer to the friends we already have.  Plus all of our family is here.  Plus our entire church family is here.

13. People looking from the outside in probably see it as me trying to climb the ladder.  Chasing more money.  I see it as an adventure.

14. I need to work at not caring about what people think about some things.  

15. I almost interviewed for a job in Pennsylvania a couple months back but after praying about it and talking it over it didn't feel right.

16. I'm at peace with this potential move and position change.  

17. I can hear my wife upstairs getting out of bed.  She's not going to like seeing herself sleeping in an instagram video I made today...

18. When I was 18 I almost moved to New Jersey.  Until I met Aimee I wish I would have moved.

19. Today is my mom's birthday.

20. Friday would have been my dad's birthday.

21. I would have liked my dad to meet Aimee, my daughters, and my nephews/niece.

22. I smell

23. I have a hard time classifying friends and best friends.  I don't spend time with people I can't trust or rely on.

24. I could be more reliable

25. We caught one mouse in our kitchen and there's now another one.  I'm sick of fighting them.  Another reason to move out.

26. Our car isn't in the best shape. Won't be able to make too many VA to OH trips.  

27. There's a running club and minor league baseball team in Richmond.

28. Telling my mom about the position was the hardest thing I've done in a long time.  She didn't know I even applied for the PA position.

29. Now that my mom knows about the interview I don't care who finds out

30. I don't want anymore kids.

31. Other people don't believe that I don't want anymore kids.

32. Aimee has now sided with me about not having anymore kids.

33. Aimee is getting a cat if we move to Virginia.

34. Leaving our church is going to be tough.  

35. I'm talking like I got the job.  Nothing in life is guaranteed

36. I need to start bringing down my hopes so if I don't get it I'm not as upset.

37. I should have no problem with low hopes as a Cleveland sports fan.

38. Addisons new favorite show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, which is adding a little insult to injury...

39. I'm on computers WAY too much

40. I'm going to a Simon Pegg movie marathon on Thursday.  Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and World's End.  I can't wait.

41. I stopped adding animated GIFs to my posts because of an article I read about copy written photos.  

42. Paranoid

43. Savannah is sleeping under Addison's crib right now... Weirdo

44. Microwave went off.  Time to start dinner.

Thanks for reading.

Decisions

I'm not saying anything groundbreaking when I say that life is full of decisions.

Some decisions are easy.

For example, a new race is starting next April in the city I call home, Canton, Ohio.  It's a marathon/half marathon sponsored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame and they offered free race entries to all active and reserve military service members.  I am not one to take advantage of perks for military members but I couldn't turn this one down.  After ruling out the Cleveland Marathon for the next 5 years, due to my wife's birthday weekend being on race weekend, I wanted a spring marathon where I didn't have to travel.  Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Kalamazoo were my closest options until this gem was announced.  Registering was a no-brainer.

When corresponding with the race team about the military registration I even offered my services as a blogger.  Shameless, I know.  And as scripted as my description of the race may sound, they did not take me up on the offer, but I'll blog about it anyway.  Canton has had a bad history with races over the past year and a half so I'm hoping this race created for runners, by runners, will get the bad taste out of the community's mouth.

Visit them at http://www.hofmarathon.com/

There are also some decisions that are a bit more difficult.

This past weekend was the weekend that puts Canton on the map.  Canton is the birthplace of football and the home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  One weekend a year they induct new members into the hall of fame.  To celebrate, there are dinners, fireworks, a balloon festival, parade, and much more.  Saturday was the grand parade going down the center of Canton and my family and I go every year (even before the kids came around).  With this, and a few people being out of town, the team run was cancelled.  I planned to run later in the day due to the unseasonably cool weather we've been having (high in the 70's with little humidity (cha-ching!)).

Thursday my friend Daren (check out his link on the right side of the page titled Run Daren Run) texted me out of the blue.  He was going to be in Canton and wanted to run Saturday with the team.  D'oh...  I wanted to run but I promised my daughter we'd go to the parade.  I don't know if this is normal for 4 year olds, but she has a steal trap memory.  She remembers places we went to for birthday parties last year.  She remembers when we didn't go to a baseball game because she wasn't listening.  Plus, this year was a little different because I was giving my wife a break so she wasn't going to take them alone.  Over the past few weeks our kids haven't been sleeping great and she hasn't gotten the amount of sleep she's accustom to.

I opted for the best of both worlds option and we set up a 5 am group run.  Daren, Bryce, and me.  The plan for the morning was 15 miles and the forecast called for rain all morning.  I didn't think the parade would even happen.  The run was, in a word, wet.  Team runs go on a combination of 5 and 3 mile loops.  A little over a mile is on unlit trails.  This is a non issue on 8 am runs but rainy and 545 in the morning on dark trails is not the best combo.  While I was hopping to avoid puddles, Daren and Bryce were taking turns splashing each other.  It only took one 5 mile loop for Daren to fit into the Team Dork mold.  On the second lap, meteorologists in Northeast Ohio looked pretty foolish because the rain halted.  For once I was prepared for such a situation because I told Bryce and Daren I'd duck out at 10 miles if I thought the parade would go on.

10 miles done and I took the girls to the parade.  I'm not a huge picture taker.  Being married to a photographer, who is the daughter of another photographer, does that to a man.  I've started to appreciate the moments in life without requiring documentation.

On to the final decision I have yet to make, and hoping I don't have to make...

I've signed up for my first Olympic tri, which also happens to be my first open water swim tri.  Sunday I was back at the lake.  Unlike last week, I didn't have any moments of panic in the lake.  Mostly because I barely did any swimming.  When I did swim I was in a wetsuit, which was an interesting feeling (Interestingly awesome.  It's almost like I was floating).  A majority of the hour we spent there I was frustrated and mad at myself.  I looked out at the buoy in fear.  An irrational fear because I know how to swim.  Right before we left Bryce had seen enough and told me to swim out to the buoy.  Then he told me again.  And again.  And again.  Each time I stood there avoiding eye contact.  Defeated.  Stupid, I know.  Eventually I took the plunge and swam out to the buoy and back.  A little bit of the burden was lifted off my shoulders.  The gorilla on my back is now just a monkey.

While I feel more comfortable this week than I did the last, I found myself sitting at work today panicked.  That nervous beating in my chest rose up.  With this feeling I did what any reasonable person would do, mask my fear by making a joke on Twitter:

Is it normal to have heartpounding nerves over a month before a race? Will drowning disqualify me? #trichat
— Thomas Costello (@Runnin4h2o) August 5, 2013

A friend messaged me and told me that I may want to think about switching to the sprint distance for my first OWS.  I took absolutely no insult with this advice because when I was standing in the lake I thought to myself "maybe I should switch to the duathlon".  My second time in the water and I was talking about quitting.  That's not gonna happen.

So I have a decision to make, and I've given myself till September 1st to make it.  Switch to the sprint or stick to the goal of an olympic?

I'm really looking forward to that one day when I can look back at these posts and laugh.

My First Open Water Swim...

Sunday was a big day in the sport of triathlon.  There were events internationally and domestically with an Ironman competition in Switzerland and another in Lake Placid, New York.  The latter is a long term goal  for myself, in the sport, so I followed it from the time I woke up at 4:30 AM.  

Why on God's green earth would I wake up that early on a Sunday?  As the title of the post suggests, it was my first open water swim.  My alarm was set for 5 AM but my youngest had other plans...

Anywho, I wasn't too nervous for my first swim.  One could say I was comfortable with the idea.  With tweets like this going out at 5 in the morning, what triathlete wouldn't be excited to go out for a swim?

Starting the morning in transition at #IMLP pic.twitter.com/TXEPFE7fRa
— IRONMAN Triathlon (@IronmanTri) July 28, 2013

Before we get too far into Sunday I need to backtrack a bit to share how our Saturday run turned out.  Lack of a better word, it was great!  Ran a little over a half marathon and felt pretty good about it.  The weather was rainy and in the high 60s/low 70s.  Aside from a little sogginess, it was just about perfect.

Back to Sunday!

I made my way to Bryce's house to carpool to the site of the Portage Lakes Olympic tri in September.  The new Sunday morning swim team consisted of Bryce, James, Adam, and myself.  It was exactly a week from our triumphant North Canton Sprint Tri and excitement was on high.  Along with the excited feeling we were also a little cold.  Summer lasted a week in Ohio this year and it was back in the low 60s on swim morning.  Still looks nice in the pictures though:

Disclaimer: Conditions may be colder than they appear...

What you don't see in this pic are all the fishermen who were around that morning.  Some of them pretty close to the shore.  Walking down the hill to the water I could feel all of their bucket hat laden heads shifting their attention to us.  Almost as if it was like a scene in a movie where a group of people walk in a line in slow motion (usually out of a cloud of smoke, holding rifles).  Although I'm sure they weren't looking at us in awe.  If I were a betting man I'd say they were a bit upset that their calm fishing waters would be disrupted by a few swimming schlubs.

Bryce brought me a swim cap and Adam was gracious enough to offer me his extra wet-suit.  I'm a fan of training in race conditions so I opted out of the suit, thinking I wouldn't be using one on race day.  Once I got the cap suctioned on my head (and almost ripping off my eyebrows) we made our way into the lake.  The water was warmer than the out of water conditions.  It was nice.  The lake bottom felt like I was walking in mud which beats the alternative of walking on rocks.  

After receiving our briefing on the course from Adam I was off.  I'm not sure how much a swim cap helps but I felt like I was cutting through the water.  It was one of those days when you just feel good about your training.  With a little under two months till race-day this open water swimming stuff felt right.  For at least that first couple minutes...

This is when I made a mistake.  You can't see the ground through the mucky lake but I thought I was in relatively shallow water.  Curiosity took over and I stopped to stand.  (There are certain moments in life where you can feel drastic emotion changes.  This was one of them.)  I couldn't touch.  Excitement and effort turned into panic.  James asked if I was ok.  My initial response was "no" (which probably sounded like "blubublubNObublub").  After what felt like a couple days of struggle (less than 10 seconds) I started swimming towards shore.  A few seconds later I stood up.  

I'm about to give a hint to what I said when I stood up only because I'd like to stay transparent.  I'm not proud, or even excited, to share this but I was saying some stuff that would cause a bar of soap to go into my mouth if I had said it 20 years ago...  

After that brief moment I tried to swim a few more times but paranoia set in.  I'd swim a few strokes and I would stop to stand, with a mini panic attack happening prior to each abrupt stop in progress.  This went on for 15 to 20 minutes and I was done.  Tail between my legs, I walked back up to where we placed our equipment.  Panic turned into anger and I sat and sulked. 

Thanks to my friends for giving me a different perspective that snapped me out of my pity party.  It was simple really: I swam back to where I could stand.  January 1st I couldn't swim a few meters.  Today I have done 2 sprint tris and swim a couple thousand meters a week.  When I get panicked I need to remember that I can swim.  Not extremely fast or graceful, but I can swim.  I think I'm going to use that wet-suit though...

We'll be back out there on Sunday.  

Today I checked out the registration for the 2014 Lake Placid Ironman so I knew what info I'd need to register next year.(you need to sign up the day after the race if you hope to get a spot for the next year).  Pretty basic, aside from one spot:

Health insurance carrier and insurance policy number...

Gulp...  

2013 North Canton Sprint Tri: Recap and Reflections

Hello hello!

Pretty deep post title, eh?

This morning I competed in my second triathlon/multi-sport race ever.  Today was really the ending of a great weekend.  Let's take a look back, shall we!?

Friday was pretty lax.  The fam and I went out to dinner and waited for the balloon liftoff for the Football Hall of Fame Balloon Festival.  Unfortunately, no balloons came.  Due to some less than stellar conditions the balloons didn't lift off at all the entire weekend.  Major bummer.  I haven't gone out to watch the liftoff every year but it's cool just seeing them throughout the weekend.  Breaks up the monotony.  We were OK with heading home because we had a busy weekend ahead of us.

Saturday started off a little soggy.  Weather reports had rain starting at 11-12ish.  Our 8 am team run was safe.  On my way to our meet up spot it starts to downpour.  Weatherman fail.  The rain didn't slow us down though.  If anything, it was a welcome sight after last week's hazardously hot session.  Instead of following the training plan's recommendation of 14 miles, we did 5.  That was due to the tri being Sunday morning.  No use killing yourself before race day.  During our run two of us started to infiltrate the head of our friend James with talks of doing Sunday's tri.  It worked.  Beautifully.  We had recruited one more nut.

After our run I headed to my church's outdoor flea market event.  I went out to see a talented young kid named Jarrod.  He had handmade 100 bracelets with all of the money made going to Active:Water.

After picking up a couple for myself, I felt like I could run a marathon.  You don't have to run marathons or do an Ironman to help those in need.  Using your God given talents is what it's all about.  Way to go Jarrod!

Which brings us to today.  Sunday.  Race day.

I honestly didn't think I would be doing another triathlon this year.  Race entries aren't getting any less expensive and my kids have this bad habit of wanting three meals a day.  With some good budgeting and finance watching I was able to compete.

I can honestly say that I wasn't nervous for the race.  While my training hasn't been on plan like it should, I still felt in shape enough to get through a sprint tri.  Also, all four of us had family and friends there which made me feel like it would be easier.  I'm not used to having a cheering section.  We were in the second wave of swimmers in this pool swim tri.  After getting a minute to acclimate ourselves in the water we were off.  I pushed off and starting going much faster than I'm used to swimming.  In the first 50 meters I panicked a bit and stood up a couple times.  I wasn't breathing like I should.  At the first 50 meter turn around I stopped and took a deep breath to calm myself.  The panicky feeling subsided and I was able to continue with limited issue, aside from not being a great swimmer.

ACTION SHOT!!!

I would kick myself if I didn't stop and say hi to my beautiful girls.

Go daddy go!

Transitioning from the pool to the bike was smooth.  Since I don't have any of those new fangled clip pedals I did a quick dry off, threw on a shirt, tied up my kicks, put on my new bracelet,  slapped on my helmet, and I was on my way.  The bike portion was a 3 time loop for 10 miles or so.  Included in the 10 miles were two decent to difficult hills.  Thanks to Bryce installing a bike computer the night before I was able to see my speed.  The race didn't have an intricate timing system so I don't know how fast I did each leg.  I can say, with some confidence, that I averaged between 17-19 mph on the bike.  I was able to pass a few people too, which is always a little confidence booster.  Also, the volunteers were great.  All but a couple of them were extremely excited and cheering us racers on.  Thank race volunteers!  They deserve at least that one second of your race time!

Start of the bike leg.

Hey! I know him!

Go go go

Bryce and Adam killing it on their TT bicycles!

While dismounting from the bike I almost face planted.  ALMOST!  I acted like nothing happened and made my way to the transition rack.  On my way to the racks I had a big cheering section.  The section included my wife, the girls, and my mother-in-law.  Bryce, his family, and his parents.  Adam's wife Erin.  James' wife and 3 sons.  Plus our friend Shane and his wife and son came out to support us.  I can't thank all of them enough for cheering me, and the other guys, on.  Races are definitely easier when you have people you know there for you.  This transition also took no time for me.  I owe it all to not having clip pedals.  I took off my helmet, took a swig of water, kissed my wife, and off I went.  Kinda.  My legs were complete jello.  Right away someone from the first wave passed me up.  Not a great way to start off the run but I got used to people passing me by the end.  I stopped once to drink water, so I'm counting it as a win.  The run was a three lap cross-country course.  My second mile felt the best and towards the end of the third mile my quads were started to spazz out a bit.  No worries though.  The run ended on a high note.  Being the last one to finish out of the four of us had it's perks because I had three more people in my cheering section.  I'm sure the run was faster than I imagined it.  Running after swimming and biking doesn't even feel like running.  After my first lap I asked my wife if my legs were still on the bike...

I think I can I think I can

Adam finishing strong.  It looks like he's floating

Heading towards the finish.  Motorin'

 Some things I learned from this weekend:

- Another person's passion is contagious.  Even if they are much younger than you are..
- I need a tri kit.  There are some other pictures my wife has of me on the bike.  My shorts look like parachutes.  There's probably a reason most triathletes wear them...
- Need to get on the aero bars...
- The triathlon community is great.  I'm privileged to be a part of it.
- Through running and tri-ing my friendships have grown stronger and I've started a lot of new ones.  That alone makes the training and racing worth it...
- My wife is amazing.  She took photos, cheered me on, and watched 2 kids during the entire race.  Also a big thank you to my mother-in-law who was there helping Aimee.  Later at church she told me that she had a crummy week.  She almost didn't go but was glad she did.  Something about triathlons is exciting.  Even to those who aren't competing.

Myself, Adam, Bryce, and James.  Team Dork

HOT

Phew..

It's hot here...

16 days of measurable rainfall has transitioned into an official heat wave.  Today is day 3, or maybe 4, of days hitting in the 90s.  This does not include the heat index (humidity included with temperature).  Solid 90 degree days.  No A/C in my car is not making things much better.  I love sweating when  I'm working out.  It makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something.  Driving to work is not an accomplishment deserving of perspiration.  The other day my wife needed our car so my good friend Jermaine drove me to work.  He told me he was going to pick me up at 530 in the morning.  I headed out a couple minutes earlier to wait and just standing outside I was sweating.  The sun wasn't up yet!

I had to get that off my chest.  Maybe the weather is making me crabby?

I had a motivating run on Saturday, but not for the reasons you may think...

It was bad.

Marathon training hasn't gotten off to a great start.  I did ten miles a couple weeks back and felt OK.  Got through the run at 30 seconds faster per mile than my Cleveland Half Marathon PR pace.  I wanted to die at the end, but I felt like I was moving in the right direction.  Since then a funk seems to have take over my being.  Skipping workouts, sleeping in, getting caught up in everything else that life throws at me.

There was a race between that ten miler and Saturday's run.  The race was awesome.  It was on the 4th of July.  North Canton isn't a big town and it's not too small of a town.  Every 4th of July the race takes over the town.  It feels like everyone from the city is there.  I took part in the 5 miler.  Team Active:Water Canton also took the opportunity to get some team photos (minus some members who couldn't make it)

A photographer from the YMCA caught a good group pic.  Including the non running loved ones!

Go Team!

 My daughter also got into the running spirit by taking part in the firecracker run:

Hey Daddy.  Lets run!  The pure joy is beautiful

The run was good.  It was a little hot and it was day two of the measurable rain.  Luckily it held off for the races, aside from a drizzle here and there.  Here are a more pics from race day, plus one of me and my little runner later that day:

Action shot!

Running makes ya tired

Sweaty team picture afterwards

Love that girl.. Especially when she's acting like a goof ball. 

The weekend after the 4th I had a 12 mile run planned but my puking oldest daughter and a little less sick youngest daughter had other plans.  I could have fit a run in I'm sure but the funk fell upon me.  Which brings me to Saturday.  It was a week and a half since the July 4th run (wow, I haven't updated this thing in a while).  I hadn't had a good solid run following the race.  Or any run for that matter (I did get some swimming and biking in though).  There were 5 of us running the 12 miles that morning and we started normal enough.  Going about 9:10 a mile for the first couple.  It felt good but I wanted to dial it back a little bit since I hadn't run in a while.  Brought it down to 9:30 and that is when I fell back.  The group drifted ahead and Bryce yelled back asking if I was alright.  Then a little later would ask if I'm OK.  I wasn't.  I told them to go on without me, like some dramatic Steven Spielberg war drama.  Instead of doing all 12 I copped out and did about 9.

Yuck...

During the run I thought about something.  I thought about how people stake the claim that "well no one is perfect".  Usually after a mistake is made.You may hear this when you tell someone about a bad experience, possibly in distance running.  Maybe this thought came into my brain to help myself feel better.  I'm not striving to be perfect.  Only one person achieved that, and it wasn't by Himself.  Just because I can't be perfect doesn't mean I shouldn't strive for excellence.  Not in time, or placing in a race, but pursuing God's will, which is what this whole running thing is all about.

I would explain how I was feeling about running but a couple days later a friend posted a link that I'd like to share with you.  It describes things pretty well.  It's a little bit of a read, but it's got lots and lots of pictures!

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/running

Later on Saturday all I wanted to do was run.  Running as bad as I did made me want to get back out and crush the blerch.  Monday night, in the 80+ degree heat, I was able to pound out 4.5 miles at what felt like a good pace.  Things are definitely looking up. Take THAT blerch!

This weekend I'll be doing the North Canton YMCA Sprint Tri.  It's an outdoor pool swim and my second ever triathlon.  Let's do this!

Boston, Chicago, Hockey, Shoelaces, and Zambia, Africa...

Hello!

It's been a tough couple of weeks in terms of my running/working out.  Let's just say I've probably had as many good solid run workouts than I've had blog posts.  I've been tired.  I have two reasons for why I think this is the case:

1. HEAT! (not the Miami Heat, although that probably didn't help)  Summer has come in full force.  The last few runs have been in the high 70s - 80s.  I'm just not used to it yet.

2. I started training on something new at work this week.  For all but two hours out of my day I'm sitting in a class room listening to a trainer.  She's a great trainer, very energetic.  But there's only so many ways you can keep insurance interesting.  Sitting down and learning all day wears me out more than doing my actual job.

The heat could easily be helped if I actually woke up with my alarm clock and motivated myself to get out of the door.  Another part is maybe I'm just trying to do it all on my own.  It's hard to lose focus on why we do the things we do.

--------------------

Onto the title of this post.  Pretty random, but not really.

Next year I will be going to Zambia, Africa with members of my High Mill family and my awesome pal Daren, and his equally awesome wife Danielle, from Active:Water!  So the step of obedience to run for Active:Water is now turning into going to another continent to see the results of everyone who has raised money.  I will be there to help, learn, and spread the love of Christ.  Excitement on high!!

Also, I was asked to come on as a youth leader at my church.  Which is awesome.  For a couple years I had felt a call to mentor other guys.  Not because I think that I am a great role model.  I just want to be there for people.  I know what it was like being a teenager and I didn't particularly enjoy it lol.  I'm there to serve and be there for others.  I'm guessing I will learn a lot along the way.

                                                                 --------------------

Over the past week I've also found myself sucked into the Stanley Cup (which is the championship series in professional hockey).  It pitted the Chicago Blackhawks against the Boston Bruins.  I was pulling for the Bruins, although I'm a fan of both teams.  Since Cleveland has no big pro team I find that I can enjoy the sport more.  I don't have a horse in the race. Anyway, while watching the final game of the series I thought about running...

On a brief side note.  The end of the 6th game was friggen crazy.  CRAZY!  If you don't know what I'm talking about please just google it.  The talking heads in sports called it the best 90 seconds in sports all year and on the list of best of all time.

In a way running has a very close connection to both cities (especially for myself).  Chicago has one of the best marathons in the world, and it was the grounds of the first marathon I have run/completed.  I don't have to mention the connection Boston has to running.  That'd be just silly.  You could see fans wearing Boston Strong shirts.  They also had it on the boards around the ice.  It's easy to forget the feelings of that April 15th marathon day.  This doesn't mean we forget the ones who passed or were injured.  We just don't feel as strong of a connection as we may have had on that specific day.  Especially now that it's been over two months.

I'd like to do a little Boston giveaway.  I didn't want to do it right around the time of the event.  It felt like I would just be trying to pick up momentum for my blog, which is definitely not the reason this blog was started.

So, what am I giving away?

Shoe laces!

I have 4 pairs of Boston shoe laces. They say "We will run and we will remember 4-15-13".  

You don't have to share my blog page, follow me on Twitter, or friend me on Facebook.  I'd just like to give them away to anyone who would like to do something small to remember those ravaged by the senseless acts of violence on that day.

Just email me at thomascostello@activewater.org.  Provide your address.  Then I'll send them.

That was easy.

Thanks for reading.

Marathon training begins/Vacation recap

Hello kind sir or ma'am!

It has been quite a while since I've blogged, but for good reason.  I was on vacation!  With my wife!  Without the kids!!!

As nice as it was, we did miss the little buggers.  The week was spent in Outer Banks, NC (aka OBX).  Which, if you live in Ohio and have looked at bumper stickers, is the only place people around here go to on vacation.  We now know why!  It was great.  Temps in the mid 70s all week.  Waves crashing on the beach (Cold waves though.  The ocean was not very warm yet).  We did the touristy stuff like a dolphin tour, mini golf (I won), and some light shopping.  We also found a triathlon store called Outer Banks Tri Sports.  I bought some compression calf sleeves.  The woman running the store was super nice (like most people in the south). We also had donuts from Duck Donuts.  A made to order bakery shop.  Freshly made every time.  They were amazing.  To the point where I have not had a donut since we got home on Saturday, which says a lot.  We also met some friends who live in Virginia.  Turns out seeing people in person is much better than liking their stuff on Facebook.  Who knew!?

FRIENDS!!!

Side note: my wife is great!  She has tons of beautiful, endearing, qualities.  So many that I cannot share them all in a single blog post.  One of them is forgiveness.  Because I may or may not have lost my wedding ring on vacation...  I didn't even lose it swimming in the ocean or running dramatically on the beach.  I more than likely lost it sitting on the beach reading a book.  Since I've lost a lot of weight this year, my ring is quite loose on my finger.  Now I know what you're thinking "Why don't you get it re-sized?"  Well smarty britches.  I can't.  It's made of a substance from outer space called "tungsten".  It cannot be re-sized.  So there!

Another great thing about my wife, which I have mentioned before, is her flare for photography.  So I will shut my mouth about the vacation and let you soak in some sights from our trip:

Our place was directly across the street from the ocean.  Not half bad!

waiting to see some dolphins on our boat trip

THERE THEY ARE!!!!  We ended up seeing 40-50 dolphins.

VACATION!

My beautiful one legged wife!!

Maybe change my blog to: Modelling for h2o?  Eh?

OK.. maybe not..

I got behind the camera too.  Easy to take good pics when your wife is this gorgeous!

I love this woman so much.  Do you notice the two birds above us?  Symbolism?  Aimee says no.  Just birds..

The night before we left we went to a nice restaurant to celebrate our five year anniversary.  We had two days of food money to spend since we left a day early (storms were coming in).  The two of us don't drink much alcohol but we ended up spending 100 smackers on dinner without it on the bill (tip included).  Best steak/crab/shrimp combo I've ever had.  If you ever go to OBX, and want to go all out, go to the Colington Cafe.  You won't be dissapointed!

----------------------------------------TRAINING UPDATE----------------------------------------

I managed to run and bike a couple times on vacation.  Only bad thing about running/biking down there is how flat it was.  Where I live in Ohio we have some good hills.  Running on purely flat ground was weird, and frankly kinda boring.  Biking was even worse because I was in the same gear practically the whole time. YAWWWWNNNN.  I like conquering hills.  What can I say?  I'm crazy.  The last work out was a 10 mile bike straight into a run brick workout.  OBX is known for it's mileposts.  Every store or restaurant advertises their location by telling you the milepost.  I only intended on running 2 miles but one of the mileposts was missing.  The 2 miles turned to 4.  Luckily I was wearing my new compression calf sleeves.  They weren't sore a single bit after the workout.  I highly recommend them!

Tuesday was the official start to Akron marathon training for Active:Water.  I had a painful start...

I start by putting one foot in front of the other.  Once I transitioned from my walk to my run my knee starting hurting.  Badly.  I don't say this with pride but I was using some language I probably shouldn't have used.  It felt like a knife cutting down the middle of my knee cap.  Stopped me right in my tracks.  I ended up going a quarter mile or more of walking to attempting to run and back to walking before I could keep a good cadence up.  While it didn't hurt for the remaining 4.5 miles I could feel something was up.

In August I'm also doing my first olympic (intermediate) distance triathlon.  1500 meter swim, 24 mile bike, and 10k run (6.2ish miles).  So Wednesday I was in the pool.  Today I went out for another run.  I started up again to have close to the same amount of pain I had the last time.  This time I didn't stop, or use my potty mouth.  Once again things sorted out and I was able to run 4 good miles.

A part of me was nervous when I felt that pain.  Nervous about the future and not being able to run this upcoming race.  I honestly feel that I'm not injured.  It doesn't hurt while I'm sitting/walking/swimming or anything else.  Only when I run.  When people are doing something for the Kingdom there always seem to be things getting in the way.  Mental and physical distractions.  My thinking is someone wants me to get afraid, and it ain't God.  I'm going to pray this pain goes away and for the Lord's strength through these next few months.  I hope you can join me!

Also, the main reason this marathon is happening is to raise awareness for the world water crisis and funds for Active:Water.  Through this fund-raising people in Zambia, Africa will have access to clean drinking water, hygiene sources, and employment in keeping these wells up to standard.  Along with that also spreading the gospel and the love of Christ.  If you want more information visit www.activewater.org.  If you'd like to donate visit my page here.

Thanks for reading this War and Peace length post!