Real Leadership

Have any of you ever thought how this life would be if we had no leaders? No one to inspire, or motivate us. Thank goodness life is not like that. We all have leaders, don't we. People like our modern day or scriptural prophets, and the General Authorities. Maybe our local church leaders. Captains of industry, sports stars, military hero's, or even fictional leaders like Yoda or Captain Kirk inspire us to be better than we thought we could be. Personally, I regard common people who stage enormous, courageous efforts everyday in pursuit of lofty goals and dreams are some of the most inspirational leaders I will ever know. To this end I want to talk about a leader who has done so much for my wife and I that "thank you" just doesn't cover how I feel. She has strengthened our marriage by giving my wife and I goals and dreams for the future. Her motivation propelled my wife and I into accomplishing goals that not long ago either of us would have comprehended doing, and continues this day to inspire us to even greater goals for our future. I will be forever grateful to this leader for being my escort and support during my first 5k when Sylvia couldn't because of her first foot surgery, or stay with me at the hospital during her second surgery. You all have probably figured out by now that the leader I want to salute and give a shout out to is the team captain of Pink Princess Racing, and our very dear friend and "sister" Maura Prince. Her raw determination to accomplish her extremely lofty goal of running a half marathon is in a word, INCREDIBLE. Her example of leadership to us in our teams is very inspirational, and I can't wait to witness that glorious, life changing moment when we wildly welcome her back after she crosses the finish line on that day. It is going to be a great day indeed Other notable events for that weekend will be:
. Sylvia's first 5k since recovering from foot surgery.
. my first Flying Pig 5k and second ever 5k event. ( this time I'm going with Sylvia and can't wait to finally finish a 5k along side her.)
. and the main event, Maura and Mikayla Prince's first ever half marathon.
Sylvia and I joke that all this is Maura's "fault, but Sylvia and I couldn't be happier that the truly God given blessing that is Pink Princess and Silver Knight racing has become such a huge part of our lives. And we have one very special friend to thank for it. The original Pink Princess, Maura. I finished the Turkey Trot in 1 hour 15 minutes. My goal for the Pig is 1:05. I know I can do it. We have a great example to follow. Lastly, I want to wish the teams the very best of luck at this years Pig, especially Maura and Mikayla in the half marathon.

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Glimpses of Greatness

Anyone who knows me knows how much I absolutely love a good race. Last weekend was no exception at the running of the annual Jenni Evans road race. Pink Princess fielded three of its best at this years race and they were AWESOME. Mikayla was first back, and as I said, "she crossed the line like she was in a car." She looked like she had just run a 100 yard dash as she completed her 3.2 mile run. The kid is a great runner Not to be outdone by his sister, Tanner came by about a minute or two later, smiling and waving as he ran by Sylvia and I on his way to the finish line. (Sylvia sat this event out due to a sore foot in hopes of nursing it back to health for the Black Squirrel 5k next month in Glendale.) A few minutes later, around the bend and up the hill came a hard charging Maura, running with all her strength towards a very impressive top 5 finish. What was the true beauty of Maura's run that day was that a couple of days prior to the race she had a very poor training run at Winton Woods which left her a little discouraged, This in mind, after she had such a good strong finish her smile was beaming and her overflowing happiness was an absolute joy to witness as well as be part of. So once again I say " Atta - girl Sis I couldn't be prouder of you. Once again you stood up to your challenge, and totally destroyed it. That thought in mind I just want to touch upon a moment in time that changed me. This didn't even involve our team. After Sylvia and our team left to go to the starting line, I went to find a place to sit while I waited for Syl to come and rejoin me for the finish of the race. I came across a young man, I would say he was in his early to mid twenties. He had a learning disability and wore braces on both of his knees, making his stride slow and quite awkward. Oh, did I say that he was also wearing a runners number bib? HE WAS A RACE ENTERANT. Although he was short in stature, he was giant in my eyes. I will never forget what I thought was superhuman bravery in this one lone individual. As I came to him I commended his courage for entering the race. He thanked me and asked me if I knew where the starting line was. He then left to go start the race. I never heard how he finished or even saw him again on Saturday, and I will more than likely not see him again, but I think now that every time I don't want to work out or walk that extra 10th the image of this one person is going to be with me. If there is one thing that this brief encounter said to me, It would be "Stop whining and do it ." or maybe "You have no reason to complain."

Flies are people too

Hey friends. I come to you today still sobered from the blatant act of horrific violence against an innocent creature that I witnessed a week ago. I now am outraged with the members of P.E.T.A. that our president during a Sunday morning political interview TV show would have the audacity and nerve to (gasp) kill a fly. Think of that poor creature, just innocently buzzing around looking for something dirty to land on, having his life so brutally cut short by our, I mean your elected leader. Just think about the poor fly's hundreds of now fatherless children that will never get the joy of seeing daddy come home again just because someone felt like swatting him.

I'd keep going on this subject, but Im crying too hard now and I'm afraid my tears will short out my keyboard.

I'm sure glad P.E.T.A. was here to teach me that a fly was infact an animal that can be abused.

I have heard P.E.T.A. is now organizing a candle light vigil in this fly's memory at the new houefly habitat at the Cincinnati zoo. I will not be attending however because I've heard that I am being brought up on domestic terrorism charges for the hundreds of flies I've killed in my lifetime.

GET A GRIP PETA. It was just a fly.

?????????

"You think?"

wow

"What a day" There was a song released by Whitney Houston several years ago that said; "Give me one moment in time. When I'm more than I thought I could be." I've never really listened to or particularly enjoyed her music before, but after last Saturday this song now has a very special place in my heart........Because I experienced it. Over the last couple of months I've had the pleasure of watching Sylvia and Maura train for the Flying Pig. It was so inspirational and thrilling to be able to watch my beautiful "sister from another mother" mold my precious eternal best friend, and companion into a powerful, healthy, ambitious woman ready to take on anything life could throw at her. This picture shows one of those moments in time. I will not forget the pride that swelled in my chest as I stood and watched these two beautiful women jog towards me on one of our final training sessions prior to the Pig. Then came the big morning. It was a great morning, filled with fun and anticipation as the team gathered for the beginning of the 10k event and the performance by "The Three 10ers."


They were so primed and ready for their event as we all said our goodbyes, good lucks, and shared some hugs before sending them to their starting grid for a special treat. A pre-race stretch with Denise Austin. It was so wonderful to see how well these women did in their event. All three finished very respectably with Maura and Mikayla smashing their previous personal bests and Maura's sister-in -law Rhonda setting the bar very high for a long, promising racing career. ( she is a very experienced runner, but this was her first race.) Then came the sad part of the day when we went to the finish "swine" for the end of their event. Due to some weird rule change on the part of the event organizers we found the finish line area completely fenced off from spectators.
Because of this rule change, I was unable to go to the starting line again, so I said my goodbyes and good lucks with just one other special request. With a tear in my eye I said to Maura just one thing, " Take care of her for me." With that I made my way back to our car for a bite of lunch and to wait for the 5k participants to reach the finish swine. I went back out later and found myself a good viewing spot as close to the finish as I could get. It was not to long before I was treated to a beautiful sight, that one moment in time that made the entire day in a word, glorious. Up the road came my sweetheart, and my dear sister from another mother, dressed a like and both had just beaming smiles as they jogged side by side towards the finish line, well ahead of Sylvia's previous best finish.

Sylvia went into this event with one basic goal in mind, finish in less than an hour eclipsing her previous best time of 1:02 set at last year's Run for the Nuns. I cheered wildly as these two beautiful ladies went past me towards the finish swine. It was then that it came, the one moment in time that overwhelmed me with total joy and will be in my memory forever. As I watched towards the finish line I suddenly saw both Sylvia and Maura's hands shoot upward in celebration as they crossed the finish line with the official time clock showing 58:03. They had done it! My happiness was overwhelming. I couldn't help but repeating to myself "They did it, dog gonnit they did it" as the tears flowed freely down my cheeks. Not only is my team, Pink Princess Racing truly my new racing heroes, but it re affirmed my resolve to be on the road with them in 2010. In my 46 years, I've never known the level of love and friendship that I know now.

(Bloggers note; after the adjusted time compensating for the time between when the race started and when Sylvia and Maura actually crossed the starting line was released, their time is now posted at an awsome 55:43. WAY TO GO LADIES.)

P2R, I love you.

2009 is going to be Beyawsome

Thank goodness for the news

Every now and then the evening news reports a story that you could have never figured out without an "expert's" help. Stories such as " If your outgoing bill payments exceed your income you will go into debt," or "This basketball game is going to come down to whichever team scores the most baskets." I just wanted to give special mention to a new one I heard a couple of days ago, "Today's small cars do not fare well in collisions with larger cars." Well, who would have thought? I always knew that large cars have never fared well in collisions with freight trains, but this one escaped me. I wonder how many times it took this overpaid study group running Hummer's into Scion's to figure this one out. You know, I think this phenomenon just might explain why when I had my accident last year, My SUV wasn't quite as damaged as the mid-sized, 4-door sedan I hit. I did hear however that they did find similar conclusions in last year's NFL linebacker colliding with a pee wee league running back. (except in Cincinnati), or the milatary's' M1 battle tank versus mini coopers experiment. Well, if their is one thing that I took from this earth shattering news that larger cars are potentially safer than small ones, it is this, I now know that when it comes time to replace our Kia, I need to do it with a car I can protect my beautiful wife in and feel safe driving. I think I found my choice

I am SO glad that their are so many groups out there dedicated to making our lives safer and easier and as they do, we have the evening news to make sure these breakthroughs are shared with all of us.

Oh yes I'm now proposing continuing these studies with a new experiment:

How well would a horse jockey fare in a collision with a sumo wrestler? I start looking for volunteers tomorrow

Hmmmmm.

While watching TV last night I saw a commercial advertising photos with the Easter Bunny available at Bass Pro Shops.

(thought:) Is it really very smart being in a Bass Pro Shop dressed as a rabbit?