26.2

Just a little more than 7 years ago to the day I ran my first marathon.

Looking at that last sentence, I make it sound like I have run oodles and oodles of marathons – I have only run two.  But that is enough for me.  I guess the jury is still out if I will run any more . . . heck, the jury has yet to conclude on whether or not my knee will even let me.

But today I had two friends running the half marathon and one friend running the full marathon here in Tucson and I decided that was a great reason to go out and cheer the runners as they trudged through the seemingly endless race.  Having been in their shoes, I know how awesome it was to hear friends, family and especially complete strangers cheering me on.

I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of those friends.  Don’t get me wrong, I was not jealous of the grueling and strict training schedule that they had to stick to and I was not jealous of all the times they had to pass on a night out with friends because they had to run 6, or 16 miles the next day.  I most certainly was not jealous of the three to four hours of their Saturdays that had to be devoted to running.  Heck I was not even jealous of the 26 or 13 miles they had run prior.

But I was envious of that culminating moment at the end of the race, after four months of training and close to four hours of straight running; that moment when you cross the finish line and you realize that you did it!

So much determination on that young face.

It was an incredibly emotional, almost spiritual, experience. As you near the end of your first marathon you don’t notice anything except for the finish line.  I know I had friends and family cheering me on and I am sure that there were others cheering as I finished – I didn’t see them.  I could not hear anything. I could not feel anything. The only thing I could focus on was the end of the race.

Then I crossed the line and a sea of sounds and images flooded my senses. My mom had been late to the race and feared that she had missed my finish but happened to get to the finish line just seconds before I did. In a sea of strange faces looking for someone other than me, my mom’s familiar figure seemed to pop out from the crowd and I gravitated toward her and collapsed in her arms.

After miles and miles of forcing myself to keep putting one foot in front of the other, I didn’t have to do it any more!  As sounds, sights and smells continued to bombard my senses, the knowledge that I was finished was the best feeling in the world. I found myself overwhelmed and crying in my mom’s embrace.

 That is easily one of my top 5 favorite moments to date.

And I will never get to experience my first marathon again.  Don’t get me wrong, my second marathon was an amazing experience as well . . . but it wasn’t the same.  I knew what to expect and I was more prepared.  It wasn’t new.

Although I definitely enjoyed the actual race a lot more

Despite my melancholy, I was so happy that I got to share this moment with my friends and I hope that their first ½ and full marathons respectively were as great an experience as my first marathon was for me.  You all did outstanding!

Until next we meet.

#nosorelosers #nosorewinners

Today, as I was taking my dogs for a morning walk, I passed a house with a UA flag on a pole hung at half mast.  I found it a bit clever, perhaps a bit mellow dramatic, but clever none the less. It was, after all, a tough weekend to be a wildcat.  

Cue Taps.

Saturday marked the 86^th Territorial Cup and resulted in a 41-34 loss to ASU, which sent the trophy back up to Tempe.  It is one of the oldest college rivalries in the country and can get quite heated. So in an effort to signify the reflective somberness that currently resides at that particular house, they flew their UA flag at half mast.

Well done ASU; a hard fought and well deserved win for the Sun Devils.

That site got me thinking about the rivalry, the game, and the posts that I witnessed on facebook after the game was final.  As would be expected, the ASU fans were ecstatic and happily posting about the win while the UA fans were very quiet.  Not surprisingly, I witnessed many negative comments.  It always seems like the ASU fans are more likely to say something negative about UA or their fans, but maybe that is only because I am more aware of that fact as a UA fan.

                                Not going to lie, I have posted this video a time or two . . .

This is not to say that UA fans are immune to being negative and it is certainly is not to say that I have not been guilty of making a negative comment about ASU or their fans.  But as I get older, this part of the rivalry has begun to disgust me a bit.

I saw several people post that the best part of ASU winning was seeing all the somber faces in the UA student section . . .

The best part was the sight of sadness or unhappiness on the face of another human being.

‘Sandalmarks, now you are being a bit mellow dramatic.’

Maybe so, but where do we draw the line?  At what point does a rivalry go too far?  Sure, it very well could be all in good fun, but sometimes it appears all too serious.  If you are able to say negative things of something as insignificant as a group of people that root for the other team, doesn’t that make it easier for you to say negative things about people that differ from you in other ways?

I’m not going to pretend that I know the exact location of where that line should be drawn and I don’t necessarily think it is the same in every instance.  If you have a friend that is a fan of the other team and you know they can appreciate a bit of mutual ribbing, then I don’t see the harm. 

I guess it comes down to the golden rule (as it usually does). Think about what you are going to say.  How would you feel if someone said the same thing to you?  And when in doubt, stay positive.

Oh, and in regard to the above video - I know many an ASU student/graduate that is exponentially smarter than I am.

Until next we meet.

And This Was My Happy Face!

My cousin’s boyfriend got season tickets to see the UA basketball games.  She couldn’t make the first exhibition game so he invited me instead.  I was like a kid in a candy store!  I’ve seen many UA games on television, and even a few live games too, but I have never been so close (I was in the 7^th row!).

This was my view!

And this was my happy face!

I have been a fan of the Wildcats since Steve Kerr came to talk to my school in 4^th grade.  I’m not going to lie, when he came I wasn’t very into the sport and I didn’t understand why everyone was making a big deal about him coming.  I actually have a vague memory of being irritated because his talk cut out something I was looking forward to doing.  Why was everyone getting all crazy about getting his autograph on their basketball?!  If I could go back in time, one thing I would do is buy my younger self a basketball and force him to get it signed by Steve Kerr.

That's great, now can we leave?!
I have sand rubies to collect.

But when he spoke there was just something about the passion he spoke with; I totally got caught up in the excitement that everyone else was exuding and I was hooked!  I was a fan for life - I guess it didn’t hurt that they made it to the final four for the first time later that year. Okay, we probably could have done without this though:

I made my parents buy me a hoop and pretended I was Steve Kerr!  I was pretty sure I was going to be an NBA star (too bad no one told my 5’9” frame that).

So to be able to see the team play for the first time where I had a better view of the actual game than looking up at the jumbotron was a highlight of my fandom.  They crushed Humbolt State by over 40 points! Grant it, Humbolt State is no Duke, but it is a step in the right direction toward a potentially awesome season. People are calling the UA freshman class the best in the nation this year. My cousin’s boyfriend says that I can have my cousin’s ticket anytime she is unable to go to the game.  The idea that I might be able to watch a few more games this season from such a great vantage makes me positively giddy.

Yayyyy!

Until next we meet.

A Not So Typical Day in the Life of Sandalmarks

A couple of weeks ago I went to LA for the HOBY Albert Schweitzer Leadership Awards Dinner. What an amazing experience that was?!  I had the opportunity to meet so many amazing people that are doing incredible things to make our local and global community a better place.  Nights like that serve to remind me that there are just as many people (if not more) out there doing good things than there are bad and if you do not believe that, it is only because the media focuses on the negative and you should spend more time actively searching for those stories.

An alumnus from Arizona was being honored and several of us from the Arizona board went to support him. Over the last six years he has raised over $300,000 for the Animal Assisted Therapy Program at the Phoenix Children’s Hospital with a charity golf tournament that he started. And he was just one of four young alumni being honored that night.

Way to go Michael!  You are a rock star!!

 I also helped put together a slideshow of what other alumni in the area have been doing to make a positive difference in their community since their HOBY experience.  As I was reading through all the mission trips to orphanages, building houses for poor communities, volunteering at hospitals and researching cures for diseases that people have been doing I couldn’t help but be proud of the organization that has been a huge part of my life.

But hearing about all those great things was not what made the experience amazing.  It is HOBY, that is just what our alumni do.  I flew over there for the night, rented a fancy car, and dressed up for a dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel.  For a night it felt like I was living someone else’s life; someone important.

Now most of you that read this are family and friends and I am sure that you will argue that I am important, but that is not what I am talking about.  I mean I felt like I was an important person to everyone else.  The whole experience was very surreal.

I even got a photo with Rainn Wilson (he hosted the dinner).  I was rubbing elbows with celebrities, CEOs, big time lawyers, and professional basketball owners; that is definitely not my life.

Rainn did an incredible job as MC!

This song was the theme song for the entire experience.  I've heard it before, but the local radio stations don’t play it that much anymore here.  However, the LA station I happened upon in my fancy Ford Fusion (don’t mock me, it had leather – that’s fancy to me) played that song several times while I was there and the lyrics and overall tone of the song accented the air of the experience.

Until next we meet

No Matter who wins, Sandalmarks loses

This time of the year I always feel like I am caught in the middle.  Sometimes I wonder if I am the only one that feels this way . . . with the growing number of independents out there that seems hard to believe.

Once again this is a crazy, polarized election season.  My family and older friends lean toward the republican base and my co-workers and newer friends lean toward the democratic base.  And me?  Well we have already discussed my thoughts and not much has changed (Turns out that I have not really posted about my political beliefs - mainly because I don't really like talking about politics. So the Cliff Notes version is as follows:  I believe the two party system is flawed and currently only serves to deepen the divide between Americans.  I don't believe we are getting the best candidate for a position when all you have to do is say, 'vote for me, because you don't want the other guy to get elected.')

I will be so happy when tomorrow has finally arrived.

It never fails that both factions of my world get caught up in either parties propaganda and begin to demonize the other side.  It kind of cuts me emotionally every election because I care deeply for people on both sides.  So when I hear someone say something negative about people that side with one party or the other, it is one person I care about saying hurtful things toward someone else that I care about.

The few times I have voiced my concerns have rarely turned out well.  People believe so strongly in their political leaning that they almost always get the impression that I am attacking them.  I am truly at a loss as to how to fix the perceived political polarization problem (the alliteration was unintended, but I like it!) without offending someone, so I just sit back and listen to the negative and do my best to not be dragged into it.

. . . Sometimes I succeed . . . and sometimes I fail.

Tomorrow it will finally end.  However, no matter who wins tonight, I will get to spend the next four years hearing how horrible things are from the losing side.  So no matter who wins, Sandalmarks loses.

Until next we meet.

Do you really want to know how many boogers I flicked today?

It has been a while since I have even looked at this, yet alone written an entry.  There is no one reason why this has happened, but a mix of several events going on in my life and feelings that are rattling around in my brain.  Perhaps there is a chance I will explain them all here, however there is also a chance that I will decide not to discuss specific things.

Basically it comes down to having a lot of things taking place in my life at the moment.  I’m a bit on the tired side at the moment and when I do have a spare moment I either want to unwind and catch up on some of my shows, or I do not want to openly discuss what is going on in my head at the moment.

It would appear that I am having a crisis of faith with regard to my concept of blogging. I like to give the impression that I am an open book; that I am brave and willing to say whatever I am thinking.  But is it really appropriate to say everything that is going on in your life?  Isn’t it okay to keep a few things to yourself?  Does the world need to know every silly and mundane thing that is going on in your life?  Is it really necessary to confess every dark or personal thought that you have to anyone with a modem and the right key words in a search engine?

It most certainly isn’t for a lack of ideas for entries, but lately most of my ideas have fallen into three categories: complicated or time consuming, potential to open a Pandora’s Box of questions/concerns, or the potential to hurt someone’s feelings.

I have wanted to blog a lot more about music.  I want to give you all sorts of music lists and explain why you all should be listening to them.  But they all take time to research and time is something that I just haven’t had lately.

I have had a lot of other ideas of things to talk about that are going on in my life at the moment, but the problem is I do not know the end of the story yet.  So if I were to write about them, all it would do is cause my friends and family to be unnecessarily concerned for me, or even worse, ask me hundreds of questions of which I have no answers.

And the most important one for me is that I have had a few topics that I am pretty sure will hurt feelings if I were to write about them. The youth leadership organization I volunteer for often does an activity to see what color leader they all are.  I am most certainly a ‘Blue’ leader.  I like to make sure everyone is content, working together and enjoying themselves.  I want everyone to be happy; I especially do not like it when I do something that makes someone unhappy.  So it is especially hard for me to say something that is going to hurt someone’s feelings, especially if it is insignificant and does not need to be said.

So I have gone back and forth on whether or not I am going to write about some of the topics that fall in the last two categories.  I don’t know what the final answer will be, but I know that I will take the next month or so to do more blogs that do not fall under any of these categories in an effort to catch up on my goal for this year.

Until next we meet.

A Merry International Talk Like a Pirate Day to Ye!

Ahoy and avast to all me mates and scurvy crew out there!  This be a day o’ good cheer and the smell o’ salt, she be thick in tha wind’s eye.  Arrrr, that be meanin’ only one thing; that it be time for me to plunder and pillage ‘cross tha seven seas ‘n’ back again!

Sure as it black’s tha white o’ me eyes, I am a man o’ sweet trade and tha joys from this holiday be better than a cannonball to tha gut!

‘Twould be me honor if ye were to join me in changin’ yer speech.  But alas, sure as I understand it be not easy to pick up a new language, I be here to offer me hand in joining me on such a venture:

Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day and I hope that you join me on this day to choose the most scurvy words you can find when you are with your friends, family and co-workers.  I understand it can be difficult to do such a thing and I’ve had many a friend, myself included, that has found themselves at a loss of words on this day.  So I am here to help!

It doesn’t have to be that hard, but if you are not careful it could easily end up being a day that you just say ‘aarrrrr’ a lot.  While there is certainly nothing wrong with this, I thought I would offer my expertise to anyone that would like to have a richer experience on this day.

While Arrrr, Argh or Yargh (depending on what pirate dialect you wish to speak) is a wonderful catch all term to use in just about any occasion, all it takes is a few other terms (most of them you already know) and you are good to go!

Do the Navy Seals signals, come on! . . . I only know the Air Force signals

 Probably the simplest thing you can do is replace ‘is’ and ‘am’ with ‘be’;  this be a quick and dirty way to show that I be a man of the seas!

The next easiest thing you can do is to drop the last letter in certain word; especially the ‘g’ in present participles and gerunds.  Arrrr, I be sailin’ for the high seas in the morrow.

This is also your chance to break out any nautical terms that you know.  When your boss tells you to do something say, ‘Aye, Aye sir’. If you are pointing out something to the left say port or port side and anything to the right is the starboard or starboard side.  So if Beyonce was a pirate she would say, ‘to the port, to the port, all that you be ownin’ be in a box to the port.’

A pirate does not <3 ANYTHING!

Nevermind, I'll pillage me own ring!  Arrr!

 Another easy thing to do is to call anything that you are eating or about to eat breadfruit or hard tack.  Yes, the sticklers out there will tell you that breadfruit and hard tack are specific items of food and to call everything you eat one of these terms would be like calling steak, potatoes, green beans and yams all oranges.  But to them I say, lighten up. This is just for fun.  If you take everything so serious you are likely to die of a brain aneurysm. However, if you take what these people say to heart than ‘belly timber’ is a good catch all term for food.

The final touches to any good pirate speak is the use of a couple catch phrases or sayings.  Take, for instance, the term I used in my intro, ‘blacks the white of my eyes’. All that means is that I am insisting to you all that I am telling you the truth.  But it sounds much cooler to say, sure as it blacks tha white’s o’ me eyes, I be prepared to party like a pirate!

So here are a few that you can use courtesy of The Pirate Dictionary, by TerryBreverton:

Paddy’s hurricane: calm, or quiet

Irish pennants: The results of lazy work

Born under a threepenny-halfpenny blanket: worthless

Piss money against the wall: To waste money on alcohol (As if that is possible!)

So with that, it be me sincerest hope that ye all have a most pleasant o’ days on this most sacred and holy o’ days ‘n’ may tha wind be always at yer back!

‘til next we be meetin’