Birthday Challenge

Today, November 20th, 2008, I turned 36. I like numbers, so if you don’t, then skip to the next paragraph. Thirty-six years equates to 432 months. That’s 1,878 weeks and 3 days. I’ve made it through 9 leap years. Fitness has been a big part of who I am for nearly as long as I’ve been alive. Training or racing has taken me to most of the 41 states and 9 countries I’ve visited. Things haven’t always been easy, but I feel blessed for the challenges and opportunities.

That's my sis. She got me a gift card to Olive Garden. Looks like I'll be getting some delicious Chicken Scampi for free next time.

Every year on my birthday, I make it an opportunity to prove myself better than I was the year before. All too often I hear people say they can’t do now the things they were able to do when they were younger. They explain to me that I’ll understand when I get to be their age. Well, many of those times, I am their age. I know there will come a year that I just can’t trump the things I was able to do before. I don’t know when that day will come, but Father Time is going to have his work cut out when it comes to keeping me from my goal. Even after that happens, I’ll fight back and do the best I can. I find great motivation in athletes like Jeff Corkill and June Machala. For me, a new year’s resolution is set one birthday and tested the next.

This year’s test was to run the Eastern State Hospital loop around Medical Lake faster than I ever have. The time to beat was 19:38.0 (5:44.44/mile) for a somewhat challenging 3.42 miles. I chose that instead of the Medical Lake loop because I honestly wasn’t sure I was in good enough shape to beat the best of my PRs. If I failed, then I’d have to find another challenge to complete before the end of the day that trumps a past personal best. As you can imagine, after a failed run PR, I’d have to choose a different sport since my legs would be fried. That happened last year and I really wanted to get it done on my first try so I could relax and enjoy the day.

Pastor Steve (step dad), Mom (aka Linda), Carlene and MyAmanda. We like Christmas, but Amanda really likes Christmas. Eventually we may have Christmas all year long.

With many triathletes in the area, it seemed best to put out an open invitation to anyone who would be willing to come run the course with me. I was going to be hurting and the chances of quitting are lesser when others are there to witness it. Having some strong competition was important too, so I personally invited a few fast guys. I was hoping I wouldn’t be the sad little kid you see in the movies that has a birthday party that nobody came to because they found a better party with the popular kid in school.

Thursday morning came and I eagerly checked for phone, blog, forum or e-mail messages, but came up empty. It looked like I would be doing this alone until I got a call from Evan Sims. He was on his way out. One guy a little faster than I am was all the challenge I needed and lifted my spirits. Evan was getting a tour of the new landscaping when another guy named David showed up. I’ve seen him running around the lake and saw him at the grocery store last night, so I asked him too. He didn’t seem all that fast or interested in running with me, but I was hoping someone would show up so I didn’t have to feel like a total social pariah. Other than Amanda, my other two training partners couldn’t make it. One was getting a colonoscopy and the other was at his brother’s birthday party, so it would just be four of us.

I changed the start time to 1PM to allow Josh to make it after a class, which actually was great in terms of weather. That turned out the warmest time of day at 49 degrees with the calmest winds as well. Five minutes after we finished, the weather turned bad. The temperature plunged 12 degrees and the wind kicked up another 15 MPH in about 15 minutes! We gave Amanda a 7 minute head start for a rabbit to chase. I asked David if he wanted to start with us or get a head start since he knew the course. I also didn’t think he could keep up with Evan or me, but kept that opinion to myself. He said he’d just try to run with us.

Seven minutes after Amanda left, we were running. I had done two warm-ups and some accelerations, made sure my diet was under control and my body felt good, but not great. After about a tenth of a mile, I backed off as the GPS calculations finally caught up to our pace. We were running about 5:10 pace. All I needed was 5:40, so getting stupid and greedy could make me fail and literally ruin my day. Evan and David gradually pulled ahead. I thought David would fade, but he looked under control. I was ticking off 1:22 quarters into the wind, so I felt tremendous relief that it wasn’t a bad day.

We exited the trail and headed directly in the wind on the road. Evan jokingly moved behind David as if he was going to draft, but moved right back out. It wasn’t stated, but it was apparent that all three of us wanted to earn our time without aid. I wasn’t able to draft even if I wanted to. That quarter was 1:27. As we started the hill, I really had to dig in to maintain my pace, but slowed to a 1:31. This isn’t just another race. I’m not going to say “perhaps I’ll have better luck next year.” Trying hard isn’t good enough. I needed to succeed at this or find something else and keep going until I succeed. This was the defining moment for me. Still ascending the roughly 1-mile hill, I improved with quarters of 1:24, 1:26 and 1:24 to get me to the top of the hill.

The podium following the race. Evan stands atop of the podium as the annual Birthday Challenge winner. David took second and I was third. We're displaying our respective finish place.

My average was 5:39 at 2.25 miles and I had a half mile of descending next. Although it was too steep to run down quickly enough to make up for the climb, I knew I’d get some time back. With a 2:31 half mile, my average pace was down to 5:32 with just .67 miles to go. Evan and David were battling it out ahead of me as Amanda was finally in view. I was closing slightly, but they put too much time on me in the first 1.5 miles. It was looking like I had a lock on breaking my PR, so I didn’t mind that I was coming in last. That final .67 miles was tough with a small hill and indirectly into the wind, but I averaged 5:27 in that span. My final time was 18:53.64 (5:31.47/mile). On a cold and windy birthday, I succeeded in proving myself fitter than I was the year before. I ran just shy of 13 seconds/mile faster than my previous PR. It also looks like I could have beat my PR around Medical Lake too. It was a better PR, but on an easier course. Now they're both very tough for me to beat.

The official (self-kept official times are the best) winning time and new course record by Evanator Sims.

Evan passed David with a quarter to go, but David kicked hard and retook the lead just as they caught Amanda (I never caught her). Evan kicked it into another gear, took the lead again and managed to hold onto victory. He ran an 18:29.00 (5:24.27/mile). David ran under 18:30 too. Who would have thought that some random guy at a grocery store in Medical Lake would be fast enough to outrun me by 24 seconds! I thought I was alone out here and now it looks like I have another training partner. We took a podium photo at the fire pit (without the non-Olympic flame burning), then had pizza, bread sticks, and home-made caramel pop corn.

My sis gave me a hero ribbon with the Autobot symbol on it. She wanted to reward me for my Air Force award.

Overall, the birthday was very memorable. I met a major goal. Friends and family came to celebrate (after the painful part). We had lots of food and deserts, including cheese cake (my favorite desert). I was given some new training gear and found a new training partner. I was also notified that I’m going to be flown to Texas in December to receive an Air Force award/title that was completely unexpected. Along with it came a military decoration I’ve been gunning for (not literally) since basic training. Best of all, I got to spend the entire day with Amanda … except the 7 minute lead in our run that I was never able to get back.

This is the Air Force Recognition Ribbon. If you're not familiar with military decorations, this is what they look like in shape. The air force has dozens of different ribbons, which are worn on a ribbon rack in rows of three or four. They're much better than the ribbons or medals you get at a road race or triathlon.

On a different note, I find that I’m grateful we all get to make our own choices in life. We’re all different in big and little ways. Today demonstrated quite an eye-opening contrast in people. I find myself wondering why a stranger would come support me in something really important to me when so many people I know did not. A race rival that I’ve robbed of victory four times when it was in his grasp drove 30 to 45 minutes one-way because he knew he could help me. He could have stayed home to make me pay for his losses, but he was extremely generous instead. I’ve generously given money, time and information to those who’ve asked for it. It’s curious that those people, along with so many others I know, are nowhere to be seen on the rare occasion I’ve asked for help.

With two of the people I count on the most being unable to be here today, I’m aware that things come up. On the other hand, it’s apparent that few people go out of their way to help others who aren’t in their close social circle. Just when I feel like giving up hope, God sends a little reminder of how great it is to have someone give and expect nothing in return. Thanks David and Evan. It went a long way to making today a great one and reminding me of the type of person I want to be. I have obligations that don’t leave me with much time to do things, but you’ll find that when it really matters I’ve got your back.