"A giant oak is only a little nut that held its ground..."

Skydiving

Today I drove to Middletown, OH to go skydiving! I bought a coupon on LivingSocial for Start Skydiving a year ago and it expired on the 11th, so it was now or wait another 6 months or so.

I got to the airstrip at 9 AM to fill out papers, watch a video and get suited up. Around 10:30 or so, we boarded the plane to climb up to 13,000 ft. The guy I was going tandem with was pretty cool. He had a Fu Manchu style moustache and had made over 6,000 jumps in his life. Before we went up, he already had 4 under his belt for the day!

As the plane kept climbing higher and higher, I was getting more nervous, thinking WHAT AM I DOING!? I got the photo/video package, so the video guys were in the plane with us trying to ease our nerves. My videographer told me that not going to church today was the worst possible day in your life not to haha!

When we finally got up to altitude, I was the first to go. My instructor connected my harness to him and gave me a few instructions. We inched towards the open door and looked down. My legs were a little locked, but on the count of three, we were gone!

The fall lasted 50 seconds, but seemed to go really fast. The wind was so intense that it was hard to realize how high you were. After giving a thumbs up, yawning, and giving some gang signs to the videographer, my instructor pulled the rip cord.

Things calmed down quickly and we floated slowly towards our landing spot. After the parachute deployed, my instructor told me it was twisted. So, he had me put my arms out so the wind would push us around like a swing. It didn't take long and it was untangled. He told me after that happens 1 in about 100 and one time he had to actually cut the parachute away and use the backup because the guy he was with locked up and wasn't able to follow instructions.

The ride down lasted about 4 minutes. My instructor told me what to do for the landing - lift my legs up, point my toes and we'll land on our butts. As we were landing, I gave the videographer a high-five. We made a soft landing and that was that. I had gone skydiving!! My instructor told me, you now have more takeoffs in a plane than landings :)

Poem

Go unto life like a bull to the streets.
Leave no rock unturned or path untraveled.
The winner in life is not the first to the destination.
In contrast, the golden prize is not making it past first, stuck smelling the roses.
Regrets are opportunities in the present.
There is no blueprint, just a blank sheet of paper.
God gives you a box full of a thousand colored crayons.
Find your passion and draw your Picasso.
If you have but one regret,
Regret there was no time to sign your name
For you were busy drawing more roses.

The Cure All

After a really busy day of work, it was great to get out for a run at the Cuyahoga Valley. I hit heavy traffic on Rt. 8 from an accident and started wondering if this was a good idea. I took a detour around the accident and finally got to the Happy Days parking lot.

The run started out slow and sluggish. I felt like I was moving backwards and even the flats were a struggle. The temperature felt great, nice and cool, but I still worked up a sweat.

I started with a 3.5 mile loop on the Boston Run trail. After finishing that, I headed towards the ledges and Kendall Lake, did a No Frills loop around the hills, then jumped on the Salt Run trail for a 3.5 mile loop. I finished with 13 miles.

I was glad I had decided to run today since I felt great afterward. All the thoughts and stress from the workday vanished into the woods. Even though I've experienced it many, many times before, it always amazes me how a run can fix just about anything. I can't remember one run that I've finished and regretted. Whether it's 90 degrees or 20, raining or snowing, there's always an adventure out there to free your mind, especially on trails. It doesn't always happen, but when you can get in a rhythmn and forget that you're even running, the miles just fly by.

Akron Marathon Relay

This morning I woke up to run in the Akron Marathon Relay. I joined a team at work and would be the 3rd leg - 6.3 miles. The race started at 7 AM and I tossed around the idea of running from my apartment 5 miles to the start, running my leg, then running back. I was glad I decided not to since I didn't get to bed till midnight and it probably wouldn't have been smart anyway since my mileage hasn't gotten too high yet.

I started at Brown St, which is right by the Akron football stadium. I started out like a bat out of hell, but settled into a pace. My leg didn't have to many extreme hills and the part on the Towpath was nice. I handed off the wristband to the next member at Sand Run Metropark and took the bus back downtown to watch the finish.

Our team finished in 3:49. We definitely had much room for improvement since some of our handoffs took 5 minutes or so to find the next member. We weren't going for any world record, so everyone was happy. I was hoping to see my time, but unfortunately one of the chips didn't register at the end of the 2nd leg. Oh well!

"Too often we are scared. Scared of what we might not be able to do. Scared of what people might think if we tried. We let our fears stand in the way of our hopes.

We say no when we want to say yes. We sit quietly when we want to scream. And we shout with the others, when we should keep our mouths shut. Why? After all, we do only go around once. There’s really no time to be afraid.

So stop. Try something you’ve never tried. Risk it. Enter a triathlon. Write a letter to the editor. Demand a raise. Call winners at the toughest court. Throw away your television. Bicycle across the United States. Try bobsledding. Try anything. Speak out against the designated hitter. Travel to a country where you don’t speak the language. Patent something. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. JUST DO IT.”

-Barry Sanders, 1992

Mile Swim

Tonight at the Munroe Falls Metropark, I swam a mile in the lake. The lap lane is 250 yards, so it's definitely a lot more enjoyable than doing flip turns every 25 meters in a pool. I felt great tonight and really strong. I'm starting to really enjoy this cross training and hope to get a bike this weekend so I can start doing that also. I think that will help a lot with nagging injuries I've had with my quads and IT Band. The biking should also strengthen my calves pretty well, so that will be good for trail running and hills.