Le Bonheur Pumpkin Run 5k Memphis **Recap**

The Le Bonheur Pumpkin Run was fantastic. They had a lot of activities for the kids before and after the event. I saw multiple face painters, pumpkin painting station for the kids, outdoor games courtesy of the YMCA, multiple bounce houses, and lots of freebies from sponsoring businesses/organizations. There was a DJ with energizing "make you want to dance" music which was great to get you in the mood to have fun. There was also an announcer to keep us informed of the times and vital information before and after the event. There were plenty of porta-potties for the crowd. The course was marked very well with plenty of cones and arrow signs. There were 2 water stations during the race which was perfect. After race, we had our share of ice cream sandwiches, Mempops popsicles, hot dogs, Gatorade, etc. All this was included at no charge to us. That was awesome! After the race, they had a costume contest for the kids for different age groups. We didn't participate in that due to me not reading the email thoroughly (facepalm).

This event offered a kids fun run which was FREE. Austin did this run and only ran about 1/4 of the 400m run; I had to carry her the rest of it, haha. But she ran the very end across the finish line and was so proud of herself.

*CONS*

-The kids fun run did not include the ribbon that was advertised on the website. This was frustrating because I had built Austin up for that ribbon for finishing her 1st race. (I'll get a ribbon for her from somewhere.)

-There was A TON of vehicle traffic on the race course. This puzzled me. I had to keep PK on my right side to keep her away from traffic, and this was the longer way around the course due to how it was laid out. There were a ton of families and kids in the event. I don't understand why it wasn't locked down better.

All in all, the race was great, but before we register for this event next year I'll have to check out the route map and see if it's more contained or not. Running with my kids makes me more aware of these dangers of cars zooming past as we run. The family had a great time and could not have asked for better weather for the event.

Race Training Update

Unfortunately, I’ve had to significantly reduce the load and speeds of my workouts due to my achilles tendon issues. I have come to terms with not being able to perform at the level I’d like to this year, BUT I’m ok with it. I have my whole life to run. I was injured in the 2022 half and had to be in a boot for 6wks. I most definitely don’t want this again. I have dialed back my training in efforts to listen to my body. I am learning to differentiate between “pain” and “soreness”. I expect to be sore. I’m pushing my body to grow. With growth of any kind, there’s bound to be soreness. I am learning to toe the line between pain and soreness. I have decided to go with the run/walk approach for the half in December. I plan on running for 5min and walking for 1min. My Coros Pace 3 watch has an interval mode that will vibrate/alert me when each interval ends/starts. This is not what I initially wanted. I was hoping to run the half in sub 2:30. I don't see that being possible at this point. I am aiming for 3hrs flat, UNINJURED. If I accomplish that, I’ll be elated!

This race isn’t for me. This race is to raise money for families going through some of the hardest times we can imagine. My mental efforts are focused more on the fundraising side this year than the physical side. I have bitten off more than I can chew with the fundraising goal. I legitimately don’t know how we are going to reach the goal of $4,000. (Speaking of which, we have a few fundraisers going on right now. Click the “fundraisers” tab up top to go to the page with our active fundraisers.) This race is bigger than me. It’s such a fun event.

PK has started running with me recently. She’s doing fabulous! We do 10 sets of 1min run and 1min walk. She did her 1st 5K in July with that format and did not complain not 1 time! I didn’t write a review of the race because I have nothing positive to say about it unfortunately. We will not be doing that race again. Even through the terrible experience, she wowed me with her determination! That’s a great reason to stay uninjured. She really likes running so we are pursuing that interest she has. Maybe she will continue to enjoy running. Maybe she will lose interest at some point. Either way, I will be encouraging her to do hard things, things that challenge her mentally, psychologically, and physically.

Fundraisers

Check out our "Fundraisers" tab. We have a few things in the works! The St. Jude Marathon Weekend is only 4 months away!! 

Discipline Requires Work

 Hebrews 12:11

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

If you want to improve, you must work. It's that simple. There's no magic formula, potion, or recipe, and no process is perfect. You will not improve by being passive. You must actively seek to improve.

These are my current goals. These aren't all that hard by themselves. I'm already doing most of them. However, doing them all together at the same time "Andy Frisella" style and ACTUALLY being honest with yourself, keeping yourself accountable to your future self, is the difficult part. I don't have a timeline for these disciplines, but rather, I aim to add these to my daily life. I am going to make these my "new normal".

Discipline begets discipline. You start with 1 area and then add another then another then another, almost naturally. For many people, it may look like this:

    starting to go to the gym and lift semi-heavy things, which   leads to drinking more water, which leads to not eating so   many sweets, which leads to less screen time, which leads   to consistent bed time, which leads to________, fill in the   blank.

My progression appeared almost like magic: I started lifting weights, which led to running, which led to cutting out (mostly) anything but water, which led to eating less sweets, which led to eating less processed foods, which led to cutting out TV to save time in the day for family time, which led to reading more books....

This is just my journey so far, and I still have a long way to go. I have some really crazy, big running goals for the next decade. I'm thinking long-term here, not just the next race. No 2 journeys are the same. I have different struggles than you do. I am not naturally a runner. I'm training my body to do these things. I have to fight a very sedentary lifestyle like most of humans today. It's way easier to be stagnant and convenient than to be active and seek out ways to improve physical fitness. One thing I do now is park at the back of the parking lot and walk to the store. I don't do this at night or with my kids because I'm not going to make myself a target for evil people to do evil things. I like to go for walks at lunch. I have direct access to a neighborhood right behind my office that has a low traffic volume and so far, no stray dogs roaming around. You may not have access to this opportunity like I do. I would suggest that you have more opportunities than you think you do. I like to seek out opportunities throughout my day to get in a little physical fitness boost when possible. I wall sits at work to work on my static leg strength. I use an extra chair between patients to do step-ups and slow controlled step-downs. I work on calf raises and stretches at the stairs. I'm not perfect nor am I a fitness buff. I just know that I have a natural tendency to be sedentary so I have to actively resist those times with movement.

What little incremental changes can you start this week to improve your life? Don't underestimate the significance of an act of discipline, no matter how small. Can you wake up 10min early in the morning and do a few sit-ups/push-ups. Sure the physical work-out is good, but make no mistake, the growth will come from making yourself commit to waking up earlier. You will grow your life more than your muscles. BUT BE CAREFUL!! You will subconsciously add additional disciplines without even realizing it!

I challenge you to take out your phone and list 3 things you can do starting today to impose a little uncomfortable self discipline. Feel free to steal mine!

Rylee's Run 5k **Recap**

"Rylee’s Run 5k commemorates the life of Rylee Rae Vinson, who was born August 16, 2007, at thirty-two (32) weeks and passed away eight (8) days later due to complications of premature birth. Rylee’s parents, Jason and Jessica Vinson, established the RIBS soccer tournament in 2010 and Rylee's Run 5K in 2012 to help raise money for the hospital that has meant so much to them over the last several years - the Le Bonheur Children's Hospital Neuroscience Institute and NICU."    -Rylee's Run 5k

This was our first time participating in this event, and it certainly won't be our last. I love that the race was completely inside the Mike Rose Soccer Complex. There is only one way in/out and it's closed during the race. Most of the race is on the paved trail winding between the fields with portions on the road through the complex. It's great that the race is fully contained because there is ZERO traffic around the race route, keeping us safe for the duration of the event.

There were over 300 participants this year. I was surprised at how big the event was! Despite the amount of participants, the field seemed to spread out quickly, and we didn't have any issues navigating traffic. I tried to stay out of the way due to the jogging stroller I was pushing, but at the same time, I wanted to beat my goal so I ran the tangents as often as possible. I started way too fast, which is very typical of race day. I was aiming at 14:30 min/mi pace. That would put us across the finish line at 44:00. However, I glanced at my watch for the first time at the .5mi and we were running at 9:50 min/mi pace, which is entirely too fast! I knew I was in for a serious workout at that point. I had to walk way more than I wanted to, but I made sure to keep my walking pace up. Did I mention I was pushing a stroller with 100lbs of offspring? Ya, that was exhausting.

The race ended with a 1/2 lap around the big soccer field, on the grass. I was hoping so much that the grass was dry and not damp. Thankfully, it's a professional field so it's designed in a way as to shed water off the field and we were able to run on dry ground near the out-of-bounds line. I tried to hustle the last 0.1mi, but as hard as I pushed the stroller just wouldn't go any faster. The grass won. We finished strong though and headed to the post race grub.

This is one of best post race celebrations I've ever been to for a 5k race. They had free pasta from Venice Kitchen. I didn't get any but the girls said it was great! They had plenty of fruit, snacks, froyo, and drinks to choose from. There was also a kids area with bounce houses and slides. The girls loved that!

All in all, this race was one of my favorites ever. I've been out of the race scene for a while, but this one was fantastic! Location, celebration, course, support, food, kindness. All these qualities describe this event. We will be back next year.

41:44

A Gas Problem

I like to walk during my lunch break. Ideally I run and workout before work and go for a leisurely stroll during the first half of my lunch break. On Wednesday this week I decided to walk to the UPS store for some Amazon returns. There are 2 ways to get there: the shorter direct route on a very busy 4 lane or the longer quieter route through the neighborhood in which I do most of my runs. I forgot my headphones so I was walking with my phone on loud speaker streaming Dean Karnazes book A Runner's High: My Life in Motion. So I'm this random guy walking by your house with a clothes filled walmart sack listening to an audiobook out loud. Yup, that's me.

As I'm approaching the only road crossing, going from neighborhood to the other, I see a firefighter I know directing traffic. I recognized his mustache hundreds of feet away. It's an amazingly groomed, super-manly mustache. He asked what I was doing, and I informed him I was walking to the UPS store. He informed me they had a huge gas leak about 50ft away and they were diverting traffic. I said, "Oh ok. Who farted?" (dad joke). We both laughed agreeing with the high quality dad-joke. And I kept on walking, right through the gas leak zone. It was a pretty strong smell. Haha. On my way back, I had to navigate past city work vehicles as they had now arrived on the scene to fix the issue I assume. They were locating pipes with their fancy equipment while just walked on by. The gas smell was stronger on the way back through. Haha.

It was a great walk. Next time I'll have my hat and headphones for sure.

St. Jude Spotlights

Hey guys go check-out my page "St. Jude Spotlights" for interviews with patients and their families. We are raising money for St. Jude and want to highlight patients/families/employees. But beware, it's emotional!