Summer 2017 Update

There were so many things I had planned to blog about in their own separate entries over the past few months that I just never got around to, so let's put up a few pictures and move on. Here are a few life updates in chronological order:

In May I had my year-end evaluation with my principal.  This is based on Student Growth Objectives (a series of graded assessments given to two of my six classes), a Reflective Practice Portfolio (digital documents uploaded to seven different categories with accompanying written reflections) and two formal in-class observations.  This year I scored a 3.65 out of 4, my highest score yet, placing me firmly in the highly effective range.  I was pretty proud of this given all of the problems I've faced in my personal life this year.

At the end of May it was my turn to bring the beer for Who's Up?, and I once again went with the South Jersey beer theme like I did two years ago.  It's amazing how many new breweries have opened in that short time.  Pictured above:

• Lower Forge from Medford
• Forgotten Boardwalk from Cherry Hill
• Devils Creek from Collingswood
• Eclipse from Merchantville
• Double Nickel from Pennsauken
• Tonewood from Oaklyn

The variety and quality went over very well with the beer nerds I run with.  South Jersey really has an amazing variety of breweries and it truly is an incredible time to be a beer enthusiast.

Global Running Day, as always, was on the first Wednesday of June, and as always, Dave Welsh of the Haddonfield Running Company outdid himself.  He put on a mini expo right on the sidewalk outside of his store, and raffled off 12 pairs of running shoes (runners were eligible for the pair they wore to the run).  Because I wore my Nikes to the run, I put a ticket in the Nike box and won myself a free pair.  I can't tell you how many times I've entered a raffle for a free pair of shoes over the years, and this is the first time I've ever won.  I was ecstatic.

Just a few days after school ended, I left for Germany with 14 students and one other chaperone.  As usual, we spent ten days in both Berlin and Munich, staying in hostels while visiting museums, churches, parks and plenty of beer gardens and beer halls.  Unlike many high school language teachers that plan trips abroad, I don't travel with a tour company, but instead plan the entire thing myself.  Planning the trip this year was like having a part time job, and the trip itself was no less exhausting.  But I'm proud to say we hit every single thing on the itinerary I built with no major snafus of any kind.  I'm pretty sure my kids had a blast while learning a little about German history, culture and language along the way, and for that I would do the trip again in a heartbeat.

While in Berlin, I got to meet up with Christina, an old high school friend whom I haven't seen in ten years.  She now lives in Berlin with her husband and dachshund, and we spent a night at a beer garden catching up.  Also my t-shirt says "it's lit" which was a present that day from my students, because teenagers are hilarious.

While in Munich I got to meet Henrik, who first started reading and commenting on this blog many years ago.  We spent a few hours drinking beer in downtown Munich while talking in German about running, politics, and life in general.  It's the first time I've ever met a blog reader in person, and he was an absolute pleasure to spend time with.  Henrik, if you're ever in Philly, let me know!

Just one day after returning from Germany, I joined some friends for the annual July beer mile.  Because this year's beer mile fell on Canada Day, I decided to go with Molson Canadian beer.  Last year I drank luke warm Budweiser because I had read it was easier to chug, which ended up being a terrible decision because it was so disgusting and was so hard to stomach, and I ended up finishing DFL in well over twenty minutes.  Ice cold Canadian beer was the perfect choice this year, and I finished just 22 seconds off my PR in 11:07.

Last week I took advantage of free passes for teachers and weekdays off in the summer and took my son to the Adventure Aquarium in Camden.  We had the place almost to ourselves for the first twenty minutes until the day camps took over, and it resulted in one of my new favorite pictures of Neale, trying to give a two ton hippopotamus a kiss on the nose.

Erik told me that the website Athlinks now lists your friends on the site as your "rivals," and lists any races together as wins and losses.  The one "loss" I have against him is the 2007 Distance Run which I ran in 1:49.

And there you have some updates from the last few months.  I hope to write more regularly in the future, but who knows if that will happen.  Until the next time, run hard, friends.

The story of my favorite shoes

A few weeks out from the 2015 Boston Marathon, I decided to buy a new pair of running shoes.  So I headed to the Haddonfield Running Company and tried on several pairs, but in the end went with my old standby: the Nike Pegasus.  It's a shoe model I've been wearing for years, not so much out of brand loyalty, but more out of superstition and hey, if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.  I'd had a lot of success in the Pegasus before and saw no reason to quit them.

I was delighted when Shawn introduced me to a pair that would require spectators wear sunglasses when I ran by.  

Sold.

I wore these shoes in my first ever Boston Marathon a few weeks later, trudging through a miserably cold and rainy New England morning.  And as soon as I got home, back into the box they went.  I continued to use older models of the Pegasus for training, and would use these for racing.

I trotted them out again in October on a glorious fall day for the Rock n' Roll Half Marathon which I crushed with a PR that still stands.  And back into the box they went.

Three weeks later, out they came again for my ill fated sub 3 attempt at the Philadelphia Marathon.  It was a brutal day with emotions running high.  These shoes carried me to a PR in the marathon but failed to deliver that coveted sub 3.  And back into the box they went.

I've worn them for a few more races this past spring, and will probably wear them for next weekend's Rock n' Roll Half Marathon with Stevie, but pretty soon I'll have to retire them as a racing shoe and relegate them to training duties.  

My first Boston.  Two incredible PR's in the span of three weeks.  Over a year of racing memories.  If I weren't so frugal, I would probably put these in a class case.  If ever there was a pair of shoes to enshrine forever out of all those I've worn over the years, these are it.  For now they have their spot on a shelf in my closet.

Incredibly enough, I haven't bought a new pair of running shoes since then.  But when I go see Shawn again, I just hope they have something that can live up to this pair.

Hoka One One

Tonight's run at the Haddonfield Running Company featured Hoka One One, a shoe company founded in 2010 in France.  They're on the cover of this month's Competitor Magazine which informs me that maximalist shoes are "all the rage."

They let me try on a pair for the run tonight, but I should probably stop doing so when shoe companies stop by.  Every time, the company representative asks me eagerly afterwards how I liked the shoe.  I always end up responding with a shrug and an unenthusiastic "they were ok."

I just never notice much of a difference over my normal Nikes, yet I keep trying them out in hopes that I will find a shoe that truly blows me away.

If you've been reading here for awhile, you know I don't put much stock into different kinds of running shoes.  I try to be a frugal guy and hate how much good running shoes cost.  I also believe that a damn shoe is not going to make me a better runner, but instead hard work will. This is why I hate it when other runners try to engage me in shoe talk.

But the Hoka company representative also brought beer and pizza, which is always appreciated.  This was on top of the beer we already had, and the chocolate chip muffins someone made.  Our club shirts describe us as a "running and drinking club," and someone joked tonight that we'll have to add "eating" to the description.  Every week we seem to have pizza and all kinds of other food.

Who's up?

7 miles tonight over at the Haddonfield Running Co.  Tonight Brooks made an appearance to promote their new Glycerin shoe, and I tried on a pair for the run.  They were nice.  What can I say?  I am clearly not destined to review running gear for a living.

Afterwards there was a cooler with a variety of beers, but the only one that appealed to me was a Coors.

Let it be known that I am not a beer snob.  There's a time and place for just about every beer out there, and an ice cold Coors Light after 7 miles in the jungle humidity sounds just about perfect to me.

New shoes

Went to the Haddonfield Running Company for some new shoes yesterday.  The woman asked me what my last shoe was, and when I told her Nike, she asked me which ones.  I had no idea, so she started rattling off specific names of Nikes, and I had to stop her because I wouldn't recognize the name even if I heard it.

I am not one of those runners who obsesses over new gear, if you haven't noticed.

Then she tried to sell me on size 8.5 shoes, which made no sense to me when I wear a size 8.  I had never heard of this concept of wearing a half size up - presumably to allow for swelling, but wouldn't your toe just slide into the front of the shoe on downhills?  She had me try on 8.5's, but I had to tell her that I've always worn 8's, so why mess with what works for me?

Finally ditched the clown shoes I was trying on and got the above pair in a size 8.  They feel great.

New shoes

My dad gave me a new pair of shoes for my birthday:

Back to Nike it is.

New shoes

I figured there must be someone out there who actually cares what shoes I run in, so here you go:

So this is what passes for content on a running blog, eh?

I recently won a $50 gift certificate (redeemable with $100 purchase) to the Haddonfield Running Company, and I needed a new pair of shoes for the marathon next month anyway, so that's where I headed today.

A man asked what I currently run in, and I told him Nike.  It looked like he was waiting for me to finish, like I was going to tell him the name of the shoe, the "Nike Matrix G3 11's," or whatever passes for running shoe names nowadays.  But as I've said elsewhere on this blog, I know my shoes are Nike and that's about it, because I don't particularly care what I run in.  I don't believe in fancy running equipment of any kind.  In the end, hard work will make me a faster runner, not an expensive, high tech pair of running shoes, so just give me something that's cheap and comfortable and let's move on.

The man was already helping another customer, a woman he chastised for buying her last pair of running shoes at Target.  According to him, "never buy running shoes for less than $100, because they won't be running shoes."  I found this sad, because I think it's similar to selling people weight-loss pills; it's just more false hope.  People shouldn't be led to believe expensive shoes will make them faster, and people shouldn't have to shell out $100 or more just to be allowed to call themselves runners.

At any rate, the woman who helped me had me walk around the store to check my pronation, and then offered me three pairs of shoes to try on: Adidas, Asics, and Saucony.  I chose the Sauconys.