I've Been Tagged!!!

Awhile ago, I was tagged by Eric, author of the great blog, Running for My Life (http://ruralrunnere.blogspot.com/). As I understand the rules of being tagged (actually, I don't really KNOW the rules of being tagged but I did see evidence in other blogs), I have to answer specific questions. Here goes:

1) How would I describe my running 10 years ago?
Nonexistent. I just moved back into the Philadelphia area having lived in central New Jersey for about 10 years. I was running in the Corporate Challenge 3.5 mile events in the spring but I would only train for a few months at a time to get ready for a single event. I was playing basketball on Sunday nights at the local church for about 5 years. I also played a little softball. When I moved back to Philadelphia, there wasn't a place to be able to do that. I wound up not doing any sports or regular exercise for a few years.

2) What is your best and worst race experience?
I think, by far, my best race experience was the Disney World marathon. And, I'm not sure if it will ever be topped. For that race, I had to do 2 long runs in England--a 12 miler through London and a 16 miler on a path from Hatfield to St. Albans. DW marathon takes you through the 4 theme parks there, so it was never boring. It was also my second 'official' marathon but the first that I was fully healthy. The whole experience, from getting up at 2AM to the finish outside of Epcot, was a great thrill and one I will never forget!
The worst experience was the Yough River Trail Council Half-marathon. It is held in Connellsville, PA. I made too many assumptions that day and all of them were bad. I wore the wrong shirt (long sleeves on a day that turned out to be in the 60s), didn't bring my own food (doesn't every town have Clif Bars?), went out too fast, no Gatorade on the course, only water, cramping in my legs on an out and back course so HAD to finish to get to my car, on and on and on. I learned so much that day. A very humbling experience.

3) What is the best or worst piece of advice you've been given about running?
This is difficult as I'm sure I've been given lots of advice through the years on running but I'm too stubborn to listen to it. Someone gave me advice on proper nutrition before a race and when you should take gels during a race. I followed that advice and was happy with the results. Another piece of advice, which I have heard from different sources, is about the mental aspect of running. When I am finishing up a race or a training run and know I only have a mile or so to go but too tired to go on, I tell myself, 'You can do anything for 10 minutes'. I've gotten through some tough runs and races (and meetings at work) with this thought in my head.

4) Why do you run?
I first began to run because of stress in my life. I continued to run because of the challenges in presents me. I still believe that if I can run a marathon, I can handle anything in life. It feels like a long time but there is an endpoint where you can relax. What I didn't anticipate was the friendships I forged. Running is a big part of my social life. Seeing Steve twice a year for races, meeting up with the Blue Dawgs when I can, running the Holiday 8 in Doylestown, races in the area, 'meeting' people on the internet whom I've never seen or even heard their voices before but feel I know about their lives, and, especially, being able to share time with my wife in something we both enjoy.

5) Tell us something surprising about yourself that many people would not know.
Hey, I'm an open book! I have nothing to hide!!!!!
Maybe one of the most surprising thing is how many celebrities I knew around when I graduated college. (But they weren't real celebrities back then). I was the manager for the Boston University basketball team for two years. (Head manager for one of those years). The coach of BU was Rick Pitino, who is presently head coach at the University of Louisville but was head coach at the University of Kentucky when they won the national championship in the 1996. Coach Pitino hired me for the position and gave me an athletic scholarship to be the head manager. I also had to babysit his son in the San Diego Sports Arena during a practice session with the team.
Out of college, I was a producer for a radio station in Boston. It was during the baseball strike in 1981, when I worked with Jon Miller, who was the color analyst for the Boston Red Sox. Jon Miller, now, is the play-by-play announcer for the San Francisco Giants but also does the same role for ESPN Sunday night baseball. To give Red Sox fans their baseball 'fix', Jon would play Strat-o-matic baseball games using Red Sox players and would do the play-by-play for these pretend games. These games were taped and played back later. I was the producer and engineer for these games.
I also worked as a producer for the Massachusetts Attorney General, who, from time to time, would have a weekend show to take calls from listeners. That AG was John Kerry, Democratic nominee for president in 2004.

(Notes: Thank you all for your participation in the most recent poll. 8% said yes, you wear sunscreen, 33% said yes, but only on long runs and the majority (58%) said no, you don't wear sunscreen at all. I may be running in the 'For the Hill of It' 5 miler in Chestnut Hill, PA on Saturday. I'll post as I know more. I ran 7 miles along the Delaware River with Eric on Sunday morning. As everyone knows by now, it's freakin' hot around here!)