25 Things about CP

My goal in starting this blog some 18 months ago was to highlight our kids and our community and running. It really hasn't and isn't about me. This post will be different, but hopefully it will be helpful for some of you.

Since we spend so much time together, maybe this will help you figure out some of what makes me tick. The inspiration comes from Facebook, where it seems everyone is all gaga about posting 25 random things about themselves.

So I've been tagged, it's my turn. Here goes 25 in no particular order.

1. I've run 8 marathons over 25 years of running. Fastest was 2:48:11 in San Jose.
2. I've actually cried during a race ... Sacramento Marathon, when it hit me that I was actually going to break 3:00 for the first time.
3. I HATED running when my dad first forced me to do it as a child.
4. I LOVE my dad for forcing me to run as a child. I can't imagine my life without it.
5. When the girl I invited to go to prom said no, I spent the money I would have spent on tickets on the latest and greatest pair of Nike running shoes. (1983, $85!). When I went to the store to make my "grief purchase" they didn't have my size so I bought a pair a half-size too small. Every time I wore those shoes my toes reminded me that I had been rejected!
6. I spent 3 years of my childhood living in Khatmandu, Nepal. My parents were missionaries with Wycliffe Bible Translators. Even as a little kid, the experience changed my life.
7. I could eat pizza all day.
8. I stocked shelves at Ralphs Grocery in Whittier for my first "real job" after high school. I'm glad that didn't work out for me...
9. My favorite movies were the Indiana Jones Trilogy ... until they came out with the fourth last year. What was up with that???
10. Best movie of all time? Toss up: Saving Private Ryan or Gandhi. Yea, I like the history epics.
11. Event that changed the course of my life: 8th grade "historic trip" to Washington DC and surrounding places of history. Toured the Gettysburg battlefield in a bus ... though I tried to act like the backgammon games going on in the back of the bus were more interesting, I was actually taken by what I saw outside the windows. Little did I know that experience would grow into a love affair with US history and a career teaching it.
12. Two sisters, one older, one younger. That makes me the middle child. Does that count as #13?
13. I'm not good at math. Not good at all.
14. My older sister and my dad are quite talented artists. I was always jealous of that ability growing up since I couldn't quite seem to get beyond the doodle. I found photography in the 1990's and now I can do art. I think Photoshop is a gift from God.
15. I'm still not ashamed to say I watch Survivor. Yea, I know, it's not total reality, but as far as game shows go, it still rocks. I would love to be on it, but know that I'd probably be voted off the island early.
16. I was born with severly bow-legged legs (is that redundant?) that required boots and braces (yea, kindof like Forrest Gump but without the heavy metal) until I was two.
17. I met my wife in high school. Got to know her in government class ... mainly because the teacher would let us talk a lot as I recall. Glad he did.
18. Riverside was not a destination to which I wanted to live. We came here from Whittier (the land of Nixon!) to afford a house, thought we'd always "go back" but we've been here since 1991. Go figure.
19. Best hamburger I've ever eaten (and I've eaten a lot of them) was in a small cafe that doubled as a local art gallery on Orcas Island in Puget Sound of Washington State.
20. If I could do one thing more often in life it would be TRAVEL. I wish I had the time and the money to just wander and go places I've never been.
21. I try and read 10 books a year. I'm currently on Pillar of Fire. It's long and a bit too dense, but I'll finish it.
22. Despite number 20, I really am at my core, a "home body." I love being home. My wife has made it a very warm and comfortable place to be.
23. When I fly on planes I love the window seat. I spend a lot of time looking out the window, looking for landmarks and wondering, "what are all those people up to down there?
24. My best friend -- besides my wife -- is a guy I've been friends with since we were in 7th grade, all the way back to 1978! 31 years!
25. I proposed to my wife at mile 13 of the 1987 LA Marathon.

Rebecca, Reborn

A really cool and new thing happened this week. Well, not exactly "new, new", but it was more than enough to remind us of what we've been missing, a glow that lit up our competitions of months-past with the light of inspiration and admiration. That light had been all but extinguished by the darkness of disappointment and dire days. But there in the night sky Saturday, circling the Cal State Fullerton track 12 times 'round, we saw illumination again.

Rebecca Asplund is back.

I'm convinced that part of the purpose of memory is to give greater meaning to the present day. Rebecca's recent memories of her running have not been pleasant ones. Due to a variety of circumstances, her Fall cross country campaign was one in which she and everyone who loved her wished could have just been waived. It was plain old tough going, there's no other way of describing it. Her heart longed for those easy runs, those glorious races. Such dances with talent had gone away. Far away. From August to November of 2008, her daily dose of reality was hard runs and frustrating races. Knowing how much she loves running and truly wants to pursue its rewards, it was heartbreaking to see her go through what she endured last Fall.

But those painful memories, transposed onto what we see happening now, are making the "now" light up the night sky. Scampering lightly Saturday night in a collegiate 5K in Fullerton, the Rebecca Asplund of yesteryear was reborn. She flitted across the track. Dropping opponents and seconds, the sweat that poured from her was not beading into a pool of disappointment as it had all last season, it splashed off the track just as her spikes sparkled in the stadium lights. Gone were the heavy legs and heavier heart.

Rebecca is reborn.

She's been a tireless worker from the moment she arrived at King. Having given up her childhood pursuit of high-level softball, she dove into this new sport of distance running with a dimpled smile and a can-do attitude. She excelled early and often. She played the part of "perfect teammate" and "competitive warrior" simultaneously and did both with class.

But that hard work wouldn't cut it last Fall. The dead leaves of autumn seemed to illustrate what last season would become: a slow but inevitable fall to earth. A cold winter of wondering blew in.

But with spring comes hope. Despite the lingering doubts that littered her mind, Rebecca did what Rebecca does best ... she got back at it, determined to succeed. Through the early weeks of this year we saw the sprouts of new life, but she and we knew only one thing would prove the rebirth. Race day.

That day came this week. First in a frolicing two races against Chaparral when the smile on her face replaced the furrowed brow of before. Then again on Saturday, with 12 laps and collegiate competitors to go, she burst forth with an incredible race, proving with a wail of glee that perseverence and determination are not dead and the past does not spell the now and that the old can become new again.

Life springs eternal.

What a week. Welcome back, Rebecca!