Super Spartan Race Results

The Super Spartan Race was so awesome! I had so much fun over 10+ miles in the rain and mud. 20+ obstacles and dozens of things to hop and climb over. I finished 443rd out of 1600 racers in 2 hours and 36 minutes. (23rd out of 124 males age 40-44). Can I assume that I finished first for all the racers with brain cancer?
 I had the biggest smile on my face throughout as I was reveling in pushing myself physically and mentally through the event. I loved that my family was on the course to cheer me on. I gave them mid-race muddy hugs after I came out of the mud crawl under barbed wire.

Spartan Race Blog!

I am featured in a blog post from the Spartan Race organization! Click here to see the blog: http://blog.spartanrace.com/ode-to-sparta-virginia-spartan-survivor/

Race in nine days!

Next Sunday, August 26.  I will be doing my first Super Spartan Race.
Eight to nine miles of trail running with 20+ obstacles to conquer.
It will be rough, muddy, difficult and awesome. I can't wait! I have been working out consistently through the spring and summer. This is my last week of intense workouts before a pre-race rest week.
Tonight's workout was 3+ miles of running, a mess of burpees, push-ups, and some pull-ups, and carrying a filled, seven gallon jerry can down and up and down and up a hill. (I had to look it up: 7 gallons is about 58 pounds.) Ahroo!

On the road again...actually now off the road again

This is more of a travel update than a cancer update.

We took a family trip. A very loooong family trip. A Griswold type family trip.
23 days, 5500 miles and 12 states.

We loaded up the the truckster (Toyota van) and headed west from the DC area to Yellowstone.
Stops included the jolly green giant in Blue Earth, MN, the Corn Palace and Wall Drug in South Dakota. We saw the Badlands, Mount Rushmore and Devil's Tower. We had a four night stay in Yellowstone and saw many, many animals, the geysers, and swam in some unpublicized but great hot spring fed rivers. We then dropped down to the Grand Tetons for a couple more great nights.

So many highlights:
float trip in a storm on the Snake River
alpine slide in Jackson
Notch Trail in the Badlands
Mount Rushmore at night with lightning in the background
old style oil lamp cave tour in Jewel Cave National Monument
horse back riding with the girls
sleeping in the tent for 13 straight nights, much of it in the mountain air

On the way back we saw good friends in Indiana and Michigan and visited family in Ohio and western New York.

Whew, it was a great trip but good to be home.

Why did we do this? These are some of the favorite places Marcie and I first visited together 18 years ago. We felt the need to share these places and our spirit of exploring with our children. Subliminally, I think we feel that although my tumor appears to stable, the clock is ticking very quietly but noticeably. If not now, when else can we make a trip like this?