A week late, but a 10k Story

Last Sunday I ran my first 10k.  I had run a few 5ks, but decided to sign up for the 10k Across the Bay.  It featured a 10k across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge from Annapolis to Kent Island, Maryland.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect.  When the race started, it was sunny and 48 degrees outside with calm winds. 

I started the race in a wave that began 90 minutes after the first runners started.  I quickly moved to the far right to let faster runners have preferred lines.  When we started up the hill on the bridge, my legs quickly reminded me I was on a hill.  But I powered through.

The time from mile 1 to mile 2 was definitely the longest.  Once we hit the 2nd mile, we were almost halfway across the bridge, so the worst was over. 

Fatigue set in between miles 5 and 6.  My calves started cramping up, and my knees started to get sore.  When I got to the 6 mile marker, I turned on the jets as I could see the finish line. 

I crossed the line with my arms high in the air.  I had finished my first 10k.  I immediately got my medal, then proceeded to get a drink of water, a banana, and some small snacks.  I didn't get to look up my time until later, but I finished in just under one hour, seven minutes.  I had set a goal of 75 minutes, and I beat that by more than 8 minutes.

Now I just need to sign up for more!

Keselowski vs Joe Gibbs Racing, Charlotte Edition

Anybody that isn't sure the Chase for the Sprint Cup isn't intense didn't watch the events unfold last evening.

During a restart with 62 laps remaining in the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth got together as Kenseth attempted to pass Keselowski out the outside.  The contact sent Kenseth into the wall, damaging his car and causing him to fall a lap down. 

With a few laps remaining, a caution gave Kenseth the free pass.  Keselowski claims while Kenseth was making his lap up intentionally drove his car into Keselowski's, causing damage to his car.

On an ensuing restart, Keselowski and Denny Hamlin got together, causing Hamlin to get loose and lose several positions.

The race ended, and on the cool down lap, Hamlin and Keselowski tangled on the track.  Both drivers headed towards the pits, where Keselowski ran into Matt Kenseth's car.  Kenseth claims he had already unbuckled his seat belt and removed some of his safety equipment.

Hamlin was visibly upset as he exited his car, and was greeted by members of his crew andseveral NASCAR officials.  Words were exchanged with Keselowski, and Hamlin threw a towel towards him.  Hamlin was escorted to his hauler.  Keselowski headed to his hauler, where he was chased and run into by Kenseth.  It took several crew members and Officials to separate the two drivers.

Kenseth and Keselowski are both on the verge of not advancing to the next round of the Chase.  Both drivers were fighting for every position they could get.  Every point could make the difference between advancing and missing out on a chance at the Championship.  So both drivers were frustrated at their finishes. 

It's obvious that the pressure is on every driver involved in the Chase.  The only two that are smiling at the moment are Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick, who both will advance due to race wins during this round of the Chase. Keselowski and Kenseth let their emotions get the best of them.  In the good ole days of NASCAR, that is how drivers would settle it - in the parking lot after the race!

It would be too early to speculate if NASCAR will issue any penalties as a result of this duel, but with their "boys, have at it" mantra over the last few seasons, nothing will probably come out other than a small fine and probation.

All it means is there's going to be several desperate drivers at Talladega, and tempers may flare again. I can't wait.

Poland and Italy

The month of September will be remembered as the "month of travel".

I departed the day after Labor Day for Warsaw, Poland for 10 days of work and play.  We spent two days working with our customer doing some preparatory work and planning for our mission. 

We then spent the weekend in the Krakow area visiting two very different places.  First on our list was Auschwitz.

I can say that visiting Auschwitz was definitely skin crawling.  I'd never been to a concentration/death camp before.  It was eerie walking around the original camp, which was very small.  Birkenau, however, was much, much larger, and to me, much more emotional.  There were places I had to turn my head away, or sometimes leave the room.  It made me wonder how cruel humans can really be to each other.  Thinking about the millions of people that passed through the gates of both camps that had no idea what was going to happen to them was hard to think about.  I kept thinking to myself, "Never again" as we walked around.  Both sites are definitely a must visit if you go to Krakow.

After a relaxing evening at the Pink Panther hostel (highly recommended if you are into that kind of thing) we headed to the Wieliczka Salt mine.  It's a semi-retired salt mine on the east side of Krakow.  It was definitely worth the visit.  We walked through 2 kilometers of tunnels, which was only about 1% of the known tunnels.  It was quite interesting to see how they mined, but also how the preserved the mine after they were finished with some of the rooms.  The most impressive part, however, was the working church about 300 feet below the surface.  Every Sunday they have mass, which people can attend.   Pope John Paul II led mass there once.  What impressed me the most were the carvings on the walls done by miners of biblical scenes, mostly by hand.  It's amazing how talented some people are and what they can do with a simple surface and a few hand tools.

We spent the rest of our week in Warsaw, working, and visiting a few sites locally.  We had a tour of the Royal Palace, which was really interesting.  Unfortunately most of the artifacts were destroyed in World War II, but a few workers rescued some of the more important ones.  The restoration, however, is quite impressive.  The Warsaw Uprising museum was somewhat of a letdown to me, though.  The exhibits mostly showed what let up to the Uprising, but not so much about the actual uprising.  I'm sure a lot of information, records, etc were lost during the war, but the museum just didn't seem to be designed well.  It left a lot to be desired, IMO.

The food was nothing short of amazing.  I don't think we had a bad meal the entire trip.  I had my share of pierogis, cabbage, and beets.  Potato pancakes and goulash were also very popular.  Apples were the big food though.  Russia issued an embargo of Polish produce, and Poland exports most of their apple crop to Russia.  So there were social media campaigns asking the Polish population to eat more apples, drink apple cider and juice, etc.  So we had a lot of apples during our journey.

We did work while we were there, however.  We ran into some unexpected issues while there, so we had to work some long hours and scratch a few heads to get things to work.  But we worked through it, completed our mission successfully, and returned home.

My time at home was short lived, however.

8 days after arriving home, I was on a plane back to Europe, although this time to Italy.  I spent 3 days in a town south of Rome.  We completed our work a few hours early, so we snuck up to Rome for a quick drive by of the important sites.  We did a quick walking tour to the Vatican, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, and the Colosseum.  I would've liked to go inside the Vatican and Colosseum again, but it was getting late in the day, and we wanted to be sure we got home at a reasonable hour.  I did get to enjoy some absolutely amazing Italian food while there, however.  I haven't found an Italian restaurant that met some of the places that we visited while in Italy.


Three of the four weeks in September were spent on the road.  While I love to travel and see new places, it is definitely nice to come home and sleep in your own bed, not eat every meal in a restaurant, and speak the same language as a majority of people around you!  I highly recommend visiting both Poland and Italy, however.  Both places have lots of hidden treasures that are just waiting to be unearthed.

People you've never met

In the last few weeks, tragedies have been the center of the news.

First there was Tony Stewart.  Then Robin Williams.

I've never met either.  I've seen Tony Stewart in passing.  But both have made some kind of impact in my life.

Robin Williams was a comedian and actor that almost everyone in the world knew.   You could almost go anywhere and somebody would know who he was and could cite a line from one of his movies.  He made us laugh.  He had a big heart.  He had millions of fans around the world.

Tony Stewart, on the other hand, is known in the racing world, but most people probably didn't know a ton about him until the most recent incident with Kevin Ward, Jr.  Most people have seen the hot-headed, arrogant, sometimes belligerent side of Tony.  Yet you speak to a lot of people involved in racing and you find out he's a very loyal friend that has poured out his love and support for others.

It makes me think - how can people you've never met have so much influence in your life?

I've had opportunities to meet celebrities - NASCAR drivers.  Baseball players.  Hockey players.  An occasional actor.  A few music artists.  Most of the meetings I've had were just a few seconds.  There are several I'd love to meet, but have not had the opportunity. 

Yet there are so many celebrities that have influenced my life whom I've never met.  A comedian that makes me laugh.  An actor or actress that tells a story that brings me to the edge of my seat.  A spiritual leader that helps pick me up when I'm having a bad day.  Politicians that make decisions that affect my daily life.  Most of these people I've never met and probably never will because I'm not in the "in" crowd.  I'd love to spend an evening with people like Jennifer Lawrence, the President of the United States (whomever they might be at the time), Denny Hamlin, Jeff Foxworthy, just to name a few.  There are plenty of others that have influenced my life that I'd love to spend time just sitting at a table, having dinner and shooting the bull.  All the names I mentioned have influenced my life in some way, and I'd love to actually sit down with them.

We laugh, we cry, we change the way we think, thanks to people like Robin Williams and Tony Stewart.

CISSP

Last Thursday I decided to take the plunge and take the CISSP exam.  I'd been contemplating it for a while, and finally decided to do it. 

The test is 250 questions, of which 225 are scored.  You must get 175 correct to pass and you're given 6 hours to complete the test.

I felt like I had thrown myself into a dryer.  The first few questions completely floored me.  I stuck to my strategy of making sure I answered every question first, then went back and re-read everything.  And a 3rd time. 

By then, three hours had elapsed.  I decided to take my first (and turned out to be only) break of the morning.  I had a list of about 20 questions that I wasn't really sure about.  Some of them I struggled with.  Others I read again and it became painfully obvious which was the correct answer.

At the four hour mark, I was getting mentally tired, had gone over the test 4 times, and changed my answers so many times that I was violating every test taking strategy out there.  I'd decided I had enough and hit submit.

Of course, the computer wouldn't tell me how I did, but to just go see the test coordinator in the room.  She escorted me out and went to get my results.

The first words floored me:  "Congratulations!  We are pleased to inform you that you have passed"

I couldn't celebrate.  I couldn't even think.  I was mentally exhausted.

I rewarded myself with a good pizza dinner and a movie.  The real reward will come in a few weeks when I get my official paperwork.

 

MIA: Short tracks

Yesterday's STP 500 showed everything that is right about NASCAR racing today.  Great battles.  Trading paint.  Tempers.  A great battle for the win.  Tire issues. 

Remind me again why there are fewer short tracks on the circuit than 20 years ago?

Short tracks are where a lot of drivers cut their teeth.  Almost every driver remembers racing their late model, sprint, street stock, or go-kart on a short track.  Every driver can probably tell a story about tempers flaring and fights almost breaking out in the pits after a race. We saw a lot of that yesterday at Martinsville.  Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch getting into it during the race resulted in a few words exchanged after the race.  In past years, drivers have been known to throw helmets, throw punches, and have some pretty awesome interviews after an incident on a short track.

Sadly, only three short tracks remain on the circuit - Martinsville, Bristol, and Richmond.

Why haven't any races been added to short tracks?

Last season, the truck series added Eldora raceway as a stop on the circuit.  The attendance and TV ratings were high, and a lot of drivers said it was one of the best events of the season.  While Eldora is not designed to handle a Sprint Cup race, it showed that there is still interest in not only short tracks, but running on dirt as well.

Gone are the days of North Wilkesboro.  It was the most recent shuttered short track from the Sprint Cup circuit.  The track was purchased by Speedway Motorsports in the 90s, shut down, and the two race dates moved elsewhere.  Other short tracks, such as South Boston, IRP, Myrtle Beach, Memphis, and other short tracks have been removed from both the truck and Nationwide series schedules.

My question is simple: Why were they removed?

Short track races are among my favorites.  There's something to be said about beating and banging fenders, using bumpers, trading paint, and the occasional fistfight after a race.  They separate the men from the boys. 

If NASCAR is truly listening to the fans, more races like Sunday's STP 500 at Martinsville are in order.

Hockey For Heroes

A little late, but still felt this was worth posting.


On March 14-15, Navy Youth Hockey hosted the first (hopefully) annual Hockey For Heroes.  The purpose of this event was to raise money and awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project, and the USA Warriors hockey team.  The format was 24 hours of continuous hockey from 6 PM Friday night until 6 PM Saturday night.  Teams were selected from Navy's youth programs, the USA Warriors, and adult teams from the Naval Academy ice rink and surrounding rinks.  My team, Back2Black, was one of the teams given the privilege to play in this event.

The event was a huge success.

When we signed up, each team was given the goal to raise roughly $1000 per team.  Our captain set a goal for each player to raise $400, which would bring our team's total to around $5000.

We met that goal and then some.

Our team's final total was over $16,000.  Thanks to the generosity of our friends, family, and for some, clients and business partners, we were able to more than triple our original goal.

When the tournament was over, Hockey For Heroes raised $96,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project and the USA Warriors hockey team.  Those numbers are simply amazing.

Our team was scheduled to play at 5:10 AM.  That meant waking up at 3:30 to get to the rink and get ready.  I was actually so excited to play in this game, I barely slept that night.  I got to the rink and all I could think about was the men and women that were on the field of battle, working all hours to keep us safe.

We had invited two servicemen to serve as honorary coaches for the game.  Both had been injured while deployed.  Both were athletes in high school.  Both sacrificed normal and promising lives to join the military.  Both were injured and had their lives changed forever.  It was definitely an honor to have these two brave men behind our bench.

We took the ice and played our game.  In the end, we lost the game, 3-1.  However, all we could think about was how much fun we had and who the real winners are throughout this whole event - the soldiers that need our care and support. 

Here's our team photo showing our donation total, our two honorary coaches, and Miss Anne Arundel County:

Chase Roberts: 2002-2014

My parents had to do one of the hardest things a human can do today - they had to say goodbye to one of their golden retrievers.  Chase passed away this morning after a few months battling lymphoma.  He went peacefully from what I was told, with my parents by his side.

My parents got him from a breeder who was involved with dog shows.  She showed Chase a few times, but he was not winning shows, so she unfortunately had to part ways with him.  My parents got lucky and got in contact with her, and it evolved into my parents getting Chase a few months after the death of their previous golden, Ripken.

Chase was about as mellow as could be.  I really can't recall a time he snarled, got angry, bit, etc anybody except his goofy brother, Tripper.  He had a gentle heart and was willing to do anything to make you smile.

The last time we got to see Chase was this past Monday.  He was in good spirits and spent time playing with my 3 year old daughter.  I can happily say the last memory I have of Chase is my daughter handing him a dog bone to eat as we walked out the door. 

I think to all the times he and I went on walks, played fetch, went to the dog park, went to my family's cabin in upstate New York (which was by far his favorite place on Earth), or just did things to make us laugh and smile. 

I sometimes wonder why we get so attached to animals.  I can only think of one thing:  unconditional love.  A dog will usually sit there on the worst day of your life and just be there for you.  In their mind, they could care less what you have to say or want.  They just want to make you smile and long for your attention.  There were many days when Chase and I had one-sided conversations about nothing.  He never got bored or told me to be quiet.  He was always there to comfort when needed.

Chase was a friend, a family member who will be missed by many.  I know that he will be waiting for us when we cross to the other side, anxiously waiting for his family to play and run with him.

Farewell, my "brother".  You will be missed more than you can imagine. 

Richard vs Danica

Richard Petty was my hero growing up.  I've always admired his devotion to the fans and NASCAR.  He's never turned down the chance to spend time with fans, sat for hours to sign autographs and spend time with fans, and really helped make NASCAR what it is (or was if you're not a fan of the new NASCAR).

Today Richard came out and said that Danica Patrick could win a race if "everybody else stayed home".

Really Richard?

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a huge fan of Danica.  Her mid-pack finishes and less than stellar career to this point have not placed her among NASCAR's top 10-12 drivers.  However, she's made it into the elite ranks of NASCAR when many others have not.  She has earned the right to at least compete at that level. 

Any driver on the track has a chance to win at some point.  Nobody expected David Ragan to win at Talladega last year.  Nobody expected Brad Keselowski to win in 2009.  Few expected drivers like Ron Bouchard, Lake Speed, Phil Parsons, among others, to win races.  But they all did.  They beat out champions named Earnhardt, Waltrip, Elliott, and Petty.  Many great drivers never won races in their careers.  Drivers like Ted Musgrave, Rick Mast, Dick Trickle never won, and they had better than average rides during their careers.

Danica may not be the best driver in the best equipment, but she's got more of a chance to win a race than 99.9% of the population. 

Richard Petty is a great ambassador for the sport of NASCAR.  But this time he scored a DNF rather than a win.

NASCARs New "Chase"

Yesterday, NASCAR announced a new Chase for the Sprint Cup format.  I've read the details over and over to make sure I completely understand it. 

And I don't like it.

NASCAR is trying new ideas and new ways to keep fans involved in the sport.  It's no secret that attendance is down, TV ratings have stalled, and sponsors are starting to cut back on the number of races they are on a car.  So Brian France has changed the Chase format yet again.

In less than 10 years, NASCAR has gone through 4 changes to the point system.  First change was the original Chase format that started in 2004.  Then came the expansion from 10 to 12 drivers.  Then the "new" point system, that basically simplified how points are calculated.  Then came the latest change.

It's crazy to think that a driver in theory could win 35 of 36 races during the season, yet lose the Championship.  The old points system rewarded consistency.  You didn't win the Championship because you won races.  You won the championship by winning races and finishing high in the ones that you didn't win.  Look at Bill Elliott in 1985 - he won 11 races and didn't win the championship.  Rusty Wallace won the most races several times, but only won one championship in his career.  Matt Kenseth won his only championship only winning once that season. 

With the new format, a driver could have a below average first 26 races, barely make the Chase, and could win it all.  That's not rewarding consistency.

Maybe I'm old school and prefer winning a championship by being the best during the entire season.  Even if that means my favorite driver doesn't win.  But I'd rather see a champion that deserves it, not one that wins by a playoff system.  If I want to watch playoffs, I'll go watch the NFL or NHL.

It's cold. So what?

The Polar Vortex is upon us.  It's projected to fall in the single digits tonight with wind chills in the -10 to -15 region.

And school systems around us are closing or delaying opening due to the cold.

Seriously?

It's been this cold before in Maryland.  It's been a while, but yes, it can get below zero.  Add the wind and it sucks.  I get that people don't want to be outside or send their kids outside in weather like this.  I don't like going out when it's windy and cold.  There are men and women that have to work in these conditions whether they like it or not. 

When kids will be waiting for the bus tomorrow morning, it will be cold.  It will be windy.  And thousands of parents will freak out because they don't want their kids standing out in it.  Yet kids do this all over the midwest and northeast every morning.  They stand outside for the bus when it's below zero.  They walk to school in snow and wind. 

I don't get to go to work late because it's cold.  Hell, I'm supposed to go to work if there's a blizzard - my office officially "never closes".   We're supposed to use our "best judgement" about going to work in adverse weather conditions.  So if it's cold and I'm getting ready to go to work, what do I do?  Simple - I dress accordingly.  I throw extra layers on.  I pull out the hat and gloves.  

The worst part is after a few days, we'll be back to the 30-40 degree range and people will go back to finding new things to complain about.

I love winter.  I love this kind of weather.  It'll be gone in a few days.  Suck it up, buttercup!