Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; Proverbs 3:5
The one thing that stands out above all else in 2015 was the death of my nephew Todd Curtis Doub on April 5, 2015 at age 49. It is with a heavy heart that I even write that sentence - a heavy heart for his wife Sharon, Mother and my sister Susie, Father Gary and siblings Shawn and Traci. Todd died from a brain aneurism while, ironically, running with his family. I truly did not know how much this man meant to his friends, church, family and community until his celebration of life which lasted nearly three hours. I suspect God needed him more in heaven to do His will.
We cannot understand why something like this happens to a man of this character who was so young and vibrant. As Proverbs 3:5 states above, it is not of our own understanding, trust in the Lord. Faith, trust, and love helps us get through moments like these. I will see you someday again Todd as my life has been given to God and the Lord, our savior. We will run more miles in heaven than we could ever here on Earth.
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| Todd Curtis Doub |
Entering 2015, I had two more states to run marathons in to complete my 50 state quest - Montana and Hawaii. My first marathon was the NYC marathon in 1994 but my second was Baltimore in 2001 so really, I completed the 50 state quest in 14 years. I have other blog posts related to these the Montana and Hawaii marathons along with the other marathons ran in 2015 so I won't repeat myself here. Certainly, completing this quest in Hawaii was the highlight of the year but it did not come easy and without its own challenges, specifically during the marathon. I barely made it to the finish. However, I think this was the way it was supposed to be, to have the toughest test be the final test to have to put it all on the line both mentally and physically. Unfortunately Cindy, with all her worry and patience, had to endure this with me. She waited the entire 7 hours not knowing where I was or if something had happened. That shows her trust, faith and love for me. The marathon was tough but the our vacation was phenomenal. Kaua'i is such a lovely island. You can read about the entire adventure by clicking here.
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| Before Kauai Marathon |
The other state needed was Montana and Missoula is the marathon to run in Montana. Missoula is a small funky little college town and fun place to visit. Being close to Glacier National Park allowed us to turn this marathon into a full-blown vacation. The scenery on the marathon course itself was not great but the overall event was well done. Cindy and I ran the 5K the day prior to the marathon and she did fantastic breaking 40 minutes. In the marathon, I decided to run with the 4:30 pace group lead by Rachel Toor, professor, writer and runner. We had nice conversations throughout and she really kept the pace group motivated. I finished not far behind in 4:30 and some change. Truly, the highlight of this trip was watching a Grizzly female and her cubs from afar in Glacier National Park. You can read about Missoula here.
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| Mama Grizzly and her cubs |
I started the year with 3 consecutive months (February - March) of marathons. A few years ago the Myrtle beach marathon was cancelled the night before the event due to a small amount of snow. All the runners were already there and at 10:45 PM it was cancelled. This was my only DNS for a marathon. I decided that we would make a Valentine's weekend out of it and stay at a beach hotel, have a nice dinner, take in a Legends show and run the marathon. I had battled some soreness in my hamstring in January so I needed to take it easy. Ironically, it was my best time of 2015. I'm not sure what that says about the rest of the year. You can read about Myrtle Beach here.
Since I was completing the 50 states this year, I decided to make it all 50 states and DC. There is only one marathon run entirely in Washington DC and unfortunately it is a Rock n Roll event. I'm not a big fan of Competitor's events primarily based on the horrid logistics of start/finish areas. Not all events are like this but in Washington the starting line and finish area were far enough away requiring your "fans", i.e. Cindy in this case, to take the metro to be at the finish line. It is similar in New Orleans and others of their events as well. Anyway, that aside, I woke up on marathon morning to a cold rain and the forecast for the marathon was to be the same. I truly didn't want to run but I am not a fair weather runner and have always said, you get what you get on marathon morning and that is why you train in all weather. Dressed appropriately, it wasn't such a bad jaunt around Washington. However, the highlight was seeing a show at Ford's theater (yes, the same one) and doing a CSI crime investigation workshop at the Crime museum. We visited the Lincoln memorial and the White House, which I had never seen from the front gates. It is much smaller than Versailles. Here is the link for more detail about this marathon weekend.
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| Ford's Theatre and where Lincoln was shot |
As I mentioned previously, my nephew had died on April 5. His celebration of life was April 10. I was already scheduled to run the Rock n Roll Raleigh marathon on April 12, which ironically, is the anniversary of my father's death in 1981, 34 years ago, quite unbelievable. During the same week a high school friend had passed from a heart attack, the second friend in the last 4 years who had died of a heart attack. I dedicated this marathon to these people who where had passed at such a young age. My Dad was 60, Todd 49, Rich 50 and Barry, 53. In many marathons people put their name on their shirts so that words of encouragement can be called out to them. I decided to run as Todd, to honor him and be with him throughout. On my bib I also put the names Dad, Rich and Barry to honor them. I wore Todd's memorial card on the back of my shirt. It was surreal as people called out his name as I ran. You can read about the whole experience here.
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| Finishing Raleigh |
I decided to do a few other distances in 2015 as well. I ran 4 half-marathons, an 8K and a 10 miler. The 8K and 10 miler are premiere triangle area races. The 8K was Running with the Bulls in downtown Durham and the 10 miler was the Tar Hill 10 miler run from the campus of UNC throughout Chapel Hill. Both races are well done. I felt really good in both and loved racing distances other than the marathon and half-marathon. The half-marathons were local, three of which are from the RACE 13.1 series; Raleigh Spring, Raleigh Fall and Durham. The other half-marathon was the inaugural Not So Normal Half in Carrboro which was a very odd course and supposedly short.
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| Certainly not normal |
The remaining two marathons completed were staples; Cincinnati Flying Pig and Baltimore. This was my second Flying Pig and I must say, this event is a good time for the entire family. This year we ran with the all three grandchildren; Bree, Jaxon and Korrey. I ran with Bree again and Becky and Cindy went with Jaxon and Korrey for their 15 yard introduction to racing and running. I had Bree run farther this and she did great! You can read about the Flying Pig here.
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| Bree |
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| Korrey |
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| Jaxon |
It was my 15th consecutive year running the Baltimore Marathon and CSE treated the 29 of us well. I had a bit of a rough day running with my slowest time but it never dampens my spirit of being in Baltimore. I did a nice write-up that CSE posted after the marathon.
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| Baltimore mile 13 |
As for racing (and although I use that term loosely since I am only racing myself), I ran 6 marathons, 4 half-marathons, an 8K and 1 10 miler. This was one of my more active running years.
Cindy participated in the Fleet Feet running program and completed a 4 miler in Carrboro. I was so proud of her when she finished because it was a hot day and I know she was struggling but she never gives up, just like she didn't give up when she did the 5K in Missoula and ran sub-40 minutes. Her next 5K is in Knoxville, TN April 2 and then Flying Pig 5K with Becky.
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| Cindy's finish in Missoula |
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| Cindy running NOBO 4 miler |
As for the rest of the year, we seem to have mimicked 2014. We got yet another dog, Gabby Noelle, on Christmas eve. She is a nice addition to the family and Casey seems to have perked up a bit by having a friend. Gabby has much more energy at the moment and Casey is so laid back. The size difference is substantial but he seems to be treating her well and welcomed her from day one.
We visited Calvin and Jenn in Asheville during their country-wide trip, Becky and the family in Cincinnati including a baby-sitting weekend, went to Wrightsville Beach for Cindy's birthday, with heavy hearts had the Shilling family reunion at Todd and Sharon's house, Shilling Christmas dinner at Susie's, Thanksgiving in Asheville, welcomed Shawn and family to our house, and welcomed two great, great nieces to our family from Taylor and Justine.
In 2014, Cindy and I visited Paris for her work. In 2015, we visited London as we both had to go to Nottingham for work. It was a quick trip to London but we packed a lot of sightseeing into a weekend before heading up to the midlands. I must say, it is nicer traveling to the UK with her than alone.
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| Big Ben |
- Ran 229 of 365 days (80 days less than 2014)
- Ran 1,421 miles (247 miles less than 2014)
- Avg. per running day: 6.2 miles (1.1 miles more per running day than 2014)
- Avg. over 365 days: 3.9 miles (.6 miles less per day over 365 days than 2014)
- Number of marathons: 6 (2 less than 2014)
- Avg. marathon finish time: 4:57:24 (Cincinnati best 4:25.34 and Kauai worst 7:04:24) This is 33 minutes worse than 2014 although the outlier of Kauai skewed this (see post above.) Without Kauai, average time was 4:36:14 (12 minutes slower than 2014)
- Avg. age-graded time: 4:20 (3:52:35 best) (4:02 without Kauai)
- Number of states: 5 + DC
- Number of new states: 2
- Total number of states: 50
- Total marathons: 89
- Total marathons/ultras: 97
- Number of races at other distances: 6 ( 4 half-marathons 2:01:45 age-graded 1:45:45); 8K and 10 miler
- Number of blog entries: 15 (119 less than 2014) I really want to write more in 2016!
- Number of meals donated to Durham Rescue Mission: 1,073
- Ran over 100 miles in all months but one in 2015 85-147 miles
- Avg. 118 miles per month (21 miles less per month than 2014)
- Avg. 27 miles per week (5 less per week than 2014)
I've kept this focused primarily on running but the year was adventuresome in so many ways. As always, I thank God who has afforded me
the health and means to do the things I have done and who has also put Cindy into my life. Without her support and our relationship, these moments would have been hollow.
I also know 2016 is going to be a challenging year for running but I still vow to do the best I can at the age I am. I still believe that it is better to wear out than fade away. I am convinced that we wear out faster when doing nothing than by being overly active. So, get out there, be active and I'll see you on the road or trail.
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