When I was twenty one, I graduated from college and went to work for the Catholic Church, where I was responsible for a youth group comprised initially of high school students, but rapidly grew to include junior high school youth and even some 5th and 6th graders.

It was a great job.

Over the past year, the marvels of FaceBook has meant that I’ve been able to be in touch with some of those (then) young people. There were a few that I was in touch with the whole time, but I lost contact with most. Still – over the years I’d see someone when jogging, or a friend of a friend would be in touch and I’d have a bit of a sense of what was happening to the young people with whom I spent my first 5 years post college.

In any case – it’s been pretty fun to find out what folks are doing. Seems to me (no scientific sample here) that most are doing pretty well. Oh, sure – I bet most have had the same trials as the rest of the population – working out challenging jobs and relationships, figuring out how to be married or divorced or both. But the folks that have been in touch? Seems like to a person they’ve remained warm, hopeful, optimistic. And that put me to thinking:

Was it good luck, back then, that tossed us all together? Maybe there was some of that. But I think there was grace, too, but not the cheesy grace that accompanies a holiday meal, or the kind that you might find on a get well card. No, it was grace of a different sort, I think.

Back then, I was thoroughly excited about being Catholic, and due mostly to a great Jesuit education – was also committed to seeking justice where I could, all with an attitude of inclusion and questioning that I find increasingly rare. And while I am less enthusiastic about the Catholic tradition these days – that sense of justice and inclusion are still with me.

Anyway – back then – what I remember the most of those five years was the essential goodness of the people with whom I was working. I bet many of them have kids that are teenagers or close to it – and maybe they are seeing some of the things that I remember seeing back then:

• Young people had an almost irrepressible sense of optimism that was mostly warranted and very contagious. No wonder we had fun – all we needed was to be in the same room together.
• They also exhibited a clever sense of humor that I think is fleeting – it was full of adult perception and youthful indiscretion. If I had a nickel for every time I laughed when I shouldn't have – I’d still have a lot of nickels!
• They cared for each other. Oh, sure – there were groups and pairs and threesomes. And there were hurtful things, and young romances, too. But all in all – it was more likely than not that I witnessed a genuine sense of caring for one another and for the larger group – despite some of those groups and pairs and threesomes.
• They wanted better. To be better humans, to care more deeply, to be more authentic. Sure (just like me) there were moments of anger, laziness, spite. But overall – people wanted be better at who they were becoming.

I can recollect specific moments (like when I inadvertently showed “the evil dead” to a group of high school students and had to rapidly figure out how to process that with them without losing my job. Or when we took almost 100 people skiing and I had to float the lift tickets and hotel on my credit card. Or the trip to Ocean Shores where it rained so much I thought we’d wash into the ocean. Or the time (another ski trip) when two people both broke legs. Or the fun of taking pictures, developing slides in the hotel bathroom, and showing them less than 2 hours after a weekend away.) Mostly though, I remember laughing a lot – laughing at the funny, at the fun, at the ridiculous, at myself.

So – good luck? The right young people at the right time? Or grace?

I think it was a combination – lucky for me to be surrounded by those young people, for sure. And lucky that I showed up post college feeling pretty enthusiastic. And lucky that my boss was terrific. (We still have lunch together).

But it was full of grace, too, but the real stuff, not the cheese-ball. The grace of self acceptance (at least sometimes) of forgiveness (a lot of times) of humor (most of the time), of trying to be better.

So – thanks, all. Thanks for being back in touch. Thanks for the chance to be together all of those years ago.

And write and tell me how it is with you, too. The real stuff, like back in the day. I probably can’t change any of your circumstance, but I can certainly listen and wish you well – which is about all we did the last time we were together.

I spotted an exchange on FaceBook, between a friend of mine and one of his friends. They were chatting about a bunch of the local races and issues on the ballot here in Seattle and King County, and one of the remarks in particular stuck out like a sore thumb:

The writer wanted to vote for whichever King County candidate would freeze the budget and stop growth in spending. Given the current economic climate, that sounds smart, right? But if you wait a second, and think about it – there are a LOT of assumptions built into that vote – and while I don’t know the answers to some of them – we should insist that the candidates for that office does know.

For instance, before assuming that we should spend the same as last year, shouldn’t we know:

• If the population of King County is greater or smaller than last budget
• If there has been an increase or decrease in the demand for services
• If there are more or less people in school
• If there are more or less workers contributing to the tax base
• If any increases in the King County budget came from Federal or State dollars
• Which funds are mandated by laws for which we’ve voted

I’m not a policy wonk, and not very good at math –but I was able to find out that the population of Washington has grown by about 188,695 persons, and King county by 48,900 persons. I didn’t dig deep enough to find out more – do an additional almost 50k people here in town mean that our budget should go up? Are they in school? Are they wage earners? Are they healthy? Are they employed? The answer to all of those questions matter a lot.

So –back to that question. Would it pass the reasonable test if I said to a family of two that they should maintain their grocery budget (not to mention their laundry, clothes, education) when they had a baby or two? Not really – we wouldn't expect that such a family would continue to make ends meet without increasing their access to goods and services. Maybe dad gets an extra job. Maybe mom does, too. Maybe they get food from a food bank. Maybe they get subsided medial help. Or maybe they are lucky, and their wages rise. If they don’t, though –and if that family stays healthy and fed – the community is helping them.

You can see where I’m headed here – asking for the same (or a smaller) budget isn’t the right question. It’s important – especially now when there is less money. And it’s certainly important to prioritize. But to assume that an increase in spending is bad, and a decrease is good, without answering some of the questions I’ve noted above is silly. As I said, I’m not very good at math, or public policy. That’s why we elect people – so that they can be really good at math and public policy – and can make choices based in the best and most relevant information.

That’s who will get my vote.

Oh. In case you’re interested – you should take a look at a report produced every year by King County. It’s long, but it is broken into chapters. I found this one particularly interesting. We all know that data can be manipulated to say what we want it to, and I don’t know the author. But some things stand out:

• More than half of the workers in King County don’t make enough to qualify as having a living wage. Let’s argue about that. (That wage, by the way, as calculated in this document, is about $28/hour.)
• Average wages in real dollars (adjusted for inflation and those sorts of things) haven't’ changed much in the last couple of years. That means that while prices are going up, wages aren’t.

There’s a lot more there to read. You can find the entire report and read it – might help you decide who will get your vote in November!

Looks like I am on track to clock 1,000 running miles this year – my best total for some time. Turns out that the more you run (provided you stay injury free) the faster you get. I took a quick peek at my running log to see how I’m comparing to last year – and I’m already ahead by almost 100 miles.

That sounds pretty good – but back in 2002-2004, I was running well over a thousand miles a year, and peaked at 1,600 miles in 2004.

2005 was off to a good start, I ran the Boston marathon – and then I happened to meet my wife, moved, my dad passed away – so it was a year that was full of unexpected surprises, and I ran a lot less.

2006 was better. 2007 was worse (although I swam and rode a lot getting ready for a tri – so I can’t really compare) and 2008 was better still.

How does that old saying go? A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step? Well – I took that step on January 1 in Manhattan (despite the snow, or maybe because of it) and I’ll finish in December. Not bad. And while my mileage has varied a fair bit month to month – the cumulative miles show that each month has been faster than the last, from a slow of an 8.07 average to this month, where I’m averaging a 7.33 pace so far.

So – whatever your goals – get started! Effort upon effort most often yields results!

I’m on the train on my way back from another relay race. Hood To Coast is among the first, best, and largest running relay in the world, and I’ve run the race with friends and strangers a lot over the years.

This time, I ran for Parkland Youth – a group of Pacific Lutheran University track runners who are all in their early 40’s. That makes them a masters team – and this year they were looking to break 21 hours (the race is 200 miles) and to win their division. They were short a runner, and I had the chance to toss my hat in the ring. I was pretty sure that I’d be the slow guy on the fast team, so I ramped up my speed training and also asked for the shortest total distance, thinking that I’d rather take a beating on a severe downhill than run a total of 18 miles!

I was a bit nervous about a couple of things: Racing with a bunch of complete strangers AND not being fast enough! Although I’ve been running and racing for years – I didn’t take it up until well after college – and there is a marked difference between those who raced in college and those who didn’t. I didn’t know if I’d fit in with a bunch of guys that raced together for four years – and was also nervous that I’d mess up their plans for the win!

Turns out – I was lucky on both counts. The team was comprised of 12 runners, two others like me who weren’t PLU grads. But all were masters runners, had some experience with Hood To Coast, and had typical, ribald senses of humor. For instance, running and talking about bowel movements tend to go together. As Chris said “I have to move, if I’m going to move!” And move he did – he cranked out 3 runs at a 6.30 or  better pace. Four, if you count his sprint from the porta-john, where as he described it:

"I knew I had to move, so I had to move. There was just one curve left in my lower intestine, so I almost yanked a guy out of the porta-john to take care of that curl. I heard Nathan yelling for me, so in one fluid motion, I grabbed the TP, wiped, upped my shorts, and opened the door and raced to the hand off.”

Of course, the re-telling was exaggerated, but the running wasn’t. We left Timberline Lodge at 6.30, just 15 minutes ahead of the very fastest teams. I was starting, and was more than a bit nervous: both vans had come to the start line to watch, and they’d drive past me on my way down the hill. On top of that, I was due to lose about 2,500 feet of elevation over 5.6 miles – a grade that approached 9% in places. Nathan (our team captain) had figured that I would run a sub six minute pace, based on one of my recent races and on the downhill. I was skeptical – but I did hit the first mile at 5.30 – I time I’ve rarely seen on my watch. The next mile was slower, and the pounding wasn’t so bad – at least not in the moment! I had a hard time actually measuring my pace, because I wasn’t working very hard – gravity was doing most of the work. I raced down, down, down, and finished in a 5.58 pace. Not as fast as the team needed –but I hoped to make it up on the next two runs!

I handed off to Nathan, and he smoked down the hill in a 5.26 pace. Robert was next, at a 5.40 pace, Mike (recovering from an injury) was in the low 6’s (he’d promised 7’s), and Scott blew out his long, hilly leg at a 6.02 pace. Craig ran below 6.30, and we handed off to the other van and headed to Portland to rest for a few minutes before starting again.

The break in Portland (courtesy Nathan’s mom) was nice, but much too short. Before I knew it, we were in the van and on our way to downtown Portland. Our van 2 had run strong as well, and we were within 2 minutes of the next masters team. It was about 1.30 in the morning, and cool when I took the baton and headed up and over the Hawthorne Bridge for a near 5 mile run along the waterfront and thru the industrial area of downtown Portland.

It was fairly awful – my legs were beat from the downhill pounding, and I wasn’t really awake yet. To make matters worse, the miles weren’t marked – so – while I’ve run that stretch of road before – I had no idea how fast I was going. My only real option (I had 30 seconds to make up for the team based on my first run) was to run as hard as I could, so I did. It hurt, and there were moments when I was sure that I was either running both the best and the worst run of my life. I tried to keep my eyes off my watch, but it was hard: I kept myself disassociated by doing math. I’m not very good at math, so it takes awhile, but it goes like this:

My fasted mile might be a 6.15 – so – to go just under 5 miles will take around 30 minutes. And my slowest might be closer to 7, which will take 35 or so. So, I won’t look at my watch until I’m sure I’m halfway.

Of course, that didn’t work – I checked my watch, and noticed I’d been running for all of 8 minutes – barely more than a mile. Ugh. Nonetheless, I knew that if I could just hang on for 30 minutes or so – I’d be well past halfway. By the time my watch was in the high twenties, I was sure I was close, and could tell myself that I just needed to hang on, so I did. I ended up with a 6.34 pace – better than I’d hoped for, and a second a mile faster than predicted. I was spent – but I’d but my deficit to about 30 seconds. I didn’t know how I’d get through my next run, but figured that I’d worry about that in the morning!

The rest of the team also hit their targets or better – and while the team we were chasing was slowly pulling away from us – we were on track to place 2nd AND to break the 21 hour mark – a fairly aggressive goal for us. After we picked up our runner, we headed to the next exchange for a bit of sleep before our final set of runs.

Right around 8.00 AM, Nathan woke the team, and we all shuffled around trying to wake up and prepare for our last effort. Our van 2 contacted us via 2 way radio (no cell phone reception where we were!) and they had run pretty well, but lost a bit of our margin. Alan came charging in, though, and handed me the baton, and I set off for a morning run, still wearing the same pair of contact lenses I’d put in more than 24 hours prior!

It wasn’t as hard as my 2nd effort – maybe because I could see the mile marks. The first mile was tough, as my sore muscles took their time warming up – but I tagged my watch and saw that I’d covered that first mile in 6.15. I was thrilled – if I could hold that pace, I’d make up my gap! The 2nd mile had the tinniest of rises though, and I could feel the tug of gravity working against me at that point. I was pretty dismayed though, to see a 6.45 on my watch – I was behind again, and more than a bit demoralized. The road evened, and I knew that I had just under 2 miles to go, so I did my best to work my arms, get on my toes, and to charge the runners in front of me. I hit mile 3 at a 6.05 pace – which likely meant that the miles were mis-marked, and that mile 2 was long, and mile 3 was short. That left me not knowing for sure how fast I was going, or if I was making up time or losing it!

The final half mile was a gentle rise followed by an even gentler downhill –and when I spotted Nathan, I got back up on my toes and ran at a full sprint – the sooner I finished the sooner I’d be out of may agony! I handed off the baton, and staggered to the side of the road. My teammates left me be until they were sure I wasn’t going to throw up, and then told me I’d made up a second a mile on my projected pace. I was delighted – it had been a grueling effort, but it had paid off!

My van mates ran hard over challenging ground, and woke Van 2 in time for the hand off. We delivered a 9 minute margin on that sub 21 hour finish time, and we headed for the beach!

We were out of cell phone contact for the next 3 hours, and only heard from Van 2 when their next to last runner was finishing. They’d run some challenging hills, and while they’d lost a bit of the margin –we were still ahead of our best expectations. Alan headed out for his final 5 miles, knowing that he had just a 2 minute cushion if he were to help us break 21 hours.

It came down to the wire! We lined the race course and peered anxiously down the boardwalk, waiting for him to take the turn and head towards us and the finish. We each gripped our watch, and watched as we saw 3.29 tick over, and no Alan in sight. He had just a minute to make the turn and cross the timing pad!

When he DID make the turn, we yelled and waved, each of us trying to somehow indicate that we weren’t just happy to see him but that he had to MOVE HIS ASS! It was a down to the wire finish – he turned the corner and we all had a few tense moments – each of our watches varied a bit, but it looked like he’d finished with just a few seconds to spare!

Although we had to wait (a beer helped), we did get news at last – we’d placed 2nd in our division, 20th out of 1,000, and had indeed cracked the 21 hour barrier by a skinny 15 seconds!

It was great fun, hard, hard, exercise, and fun to be with a group of guys that had raced together so long that the next morning one of them asked (out of habit) “what’s the team uniform for the day?” (Yes, we had uniforms).

We’ll see about next year – they may or may not need an extra runner – but if they do, and I am in shape – I’ll head back for another go at the 2010 relay!

I’ve been a home roaster for 10 years, maybe more, ever since my friend Jen Kennedy sent me some delicious coffee beans. I asked about their origen, and she told me that some students at the University roasted them. I phoned one, and he told me that home roasting was easy. A quick google search later and I was browsing www.sweetmarias.com. Turns out – it IS pretty easy!

I purchased a Whirley Pop popcorn popper, some green beans and a thermometer, and I was roasting minutes later. The technique isn’t that hard, but immensley variable:

1. Heat up the Whirley Pop (I like about 425-450 degrees
2. Add in about 8oz. green beans
3. Whirl for 7-10 minutes (I like a Full City roast, and roast into the second pop)
4. 4ool, grind, brew, repeat!

The other day, I started to wonder if my efforts these past years are a money saver or not, so I did a quick calculation:

• 1 pound of green beans (six dollars) yields about 21 cups of coffee (I enjoy strong coffee)
• Filters are about eight cents each
• Shipping is just about five cents a cup.

Labor. Well. This isn't’ exactly rocket science. But even at 25 bucks an hour (I don’t roast the whole pound at a time – who needs stale coffee?), my time still costs just thirty cents a cup.

All told? The freshest coffee in Seattle for just 71 cents a cup! Whoo hoo! And if I decide that my labor is only worth ten bucks an hour – I’m getting my coffee for fifty three cents a cup!

For grins, I thought I’d see what roasted coffee costs:

• Kenya beans from Starbucks look to be about 20 dollars a pound, or 95 cents per cup
• Pete’s sells a Kenya for 14.95 –which gets you a cup for about 71 cents
• Tully’s cheats a bit –they sell by the ounce –so their coffee is a bit cheaper than Pete’s (tastes that way to me, too) but gets you a cup for 57 cents.

All told – I’ll stick with the home roasting: Better quality, fresh, and fun!

Half Dome appears on many of the “must hike before perishing” lists, and when my sister invited Puja and me to hike, we did a bit of research and decided not to go. Then we did a bit of hiking, a bit more research, and decided that we should go, so we did.

We arrived in Yosemite at 11:00 PM, and geared up for the hike. We’d decided to hike at night to avoid the crowds and to beat the heat.

I was planning on running down the hill, and Puja and I also thought that having her nice camera at the top would be a bonus. So, between my running shoes, the camera, the water, the 10 essentials – my “day” pack was almost 30 pounds!

The first part of the hike was steep and on concrete – nothing at all like what we’d expected. But it was cool, the company was good (in addition to my sister, we were joined by her husband and son, and by my brother Matt and his son), and we were moderately fresh, despite flying down that afternoon and the long drive.

We opted for the short steep walk up, just along Nevada Falls. Even though it was dark, it was pretty – and the sound of the falls and the reflection of our headlamps on the granite were beautiful.

There are close to 800 steps along that part of the trail, and while Puja and I had trained well – we hadn’t climbed 800 steps by way of practice! It’s a different sort of hiking, and harder at night. Good thing we had trekking poles with us!

Near 2.00 in the morning we hit the valley – a 3 mile gradual climb along parts of the Merced river. The break from the steep climbing was nice, but the trail was mostly sand and not a lot of fun for walking. But the moon was a day from being full, and there were moments when we were able to turn off all of our lights and walk by the light of the moon.

We exited the valley, climbed past another water fall, and headed up. The last pair of miles prior to nearing the peak were full of long, winding switchbacks – and by now it was nearing 5:00 in the morning. In addition to being fatigued from the climb – the lack of sleep was apparent – it was easy for me to start thinking that climbing Half Dome at night was a poor idea!

That thought was reinforced near 5:15 when we exited the woods and spotted the sub dome – a rounded mound of granite which we had to walk up in the dark. Unlike much of the rest of the hike – there weren’t clear steps up the face of the sub dome, and in the light, and on the exposed granite – it seemed like any mis-step would be quite dangerous. Worse – the prospect of coming DOWN this step grade was terrifying.

Nevertheless, it was nearing sunrise, and we wanted to be on top for that. We climbed (slowly and carefully!) to the top of the sub dome, and then down into the saddle – where we spotted a pile of gloves and the cables that rise to the summit.

Most people just grasp a cable in each hand and pull themselves up, much like using both hands to pull yourself up a stairway. Puja and I had brought some climbing gear, which was a huge relief, especially after the uncomfortable scramble and around the sub dome.

We clipped in and started to pull ourselves to the top!

It was still dark, but the sun was on the rise, and we summitted in time to watch the sun creep over the valley. It was cold and windy atop, which kept us from exploring, but the view was gorgeous!

After resting and re-fueling on the top, we decided to head back down.

Going DOWN the cables was harder – gravity was working against us, and I was again very glad to have a climbing harness and to be clipped in!

The scramble up and over the sub dome was MUCH better in the daylight, and we were pretty cheery for the first few miles back down. Along the way, we saw the hordes of people making their way back up and were especially glad that we hadn’t made the climb in the morning.

We walked back the way we’d came, and through the valley, where we stopped to rest our feet in the Merced river.

We opted for the longer (but less steep) trail home, and while that provided some terrific views of Half Dome – all of us had tired feet with 2 miles to go!

The last two miles weren’t much fun – lots of rocky, uneven and seemingly endless switchbacks. Save for the occasional groan – we didn’t talk much (or take many pictures!) those last two miles, and were completely chagrinned when we got to the bottom and realized that our car was another 1.5 miles away!

After a cold beer though (my sister planned ahead) and an entire dish of home made brownies, we headed to the hotel for a good night’s rest.

I ran the Torchlight Parade last night – the first time I’ve done that race in about 13 years, but my third time racing. Last night was an odd combination of the first two times I raced (according to the weather, anyway). The first year it was a summer storm – thunder and rain. The 2nd time was a Seattle heat wave – well into the 80’s.

Last night was a combination of the two – about 85 for the race, with thunder and rain just after.

The first race was my speediest. I was on my way for a group camping/running weekend, and they guy organizing had let me know that I might want to carpool with another runner. Her name was Molly – and while we hadn’t met, we traded a pretty funny phone call:

Me: I was told you are running the Torchlight, and need a ride to Mt. Rainier?

Molly: I do. What kind of camping gear do you have?

Me: Just backpack stuff, but no tent.

Molly: Long pause

Molly: Well – I have a tent . . .

Me: I promise I’m not a felon.

Molly: Okay – meet me at my condo, we’ll park your car, take the bus to the start.

So – that’s what we did. Molly gave me her house key, and told me that I’d finish the race first – and that I should run back to her condo, and shower, and by the time she got there, I’d be done.

The race was terrific – my fastest 8k. I was in great shape, and I was having a running/camping adventure, and I was also making a new friend. I finished the race, ran back to Molly’s condo, and while in the shower, laughed out loud: I was in her condo for the first time, in the shower!

We had a great drive out to the mountain, and by the time we pitched the tent, everything was fine. Turned out she knew of a music CD I had just completed, and some of my friends – so, despite the slight hill (we kept sliding down to the bottom of the tent), it was a good night’s rest.

We ran around the mountain, and drove home the next day. We ran together a fair bit until Molly moved to Montana – but we’re still in touch.

The second race was my slowest – it was hot, I hadn’t been training, and someone handed off a spare race ticket just a few hours before hand. Between the heat, the poor training, and having to job from the back of the pack – not a great race.

Last night was better, but hard: The bus dropped me off an hour early (surprise, surprise), and I grilled myself on the pavement for an hour before warming up.

The start was a bit clogged, but broke up the second we went up the onramp to the Viaduct. It’s a tough way to start the race – not yet warmed up (except for the heat of the day!_ and up the hill we went.

I hit the first mile at 6.24 – just about right. We climbed a second hill before heading into the Battery Street Tunnel, where the odor of every exhaust pipe was still evident. There were a hot wind blowing in from the other end of the tunnel, so while we weren’t in the sun – it was still hot! I hit the 2nd mile at a 6.18 pace, and while I felt like I was working too hard for that pace – at least I was running well.

We exited the tunnel, and turned down to Dexter, and my heart sank a bit. I’ve been riding that stretch of rode a lot, and know from experience that it is an uphill grade. You might not notice in a car, and on a bike it means dropping a gear or two. But on foot, in the heat and so on? I didn’t have a gear to drop, but my heart rate sure went up with the hill.

I hit mile 3 at a 6.25 pace, and thought that perhaps the worst was over. We turned down Denny, and made a quick jog on 5th before dropping down to 4th Ave – where my heart rate went up and my spirits flagged a bit. 4th is a cruel mixture of up and down – and I was definitely on the uphill part! But the crows was out for the Parade, and I knew that once I hit the mid part of town, I’d get a break back down hill. To my complete dismay,(and after heading down hill!) my 4th mile was a slow 6.38! Ugh! By then my heart rate was near its maximum, and I was really ready to be finished.

I forged ahead, climbed the last hill and then we sprinted towards Qwest stadium and the finish. I’ve raced a lot, and on several occasions felt awful at the end – but this was one of the worst. My time was okay – but given the effort to get that time – I was more than a little out of sorts!

I grabbed a water and jogged toward Capitol Hill where I was meeting my wife and my friend Robert for dinner. Just then – the thunderstorm hit, and while I wasn’t happy to get soaked –the rain was nice and cool.

The next day, I found out that the course was long – which means that I ran faster than I thought – and THAT was quite a relief!

A former colleague recently asked for some advice about a career change –and – whilst I was thinking about my answer, a bunch of people actually provided their answers – most about what degree, program or opportunity to dive into next. For what it’s worth – I’m confident ALL of them missed the mark.

(They all are more successful my most normal measures, by the way – better titles, better salaries, bigger houses, blah, blah, blah. But I’m happier, and better adjusted, methinks).

Anyway – I was thinking about MY work –and –after about 25 years in the work force – I’ve changed my mind about how to assess what is important – so – here we go:

My first work was in youth ministry, for a Catholic parish. My job was to engage and work with young people, and to help them feel happy, comfortable, challenged and a part of that catholic community.

At the time – I was pretty sure that it was young people and the Catholic tradition that made that such a great job. And while some of that is true (I did enjoy both) – the truth is that I had a GREAT manager (yes, a Catholic priest) and terrific co-workers. We worked really hard, for about 14 grand a year. It was fun. We even did a fake exorcism for someone’s 40th birthday, and once rented a hearse for another 40h. I don’t want to discount either the young people or the catholic tradition –but having fun, funny, smart and energetic co-workers was terrific. The fact that some of the young people were also fun, funny, smart and energetic was also terrific.

My next work was for a group home for adults with developmental disabilities – also connected to the Catholic tradition. I was running a home, balancing the books, tracking down board members and volunteers and doing some direct work with adults with development disabilities.

At the time – i was pretty sure that it was the catholic thing and the adults with developmental disabilities that made me love that job. In hindsight, though – I was working with musicians, artists, writers,poets, philosophers –and while we all shared a common goal (a better world for those folks with disabilities) – it was the work that we made fun because WE were fun. We grew up, we made mistakes, we learned, we fixed those mistakes and made new ones. Don’t get me wrong – I’ll ever have a soft spot in my heart for adults with a developmental disability – they need and have earned my respect and support. But it wasn’t a career in developmental disabilities that made my happy – it was my community.

Of course – all good things end or change –and when that goodness changed (exceptionally poor leadership) – I began work at a theatre company, raising money for after school and main stage programming.

At the time – it was easy to think that fundraising was the cool part (believe me – not so much) or the theatre. And to be sure – both of those things were great. Better yet, though – I was surrounded by people that loved to read, experiment, act, try out new things. The fact that some of them ended up being more narrow in their beliefs about theology than I brought that work to an end – but  -you can see why I enjoyed that work.

I spent 6 years after that working for a nonprofit tech firm. I love technology – I’ve been a geeky toddler, kid, teen, young adult, and now middle aged man. And I was helping nonprofits – my do-good streak runs deep.

At the time – I thought it was just the technology, or the nonprofits – but – not so much. When the leadership suffered, when my heart and brain were no longer engaged, when work was all work and no fun – it was time to move on. But it wasn’t the work per-se that changed – it was a lot of the people. A lack of humor, not wanting to learn, unable to cheerfully make a mistake, unable to thoughtfully consider a different opinion – that all added up to not a great place to work, even though that agency is still DOING good work, if you get what I mean.

And now? I’m at a small for profit company. Still doing tech. But here’s the difference – my co-workers are (again) smart, funny, really good at their work. They own their own mistakes, and try to own mine, too. They like to learn. They like to try new things. They acknowledge the past but don’t live there. They hope for (and get) new opportunities, options, ways to grow.

SO – when you next start thinking of a career – consider the who more than the what. We all read Tom Sawyer as kids – he made painting a white picket fence a community activity – and everyone wanted to be a part of that. So look for that in your next work: Community, a place to laugh, learn, grow. A place where you can make a mistake (or two or three) and be embraced anyway. Maybe you’ll be licking stamps, coding the next search engine, writing the next great American novel, or saving the world. But pick your co-workers first.

Wow – what a great day! My team just finished the 4th Mountains to Sound Relay, and it was a nail biter the whole way!

The drama started on Friday night, when our mountain biker called to let me know that his bike was broken – like – almost in half! While cleaning it up for the race, Phillip discovered a crack in the frame –so we sent out an emergency call for a replacement, and started to work on plan B.

Plan B? That’s right – that would be the “well, I’ll just ride it in my single gear bike” plan!

Sunday morning dawned gray and wet – and while the team assemble up at Exit 38 for the start, Ron (our road cyclist and new to the team this year), headed to his starting line at Rattlesnake Lake to warm up. Back up top, Phillip and Joe and Frank and I tried to stay warm and dry, and tried to figure out how to get Phillip a change of shoes. Phillip was very Zen: “Well – I have a fixed gear bike, so not much can break – and I’d rather not get something stuck in my cleats during the run up and back – so I’ll change shoes before I get on the bike.”

Phillip hit the trail about 30 people back, traded his sneakers for  his cycling shoes, and was off for the 5 mile uphill ride, while Joe and and Frank and I headed back down to Rattlesnake Lake.

Phillip is a top rider – and in the previous two years finished 2nd and 4th – and both of those times, the difference between finishing first and finishing 4th was just a few seconds. But with a new course this year, and a fixed gear bike – it was anyone’s guess. We waited at the hand off, with Ron ready to go. We thought we might see Phillip as early as 45 minutes or as late as an hour, depending on his strategic choice of a single gear.

At 45 minutes, there was a flurry of activity and yelling from the top:

Phillip came roaring in 2 minutes ahead of of the rest of the pack, and Ron was off (as Frank said) “like the swine flu was right behind him”.

Phillip let us know that he was with the lead pack on the uphill, and they came to a divot in the trail, and each rider took a different path around it – leaving him in front of the pack.

He said “I was going 17 MPH, and I don’t know where they went, I was expecting them to be right behind me”. I mentioned that it was the 17 MPH UPHILL that kept them from keeping up!

While Phillip and Joe and Frank headed down to Luke McRedmond Park to prep for the kayak handoff, I set out to follow Ron in the car – it was wet, and I wanted to make sure he was safe and didn’t have mechanical trouble.

It took FOREVER to catch him – and you can see why:

He'd started with a 2 minute lead, and by the time I was in the car, I had to be careful of the rest of the cyclists out on the road. I finally caught up to him at the 25 mile mark or so – he was still in front, but a pack of 4 had teamed up and were in hot pursuit!

I pulled over to get a time check – he still had his two minute lead! However, now there were 8 riders working together trying to catch him, and at the next time check, they’d made up 30 seconds! The course has a lot of turns – which meant that it was hard to keep in visual contact, and I think that worked in our favor.

As Ron continued to tear it up (even on the uphill portions), the pack behind him blew up, leaving just one person in pursuit. Ron got one last update before heading toward the finish (with me in hot pursuit of a parking spot) and screamed into the finish in 1:48 – an unbelievably fast time, in first place!

I missed the handoff (parking the car), but Joe is one one of our founding members, and has finished in the top ten of our division each year. He was in a speedier boat than last year, and despite the water being low – we all were pretty sure that he’d turn in a great time, especially when hitting the water first! We knew that it was likely some of the folks in doubles (two people to a boat) or the former Olympic Gold medalist (a rower) might pass him by – and – that’s exactly what happened – but it took a while!

Joe also set a PR, and by three or four minutes! (I had a stopwatch malfunction, so I don’t yet know his actual time – but I DO know it was his best ever!)

Frank was up next – his second time running the half marathon, running from Log Boom Park in Kirkland to Gas Works Park. That’s a long way to run – and when you get a 2 minute lead but have 150 people chasing you – a pretty daunting effort! Frank had trained hard for the half, and the weather was cooperating this year – not 90 degrees like in 2008!

Frank had to set a strong and aggressive pace and hold it – he was aiming to break 1:40, and while he says he started a bit too fast, he looked pretty cool at the start:

Frank fended off all but one runner, and hit Gas Works in a personal best of 1.39.17 – beating his previous best by two minutes!

I was ready for the hand off – 2008 hadn’t been a great race for me, due to the heat, and the gnarly head wind. And while it looked like there was still going to be a head wind, it was in the mid 60’s. Better yet, I’d trained better, hitting the track once a week, racing twice, and upping my mileage to prepare for the just under 10k run. My wife was with me, too – an enormous help. She had water, a phone, and the capacity to stop traffic on my behalf – just what I’d need to get through the race without having to wait at the lights!

And even better – she was behind me the whole way, giving me an emotional push towards Golden Gardens!

Frank handed off and I started the chase -  there was a racer about a minute ahead of me, and I thought I’d go and reel him in. I could tell at the first mile that I was going to have a a good day – I hit a 6.17 for the first mile, and still felt pretty relaxed. Puja had helped me through both the stoplight at Stone Way and the crowd in Fremont, so I was feeling pretty good – although the guy in front of me was nowhere in sight yet. I kept to the Burke, and as we turned the corner, the wind picked up a bit.

The 2nd mile was a little slower, a 6.28, but that was okay – I was aiming for a sub 6.30 pace, and I was right on it – and I was still feeling pretty good. The crowd had thinned out, and I was headed towards the halfway mark – and the hardest part of the course. We ran along the railroad tracks – a pretty bumpy run, with railroad ties, loose gravel, paved crossings to get to the water. I had to pay close attention to keep from falling, and maybe that helped me stay focused, because I hit mile three at 6.12 – my fastest mile yet!

We ran past the Locks along the trail and the wind picked up a bit again (but nowhere near as badly as last year). As I ran past the water station I asked “can I catch that guy”, and the response told me everything I needed to know: “Uh, well, hmmm, MAYBE . . .”.

Mile 5 was a blur – I was in my top heart rate zone, and was starting to get that coppery taste in my mouth that said I was in the red zone – not much gas left in the tank. I crossed mile 5 at a 6.11 pace, and headed toward the finish at Golden Gardens!

But not before I body checked a walker.

I was up on the curb – and he heard be coming, and we did that dance: You know – you move right, I move left, I try to pass, and you move back into my path. I swore, but wasn’t angry  -it was one of those things – both of us were trying to get out of the way! It knocked me off stride a bit – but by then I was in the park, and I knew that the finish was less than a quarter of a mile away. My fatigue eased, since I knew that I could rest in a minute, and I hauled down the trail for all I was worth. My team was cheering for me, and while I hadn’t caught the guy in front of me – I hadn’t been caught, either:

I finished the last segment under a 6 minute pace (unless the course was short – always a possibility), and found out that we’d WON our division and came in FIFTH overall, living up to our name – Faster Than Last Year!

(Phillip, me, Joe, Frank, and Ron was MIA)

******

Kudos to Chris and Vicki and all of the MTS organizers and sponsors – they planned and held a super race, which also serves as a benefit for the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust.

Today was a good day for running – I have running software that lets me know how I did compared to last month and to last year.

One of my plans for 2009 was to clock more miles – and while I’ve been steady – last year I was training for a marathon, and this year, for a 10k – so I didn’t know how I’d compare to last year.

Turns out (no surprise here) that steady wins: Last year, although my brother and me were getting in nice long runs (think 15-20 miles on a weekend) – I wasn’t getting much mileage outside of that long run.

This year I am – and –today I surpassed both my comparison to last May (108.25 this May, compared to 47.2 last) and last year to date. Thus far this year I’ve covered 444 miles, and last year to date, 441.

It was today’s 5.5 miler that put me ahead in both categories.  If I can keep it up – I should end 2009 in better shape than in 2008!

I ran in the annual Nordstrom Beat the Bridge race on Sunday – I think I may have just hit the mark for running the same race 20 times! I don’t know for sure, because the first few times I ran – I wasn’t yet a runner, so I didn’t keep track. But I have 16 race tags stashed away in my racing folder – so I bet I’m close to 20.

This year was similar but different: I jogged 4.5 miles to the start line, met my brother (but we didn’t race together, since he’s training for a half marathon and me a 10k), and then we jogged back to his house at the end – for a total of a 13 mile day for me.

I raced in Victoria a few weeks ago (a 10k), and managed a 6.34 pace, so I wanted to be faster at the shorter 8k distance. I was – but not by much! I finished this year at a 6.29 pace. I’d secretly hoped that either I’d be FASTER or that I’d FEEL better. Alas –some days you get the race you get rather than the race you want!

Here’s what has been steady about the BTB race all of these years:

• Mile markers are always off
• Slow runners start at the front to see if they can beat the bridge
• The race raises a LOT of money for Juvenile diabetes
• The finish line is on the track at Husky Stadium (but never in the same spot)

And the stuff that’s different:

• Runners are all getting slower – average time is increasing
• Guys my age are finally slowing down a bit – but not much!
• Looks like running is on the rise – more runners every year since 2006

And some fun stats by Place:

• My best place overall was 94th, in 2004
• My best finish by gender was 78th, in 2004
• My best finish in my age group was this year – 9th! (but I’ve also been 10th, 11th, and 12th)
• I finished 101 in my gender twice

And some stats by Percentage:

• My top finish overall was in 2004 – top 2%
• My top finish by gender was 2004 and 2008 – top 4% – even though I was slower in 2008 by 52 seconds
• My top finish by division was 2004 – top 4%

And if this isn’t indulgent enough – I’ve written about the race a LOT:

• Here in my blog
• An essay over on my website about BTB

I’m just back from the Times Colonist 10k – it turned out to be a good day for running, and a good day for re-learning lessons, too!

The good stuff first: I finished at 40.45 – that’s a 6.34/mile pace – a tad better than I’d expected. And I cracked the top 20 in my division which is great. But lest you think overmuch about that – they guy that one my division finished in 32.04. As I suspected – those tough old bastards aren’t slowing down very much!

This was my first race where I focused on the kilometer marks rather than the mile marks – and – lots to like about that:

• The math is easier (no pesky 6.2 miles to deal with)
• You get to see how you’re doing more often
• You get to press the button more often – so the sense of progress helps!

On the other hand:

• A 4.20 first Km didn’t mean much to be save for “I’m behind”
• Pressing the lap button on the first Km still left me with 9 more to go!

Turns out – that first Km was slow mostly due to the crowd –so I sped up a fair bit to make up time. And I actually dropped into the sub 4/km pace (in the 6.15 to 6.20 range).

That meant that I probably went out a little too fast – when I hit the rollers (can’t really call them hills) I slowed to a 6.40-6.48 pace, and was worried that I might KEEP slowing. I was keeping my eye on my heart rate though, and I knew I had a little bit of room still. And after those rollers – the course evened out.

So – I was able to dip into the 6.18 pace for that 8th Km, slowed on the 9th (another little roller), and then finished with a 6.24 pace. All told – pretty good. Better if I’d been able to start a tad more slowly and SPEED UP into the race – but – I’ll take it!

I also reviewed my heart rate data – one of the ways I can measure if I started too fast is my capacity to increase my heart rate through to the end. And that turned out for me today, after all – although I cranked my heart rate up pretty fast – the highest numbers came in the last Km:

And then the final details – compared to the field!

I finished:

• 275/9932 overall
• 236/3948 in my division (men)
• 19/425 in my age group

I’m in Victoria for the Times Colonist 10k – there should be as many as 13,000 runners – I don’t think I’ve been in a race that big for awhile!

I’m training for a speedy 10k in June – my annual Mountains to Sound Relay race. We came in 9th last year, and we’d like to stay in the top ten – which means that my brother Frank and I both have to run faster. (The other guys on our team all cranked out top ten finishes last year –so they just need to maintain!)

Anyway – I’ll be running in kilometers instead of miles – and – I’m starting to get why that is easy, from a match perspective. My wife set up a nice spreadsheet – I can enter my desired pace in miles, which is how I normally measure – and it tells me my pace for 1,000 meters.

Turns out that a 10k is a great way to get used to the metric system. I would like to run a 6.30 or 6.40 pace – which means I need to hit each KM at a 4.02 – 4.09 pace. If I were tracking that in miles, I’d have to figure out how to accommodate that last almost quarter of a mile.

But with the metric system – I just run each KM at a 4.02 pace or so – no extra match required. And here’s the other cool part – if I run in that window – it will be pretty easy to keep track of my over/under. If I run a 4.00 – I’m up by 2 seconds. Easy to keep track of those – since when I get to the last KM – I’ll know how many I am under or over. Nice.

Anyway – the course should be flat, I’ve got my girl and my in-laws to do some cheering, and my dog will be happy with me no matter how fast I run. I hope the weather holds – would be nice to have a dry day!

I’ll have to write more about each of these in a bit – but for now – check out how lucky I am:

On Saturday, I saw Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers at Nectar in Fremont. Think roots rock/folk/southwestern rock – all rolled into a show with great stage presence. Hard to argue with a guy who finishes the show by saying (like he means in” “thanks for the honor of your presence”. Good stuff.

Tuesday was the Vienna Teng show at the Triple Door. Holy crap – what a great show. I’ve seen her four times or so – and even had a chance to help with her video shoot on Whidbey Island. The show started with a great opening act (the paper raincoats), and then Vienna sang a bunch of songs from all of her records, including the new one. Great songwriting, performance, band – really – the whole enchilada. When she sings, I can see the melody.

And on Wednesday – The Killers. Another great show –this time – over the top, but not over the top arena rock. Really good sound, and intense stage presence.

If that doesn’t make for a great musical triple play, I don’t know what does. Stay tuned for more about each!

I’ve wrapped up my first week of work for Denny Mountain Media – so far – pretty great!

I’m having a gentle start – lots and lots of reading about past projects, our agency, our customers and so on – and since we’re all virtual – am also responsible for setting up my workspace, getting my phone and calendar all in sync and so on.

Next week will include some additional strategy meetings, some more getting on board stuff, and meeting with customers. And probably a coffee shop or two . . .

Working at home is great – I have a comfortable space and a lot of good technology right here at my desk.  You’ll notice that I have THREE monitors up, and a spot for my work laptop (I decided to put it away for the weekend – seems to me like I should get in the habit of working during the work week and not working on the weekend!).

I found a nifty tool called MaxiVista – it lets my use one keyboard and mouse combo to control my desktop (which has two monitors), my Tablet, and my work laptop. In addition – I can extend my screen from one to the next if I wish – great for large spreadsheets and so on!

I’m still experimenting with the right way to handle multiple phones and email accounts – I’ve been a firm believer that I should maintain a single calendar and to do list –yet  with multiple email accounts and phones – I’m sure I'll have to think of something creative.

In any case – I‘ve also set things up so that I can unplug my laptop and hit the road for meetings or a change in scenery. To date, that’s meant some time at Herkimer’s, Zokas, and Victrola – I’m still figuring out how much coffee I need to purchase to feel I’m not mooching and taking up space!

I’ve started a new job, and am pretty excited about it – the people I’m working with at Denny Mountain Media remind me a lot of the importance of office and corporate culture. In short order (I’m headed on to day three tomorrow), I’ve been reminded a LOT to ask questions, to provide an outsider view, have been encouraged to see things that could be different – and all in a confident manner.

I love that – I’m convinced that the heart of self confidence is the capacity to be comfortable not knowing something. As a matter of fact – the sooner you’re able to identify that learning gap  -the sooner you can close it!

Don’t get me wrong – the team I’ve joined knows a LOT. But it is refreshing to have joined and to know that a part of the culture is about closing knowledge gaps, about applying a sense of humor when possible, and in encouraging hard work and learning.

And funny to talk about office culture – because we’re all virtual! That’s right – I’m leveraging both my inner tech geekiness and my love of coffee! I know I’ll have a lot to learn about telework – but so far –so good! Up at the usual time, shower, shave (at least as often as I ever shave), drop of Puja at work.

On day one – I headed home, fired up the laptop and the desktop and was on the learning curve by 8:00 AM. I worked until lunch, stepped into the next room for lunch, and then packed the laptop down the street for a coffee, some wireless and some more learning.

Day Two was different – after dropping Puja at work – I headed to another coffee shop, and settled in for a couple of hours of work, met one of my new co-workers for a meeting, had lunch with a buddy (working lunch – he knows more about SharePoint than many – and it was great to pick his brain), and then spent the rest of the day at home with the laptop, the desktop and my dog.

I know that different people have different needs when working from home – and I know that I’ll find out how much routine is good, how to vary it for sanity, if I need to wear pants and all of those sorts of things.

In the meantime – if you have work from home experience –send me a note!

SNOWING on March 15th, right here on Phinney Ridge! HUGE snowflakes – perhaps the largest I’ve ever seen – and me – getting ready to head to the Leprechaun Run in Rochester, WA!

Turns out that my friend Jesse and me were in for an adventure:

1. Make it to Rochester WA (Rochester, WHERE?) by 10.40 AM for the race
2. Survive the snowy conditions out on the course
3. Make it back to Seattle for a pint and a burger!

I haven’t ever raced a 10 miler before, although I’ve run plenty of 10 milers. And Jesse was running his first ever 10K – so – there was enough new in the day that the snowfall was a bit of a game changer.

We traded some quick text messages early in the morning, and decided to brave the weather and see what we could find out. (Oh, and for you that know a lot more about snowy climes? What you probably don’t know is that Seattle is HILLY and the City is more than under-prepared for snow. A couple of inches shuts us down, like it or not – and the forecast heading South wasn’t great)

I slide down the hill to Jesse’s place, we hoofed it to his car (our warm-up, as it would turn out) – because of the parking zones, (and because I misread his address) it was a decent sized hike. And then because someone took out his driver side mirror – we made it to the freeway making all right turns!

Interstate 5 was a mixed bag – several inches of wet snow and a LOT of water. And half a dozen cars, hydroplaned this way and that –some with emergency vehicles still on site. We drove carefully – but we had 88.75 miles to go – and while we’d left a cushion – we hadn’t really expected to drive in snow the whole way!

We were diverted by good conversation and the fake “gas next left” sign – you know: The sign that really means that you’ll find a gas station between here and New Mexico if you just hand a left. Well –we did find a gas station, but it was 3 or 4 miles out of the way. We gassed up and, um, gassed out, if you get what I mean – we didn’t know for sure what the bathroom situation might look like at the race – so we took advantage of the facilities prior to hitting the road!

I kept telling Jesse that I could see the sun – and he kept not believing me. Turns out – he was right –we had mixed snow and rain all of the way to lovely Rochester, where we pulled into the Swede Hall

at 10.25 – not early and not late for our 10.40 start.

But wait! They decided to start us ALL at once – not a bad idea, given that the weather had deterred most of the runners. We’d barely grabbed our registration packs when they called the 2 minute warning!

I quickly changed into my Batman suit: All black – tights, long sleeved tee, black gloves, black hat. It’s slimming, doncha know – and anything that helps me feel lean and fast is a good idea. Jesse was already dressed for success, so we sloshed out the door and to the starting line.

I had just enough time to wish Jesse well on his inaugural race when the gun went off! We ran around the drive and out onto the street and the race was on!

This was a change of venue – so we didn’t know anything about hills, course markings, water, and the like. All I knew for sure was that I was running a 10-miler. There were about a dozen people in front of me on the road, which was still pretty slushy – my feet were soaked and frozen almost immediately.

We ran alongside of the road – and when we ran under a tree, we were soaked from above, too –the snow was melting rapidly – but there wasn’t really anywhere else to go (save for oncoming traffic) so I knew it was going to be a wet run!

Everyone was wearing the same kind of race tag – so I didn’t know who else was in the 10 mile run. At the first water stop, about half of the runners turned around (for the 5k) – leaving me to wonder about the 6-8 people in front of me.

I’d lost my heart rate strap, and while I had my watch – none of the miles were marked –so I really couldn’t tell how hard I was running, or how fast. It’s been pretty fun to run with less information than normal – it reminded me a bit of my very early running – when having a watch was the best you could do!

I felt pretty good, though, save for my feet, which were freezing. I spotted a couple of runners turning around and heading back my way, so I knew I was near the 3.1 mile mark. When I got there, a quick glance at my watch let me know that I was under an 8-minute per mile pace – but I didn’t do the math to see how far under. I was HOPING for a 7.30 pace – and felt like that was still possible. So – I sped up a bit!

There seemed to be 3 people left in front of me. One of them pulled over with a sore calf, while the other one continued. Now, I’ve run a LOT of races in my life, and at a few small races have even managed to place in my age group. But I’ve never made it to the top three in a race – and all of a sudden I could see that odds were stacked in my favor! 2 people in front of me meant that unless someone caught me from behind – I was on track for a top three finish!

I sped up a tad more, all the while wondering if the other two people were running the 10 miler or one of the longer races. I caught the number 2 guy, and saw the runner in front of me make the turn. I waved as he headed back my way, and tried to decide if he looked like he was getting stronger or weaker – but I couldn’t tell!

I hit the turn  around at 37 minutes or so – a 7.27 pace. I still felt good – and – if I could hang on to that pace, or run a bit faster, I knew I’d hit my race target. It helped to be heading back to home, and it helped to know that there was just one guy in front of me.

Or was there? He was NOWHERE to be seen! He only had a minute or so on me – and I’d had him in line of sight the whole race. There was one turn (about a mile back) – but it didn’t seem likely that he’d been able to put on a burst of speed and leave me that far in the dust!

By now, my feet had finally warmed up, and I knew what to expect, distance-wise. I got up a bit more on my toes, worked my arm swing a bit, and drank in more air, and decided to see if I could run a faster second half of the race – and maybe catch that guy in front of me!

The other runners were headed my way in groups of ones, twos and threes – and since all of us were running on the same side of the road – I couldn’t spot my guy. I pushed on, and when I got to the 10k turnaround, I knew that I had just over three miles to go. Without mile markers, I couldn’t say for SURE that I was running faster – but it felt like it. My muscles ached a bit, I was breathing harder and faster, and my feet were still warm. I thought - “Three miles? I can do ANYTHING for 3 miles!” and picked up the pace again!

The single spectator cheered from the school parking lot across from the turnaround – what a blessing. And the other runners coming my way told me a looked great. Must have been that Batman suit!

By now I was tiring, and the guy in front was still nowhere to be seen. I fell off my pace for a minute, but then realized that I was having a really terrific run – despite the damp – I was comfortable, I was able to run hard, I was still smiling – and in a few minutes, I’d get to find out how Jesse had fared in his first race!

I got back up on my toes and started looking for that first turnaround – where the 3k folks had made their turn. I knew that when I saw that, I had just over a mile and a half to go. I spotted it, sped up, and started doing math.

Now, I’m not good at math under the BEST of circumstances, and this was definitely not the best of circumstances! I had to transfer kilometers to miles, and I was working with times that were going to creep over the one hour mark! Nevertheless – I knew that if i hit 75 minutes, I’d be just at 7.30 pace, and anything underneath would be a bonus. It seemed likely – I’d picked up the pace a fair bit since turning for home – and with just a mile and a half or so left, I could tell myself that I just needed to run hard for another 10 or 11 minutes!

Which I did. I had a bad case of nerves when I saw the half mile marking - -right next to an unmarked turn! I opted to stay on the road (whew – good call!) and soon spotted the turn for the finish!

There wasn’t anyone there, so I made the same loop as when we’d left just over an hour ago. As I steamed across the finish line (I mentioned it was damp!) a woman told me I had to keep going. I was crestfallen – if THAT wasn’t ten miles, then, well – I wasn’t as speedy as I thought!

The race director popped out though, and let me know that I HAD finished properly, and the clock read 1.12.55 -  so I’d managed to run the second half of the race faster than the first – at a 7.07 pace!

I teetered into the hall – Jesse was there already – turns out he’d also had a terrific first race – finishing 2nd overall (and, I think, first in his age group!)

I was pretty sure I was 2nd overall and had no idea about age group placement – when the race director walked over and handed me a trophy. “Second place?” I said, and he replied “No – you won the 10 miler!”

I have NO idea what happened to the other runner – maybe he wasn’t running the race, or stopped for some reason.

By now the sun was actually out – so after snacks and water, Jesse and I headed back to Seattle for a well deserved pint and hamburger. Look out Rochester – see you next year!

I don’t know! That’s right – don’t know! The case settled out of court!

But here’s what I can tell you:

My case was a product liability case about asbestos. Long story, short:

• The gentleman bringing the law suit died of a lung cancer called mesthelioma – he died before the case came to court, so his family continued in that effort.
• Asbestos causes that cancer – everyone agreed to that.
• Asbestos comes in TWO general types – long fiber and short fiber. Both are toxic and cause cancer.
• The longer ones persist in the body, while the shorter ones don’t.
• The man who passed away had multiple exposures – some from dry wall work and some from working in a smelter.

The case settled after the expert witnesses for the prosecution – the team that was bringing the law suit – so I didn’t get to hear the other half of the story. But here’s how the case was shaping up:

• Did he have ENOUGH exposure of the asbestos that was in the dry wall stuff to cause cancer?
• Did the makers of those products know that asbestos causes cancer?
• If they didn’t know, should they have known?
• Did it matter that when he died they couldn’t find any of those shorter fibers?
• If those products DID cause the cancer and if those makers DID know that – should they be made to pay a hefty settlement?

I have to tell you – I find this pretty engaging. I like to think that we live in a blended world, where we take responsibility for our actions, but where we also experience mercy and the benefit of the doubt when our actions are under informed. In this case – I don’t know enough to know how I may have rendered a verdict.  I DO know that some of the folks on the jury already felt like:

• There is too much litigation
• That corporations shouldn’t be held accountable for stuff that happened 30 or 40 years ago
• That the only folks that make out are the trial lawyers

I don’t agree with any of those statements – history has shown that corporations don’t often choose behavior based on anything save a profit margin. Lately, we’ve seen that corporations choose a short term profit margin as well – without much thought for long term business profitability.

At the same time – personal responsibility matters. For instance – if I were to take up cigarette smoking tomorrow – I’d pretty much feel like my options for suing big tobacco were nil. We know (and cigarettes are labeled) so much more than we did in the 70’s and 80’s and 90’s – that if I wanted to assume that risk it would be all mine.

If corporations don’t often act on behalf of the community – then how do we ask them to raise their standards? Legal actions that aren’t law suits?

Do trial lawyers make a ton of money? I don’t know – perhaps they do. Do they win enough verdicts so that they can continue to try and hold corporations accountable, or are they out for their own slice of the pie, no matter what? I’d love to know the answers to those questions!

In the meantime – don’t expect to see me working on a home remodel without a great re-breathing mask!

I'm serving on a jury right now - and while I can't say much more about the case than that (rest assured that I'll say a LOT about it when it is over!), I was both surprised and disappointed at the attitude of my fellow (and prospective) jurors.

My trial will probably last 3 weeks  - and you know - that's a long time away from work (which for me means late nights, early mornings, and feverishly checking on things by phone and email when on a jury break).

Some of the prospective jurors just didn't feel like participating. To be sure - it's a hassle. But - it could be you or me asking for judgement by our peers  -and I don't know that I would consider all of those folks my peers: selfish, narrow minded, impatient, not willing to participate.

As they were being dismissed, the judge thanked them for their time, and noted that being dismissed didn't reflect on those individuals. I disagree - I think they missed a core element of citizenship somewhere.

You don't serve on jury duty (or pay your taxes, or get your kids vaccinated, or pick up after your dog) for YOU - you do it for your community.

That sounds odd these, days - but it's true. Our economies, our climates, our work, our neighborhoods, our attitudes - they are increasingly and inextricably linked. And that's (by and large) a good thing.

So - when YOU get summoned for jury duty - show up. Keep an open mind. Think about the rule of law, and the opportunity it affords us. And stay in your seat!