Week 18 Part A - "It's Showtime. Remain Calm."

"It's Showtime. Remain calm. You're ready."

- Patricia Wolfe, Musical Director

Fiddler on the Roof

Wapakoneta Community Theater - Fall 1984

Yesterday morning, "The Woman to Whom I'm Related By Marriage" woke me up and said, "Why don't you go out and get a couple of miles in?" Before I could remind her that it was an off day on the schedule, she continued, "It'll be good for you." Silently I got dressed. After all, it was "Bosses Day." I put on my Brooks Ghost 6 running shoes without saying a word to TB. I was definitely "pissed" at being pushed out the door.

I got in the car and drove to Peninsula, Ohio. Its about fifteen miles away in the Cuyahoga National Valley.  On my way, I opened the roof of my Jeep. I couldn't help but feel a sense of gratefulness as I drove on the winding roads through the fall foliage that was just stunning at every view. It was an awesome feeling to experience the sites, sounds, and the morning fog and dew of the Valley.  Glad it was my idea......kind of......  Ok, it was TB's.  Say it with me one more time Ginny Hoffman, "She was right!"

Here's some of the visuals I experienced yesterday morning.  This first one almost looks like a Monet painting.  

Here's a bridge on the Towpath. Talk about a calming effect:

A lock on from the old Ohio-Erie Canal with a Towpath bridge overhead:

On the bridge for the Towpath that goes over the Cuyahoga River in Peninsula.

An old lock:

A view of the Cuyahoga River:

A mist hangs over the boardwalk through the marsh:

The sun burns though bringing a crisp and clear fall day:

Totally by accident, I ran into a lady that I was going to call in about one mile when I got back to my car.  It's Kim Carbaugh.  Kim is one of my favorite people in the world. I hadn't seen her in well over a year.  Maybe two. We used to do long runs together in our Galloway training group years ago.  Her husband is a successful teacher who is beloved by his students.  Both care more about others than they care about themselves and are terrific parents. Both Brian and Kim elevate everybody they meet.  I was just going to call her to get some Instant Karma for Sunday. This was better. Kim is about as graceful a runner as you can see.  She also has a pacemaker.  She's an executive at the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, an organization that does exactly what the name implies.  Like I said, "She cares more about others than she cares about herself."  My confidence for Sunday spiked after this brief encounter.

Colorado? No. It's Ohio:

Now the story of two people I will be thinking about tomorrow. The first is Tucker.  I have seen Tucker everywhere running in the Akron area.  When I say, "Everywhere," I mean everywhere and not as a metaphor.  Tucker is the Forrest Gump of Akron.  This week I finally pulled over to the side of the road to introduce myself.  We had seen each other off and on through the years and just now introduced ourselves.  He's been wearing the same headphones for 25 years.  He told me he runs for two and half hours everyday.  I should have said, "Hi," in 1991 when I first got to Akron.

This is the picture that will be most in my mind tomorrow.  This is my sister Paula. "The Best Artist in the World." She is a creative and terrific person.  She's not fast. She never will be. What she is though is a marathon runner.  She ran as a charity runner for Goodwill Industries in the Boston Marathon a year ago. Paula finished way in the back of the pack.  If I am not mistaken, I believe that is a Boston Marathon finisher's medal around her neck. She's a marathon runner.  Dick Beardsley, Jeff Galloway, "K.V. Switzer - Number 261", and everybody who appreciates the effort would be proud! I know I am.

Below is me in 1984 as Teyve in a community theater production of Fiddler on the Roof in Wapakoneta during my fastest running years as an adult. I was taking a risk to be the lead in a musical which was something I hadn't done since junior high school.  I was asked about six weeks before the first show to be the replacement for the guy who was going to have the lead role but moved out of town.  Talk about living on the risk curve. Pat Wolfe, the sincere and hard working and no nonsense director of the production came up to me backstage before the first show. That's when Pat said, "It's Showtime! Remain calm. You're ready."  Every show was a sell-out of 350 people. We got a standing ovation at the end of the show that first night with tears in most people's eyes. In fact, that happened at the end of all eighteen performances.

Well, this is me in 1984 in Fiddler on the Roof singing, "If I Were a Rich Man:" (Yaga diddle diddle dum!")

My Fiddler days are of course in contrast to me on a trail on Wednesday. There were two deer crossing in front of me. Because I was alone and in a great mood, I started singing at the top of my lungs the Jimmy Fallon and Will Ferrell song, "I Got My Tight Pants On." I even threw in a, "Sing it with me boys," in the direction of the deer.  They looked at me with blank stares and moved on.  I was totally amused with my humor in this moment of solitude.  Just one problem.  I wasn't quite as alone as I thought.  Down below the tree line were two golfers on the golf course that was boarding the trail......... ahem... come to think of it, what the heck do I care? .... I don't know them.  They don't know me. It's my training run. So I sang louder and ran on.

Jimmy Fallon and Will Ferrell:

Go to GOOGLE and type in: "Jimmy Fallon and Will Ferrell Tight Pants" and watch the video.

You will then understand the relationship that I have with daughter Lindsay and youngest son Alex.

By the way, I really was wearing tight pants on Wednesday:

Well there you have it kids.  From the sincere to the ridiculous over the past eighteen weeks. I have so many of you to thank for the encouragement and support.  Thanks to those of you who donated to the Akron Canton Regional Foodbank in my honor.  The training has never has been hard work.  It's been challenging, but its been both fun and rewarding. I know the Subway where I will be stopping tomorrow to get my chocolate chip cookie. Got to keep the Uncle Cookie tradition alive.

It's not about speed.  It's about a whole experience of fun, laughing, effort, personal enjoyment, and of course accomplishment.  It's marathon day.  Let the good times roll.  

Come on sing it with me: "Everybody's talking 'bout my tight pants. I got my tight pants......" 

(You didn't actually think I was going to get all melancholy and serious now did you?)

"IT'S SHOWTIME!...Remain calm. I'm ready." Ho! Ho! Ho! :-)