Eddie filming a Tiktok of Steve eating a bagel. There are crumbs on the plate, the table, Steve’s shirt and cream cheese on the bagel, on his fingers, at the corner of his mouth. Eddie says, “This is a grown man.”

Steve: What did you say?

Eddie: Nothing. I love you.

Steve, smiling: Love you, too!

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Race Wrap Up – Cave Creek Thriller 50k

 Last week I mentioned a little bit about this race.  Actually, before I go on, I use “we” a lot when I talk about the ultra-races and training; just to be clear, I am referring to Robin and the girls, and in some cases others that are part of the team that will be crewing or pacing me, depending on the race.  So, the “we” for this one was just Robin.  I did talk to the girls a bit and they listen and provide some feedback but most of the time it is, “good luck dad, you’ll do great.” 😊 – Love the support but teenage girls have other things on their mind…….I guess 😊!  Okay, Robin & I – we were looking at this race as a barometer.  As of 10 days ago, I had 2 A-/B+ races on my calendar that I was signed up for; a 50 miler & a 100k, with the intent of throwing my name into 2 lotteries for 2, separate 100 milers in June.  I had not planned on a fall race and when I pulled an abdomen muscle last month, my training got cut down, and slowed down, so I can nurse things back.  Adjusting my training helped in the healing process and as the days went by, I continued to feel better and better; although still running less miles and much, much slower than typical.  A week out of the race, after a run, I had a reminder come up about volunteering for this race and I thought, rather than volunteering, how about racing. I felt really good on that day’s run and didn’t have any noticeable pain in the stomach.  Robin and I discussed it and, as long as I went into it with the “barometer” mindset and taking it easy we should have a good understanding on how things are progressing for December & February races.  The next few days leading up to the start were different than usual.  My mind was not focused on the race, rather than life, travel, business, family, etc. I was thinking about it, but I am usually obsessed with a race the week of and there is not much else on my mind. I had not expectations, I had not real stress, and I felt light because, well, I had no idea what the hell was going to happen.  In early June, I ran another 50k and the furthest I had run since that race was 11 miles, twice. I had also noticed my knees becoming uncomfortable on a few runs which wasn’t normal.  Figured that was due to the slower pace and more steps.  Two days out there was some anxiety that started to creep in, typical.  How will my abdomen feel? What about the knees?  Did I train enough?  All normal thoughts, at least for me heading into a race.

 Race day came and we were up well before the sunrise. We started the race right at sunrise. 😊  The start was about an hour away from our house, but the finish was about 20 minutes and they had a shuttle from there to the start.  HUGE thank you to Robin for taking me to get the shuttle so early and continue to support me in this wonderful and weird sport.  There was about 60 or 70 of us loaded onto a school bus heading out and upon arrival, we all checked our gear, or in my case my handheld bottle, filled up on H2O, and got to meet a few folks before we toed the line.  At 630am, we were all off and running.  This course, from what I was told, is very misleading.  The first few miles had one or two little climbs and downhills but for the most part, the first 15-16 miles were pretty much flat trail, jeep road, or gravel.  I started off at a very easy pace which felt much slower than normal but after a few miles I caught up to one dude, Adam, who was stopped on the side of the trail; sort of off balance, and looking like he was trying to pick something out of the bottom of his shoe.  I stopped to see if he needed help and he used me as a post to lean against and try to get this thing out of his shoe.  About 15 seconds later he pulls out this 2-inch-long nail, fortunately bent, that he must picked up along the way.  Also fortunate was that it never broke through and hit his foot. Adam and I ran for a minute or so together than I think he stopped to fix something.  Not too long after that I caught up to Blake, and we ran together for some time, in silence before I got next to him and we started talking a bit. Soon after that, we caught another, still trekking the same pace, David was his name.  David, Blake, and I ran together and shot the shit for a few miles before Adam again caught up.  The four of us ran together, talking and pacing one another for a good 5+ miles before hitting the first aid station.  Once there, we all did our own thing and left at different times, no more than 30-45 seconds though.  Adam and I left together with Blake and David in sight.  After about a mile I had left Adam and caught up to David, and then Blake. He and I again ran together for about another 4 miles until we hit the halfway mark, mile 16.  I was in and out pretty quick but started hiking out.  Right around mile 12 I started really feeling my knees.  This time it wasn’t an inconvenience, it was more pain.  Not something that I felt was going to hinder me for this race, but races to come were on my mind.  Getting to that halfway aid station was good; I fueled up, cooled off, and got some more water.  However, as mentioned, I decided to hike it out.  On the way out, I passed by David and Adam as they were coming in and gave them a fist pump; didn’t know at that point would be the last time I would see them until the finish.  Blake caught up to me as I was hiking out, figuring my knees out.  He asked if I was okay, I said, “yeah man” and we high fived.  I walked for about 5 minutes.  The trail was a bit technical, but flat, so I decided it was time to run.  There was no more knee pain as I was running but, I was skeptical to see if it would return. With the stop at the aid station and the walking for a spell, maybe they were just a bit tired, since I hadn’t run that far in a while, but once I got moving, things were feeling really good. A few minutes later I again caught up to Blake and he and I again ran together until the next aid station. Overall, he and I probably ran together for about 12 or so miles and David and Adam for about 6.  These guys were just genuine, good dudes.  Blake and Adam were running in their first 50k’s, so I was super excited for them and David had a couple under his belt.  We talked about running, family, life and most importantly, enjoyed some great miles together.  

 As we left the next aid station the flats began to disappear, and the climbs started. These weren’t crazy but after running flats for most of the race to this point, and with the sun starting to beat down on us, there was no shade and the next 2500 feet of climbs over the last 10 miles or so was going to be interesting.  At this point too, I started to feel some inconveniences in my abdomen.  Nothing painful, but I was aware, however, after 20+ miles, I thought that was a positive.  As we approached our first, relatively mild climb, I passed by Blake and told him I would see him soon; unfortunately, I didn’t out on the course.  I also got another person that I hadn’t seen all race. He was pulled over to take a picture, the one with the trail leading up to the pointy shaped hill.  I thought that was a great idea so pulled off next to him and did the same (obviously since the picture is above 😊).  He cruised by me, but not too far ahead, and after running up another hill, through what seemed to be a hold RV junk yard (I know, crazy right?), I creeped up to him again.  We had another couple of climbs and descents together, than a good downhill leading out onto a road for about a half-mile before the next aid station.  The flat trail, and surprisingly the pavement felt really good and I cruised into and out of that aid station with two, nice big climbs left.  At this point I was all alone, except for a few hikers out on the trail.  I passed some heading up the 1st big climb and said a nice hello, and then had a gradual decent for a couple miles until the next aid station, proceeded by a very technical, and steep downhill. This was probably the funniest part of the day, as I was doing my best to navigate the technical downhill I hear, what seems to be another runner coming behind me.  I hadn’t seen one since the RV graveyard, so I was surprised when I stepped off trail to see this new guy from nowhere, completely bombing down this section of the course.  As he cruised by, he made a joke about his incredibly awkward downhill style.  Hell, I was incredibly impressed he was crushing it through that section.  Pretty impressive….and funny 😊.  Things flattened out as I headed into the last aid; only 3 more miles to go but the first half-mile is the last climb.  You can definitely feel the heat at this point since the sun was right on us during this climb.  I caught up to a couple 27k racers and this one dude, God bless him, guy was probably in his mid to late 60’s.  As we just started the ascent together, he was about 5 feet in front of me.  He stopped, looked up, turned to me and goes, “bitch of a way to finish this up huh?”  Freeking hilarious, and I totally agreed.  Although it was hot and it was a challenge 28+miles into the race, I felt good hiking up, especially knowing once I hit the saddle it was all downhill until the finish.  I got to the top and then took a gradual steady pace meandering through the trails and stopping for one more photo. As I started back up, I noticed another runner up ahead and he seemed to be favoring his right leg.  As I got closer, I noticed it was Jeremy, the guy that shared a seat on the bus with me on the ride to the start.   Unfortunately, he was having some knee/hip issues, but I slowed a bit and we had a little chat. Once again, another great human being and this is why I so love this sport.  We all go through our moments of shit storms, pain caves, and also, pure delight and joy.  We both know we were very close and as I decided to go ahead, we gave a fist pump knowing we would see each other in just a few minutes.  After a short little climb, it was downhill and into the finish.  Our goal was to time it just right and have Robin and the girls be there to meet me at the finish.  Isabella had gymnastics practice and Robin was coaching, both until noon and we figured about 30 minutes to get there from the gym with picking up Alaina. At the halfway point however, I was well ahead of where I thought I was going to be, to my surprise, and delight, and concern too!!!!  But the text I sent her never went through letting her know not to rush.  That said, I ended up finishing about 30 minutes before they arrived.  Fortunately, our family members out here, June & Pete Dz 😊😊 were at the finish for a wonderful surprise. (video cred to Auntie June there 😊). I’ve been fortunate to have them in my life, and be able to call them family, for almost 20 years.  They’ve been trying to get out to see a race and it worked out well today, in between their grandson’s soccer games. So, thank you so much June & Pete for being there, and, for ALL THAT YOU HAVE DONE AND CONTINUE TO DO FOR US!!!!  In true Pete fashion, as soon as I crossed the finish and after a sweaty smelly hug, Pete says, “can I get you a beer?” As great as that sounded the heat beat me up a bit the last 5 miles and I just wanted to guzzle water and some electrolytes…..beers were to come in the near future 😊.  

 Robin and the girls got there, and we all had some time to spend together.  Robin and I debriefed about the race and the girls caught up with June and Pete. A few minutes later, Jeremy, my seatmate on the bus came in and we gave each other a hug and congrats.  Now, I was looking for Adam, David, and Blake to share my gratitude with them and to celebrate their finishes; especially with Adam and Blake being there first 50k. After several minutes and a number of other runners coming in, I noticed Blake crossing the line.  After giving him some time with his family, we greeted each other with a big hug (that’s what we do when you share miles and the suck with each other 😊) and appreciation.   I asked him about David and Adam, and he said, all three of them were hurting at the aid station before the climbs started.  Adam a bit more than Blake but David seemed a bit out of sorts. Some time passed and I was getting cleaned up and ready to hit the road when I noticed Adam coming in. He and Blake, both finishing there first 50k’s and a tough one too.  I was really happy for them; so was Adam’s family.  His wife and two young kids where there for photos at the finish and his young daughter, maybe 4, gave him a makeshift medal she created.  I wish I had a picture of that because it was awesome. As I walked back to where we were sitting, I heard some clapping and looked up to see David’s dad (saw him earlier at an aid station & again at the finish) head out to greet David at the finish.  He looked worn, and tied, but he came across and didn’t stop.   I heard he was battling some stomach issues, so I gave him his space but before leaving, I leaned down in his chair and thanked him for sharing some miles and keeping me at a good pace.  He reciprocated and we again, shared a hug.  

 Being able to challenge ourselves keeps us coming out, or at least from my perspective, keeps me coming out.  Sure, there is some fear, anxiety, and doubt with ultras and, absolutely, there are moments that it sucks.  There are times when your internal voice, or even external voice is saying, “never a-F$%^ING-gain!!!”  Yep, there is pain, hurt, problems & definitely inconveniences that most, figure out or, have help from others to work through them.  We learn each time out.  We live each time out.  And, we connect each time out; again, at least I try to.  I didn’t know what to expect going into this and what I got from it was gratifying.  Having June and Pete there at the finish!!!  Sharing a good number of miles with Adam, David, and Blake, and……witnessing Blake and Adam finish their first 50k and David, gut out a great finish; I was a joy to be a part of.  Of course, I must thank Aravaipa Running for another fantastic event.  Thank you to all the volunteers, aid station workers, course folks, bus drivers, and all that lent a hand to put this event on.  To the other runners, in ALL distances, congrats on your effort; toeing the line is the toughest part; be proud!!  Again, to David, Adam, and Blake, thanks for the mile’s boys, hope you are recovering nicely and trust we will see each other again out there.  To June and Pete – blessed to have you guys in our lives – thank you.  Of course, to my crew (well, maybe not this race but you guys are always my crew 😊) – thanks for your continued love, support, and help as I continue to try and test myself.  This shit sure doesn’t get much easier but, I think….I believe I am getting better!

#cavecreekthriller50k #aravaiparunning #PAAZRNR #AZTrailrunning #RFP

Day 04 - Hollywood Studios

TLDR: Hollywood Studios today. Absolutely non stop for the first five hours, attraction highlights include Frozen Sing Along, Star Tours, & Indy. Oh and some awesome guy won Toy Story Mania :P We missed Tower of Terror due to a late family lunch at a Drive In style Diner. Awesome lunch. Heavy Rain. Rain jackets on. Home. Mall. Purchased a new laptop. Missed dinner with the rest of the group, due to the aforementioned late family lunch. No appetite for dinner. Wrote today's entry on the new laptop - so. much. fastness! Good decision. End.

Hoo-ray for Hollywood!

We had to hit Hollywood Studios early for Jedi Academy registration as you can't book it in advance, which meant skipping breakfast (I really shouldn't even expect anything else, should I?). Kids managed to grab a banana but Ann and myself were good to wait, though we did receive our regular morning coffees courtesy of my parents (or their hotel rather).

Patrick loves learning about everything and has been churning out little tidbits of impressive yet totally useless facts at random intervals since we got here. So I'm introducing a new segment for the blog, Patrick's Fun Fact of the Day. So Patrick's Fun Fact of the Day for today is this: 

Water is the only substance which is heavier in its liquid form than when its a solid. Hence why ice floats on water.

(Some research into this does reveal that there are a handful of other unusual substances which exhibit the same property, but I'm gonna give him this one - he's still only 10). Look out for future installments soon!

Once we reached Hollywood Studios, we made a bee-line for the Jedi Academy to register. I remember from last time that the queues and wait were massive, but this time it was much more efficient, which is no bad thing. Had a return time for late afternoon, after lunch, which meant that our morning plan (which was pretty jam-packed), was untouched.

A little light one to start us off, the Path Of the Jedi - a 10 minute video which was a compilation of some of the best bits from all the Star Wars movies. For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times, before the Empire. I've seen the movies hundreds of time but hearing these opening lines from Alec Guinness, sent shivers down my spine. Then seeing Carrie Fisher as the feisty Princess Leia, only added to it. One thing I forgot to mention on the first day was Robin Williams being the sole reason for me choosing The Genie for my Magic Band. There are certain people who absence on this earth you still struggle to get your head around and reminders of them bring are always laced with a little sadness. Williams is one and Carrie Fisher is another. Seeing Princess Leia on screen is amazing and heartbreaking in equal measure. The Last Jedi is going to be a sore one for many people I think. Anyway I digress. Even my brother Michael, who has never really seen the movies (yeah I know), said they looked good and wouldn't mind watching them.

Next up, was For A First Time In Forever, a Frozen Sing Along Celebration.  I might have said this before but this was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time (except those funny Buzz-feed posts about people completely misspelling words - that shit is funny, man). The two main characters, some random unknown characters, though not as unknown as the Arendelle baby (family in-joke, sorry), but their patter and puns were just brilliant, I couldn't stop laughing! The show essentially was a karaoke for (most of) the songs from Frozen and the girls, who were singing away without missing a word, loved it. Side note, this scene in the movie is my most favorite-est part ever, and its not because I fancy Elsa (though it kind of is).

And here’s a few more, including Grace & Emily singing along to the finale, which covered the whole audience in a blanket of snow :)

More Star Wars-y goodness in Star Tours, our first Fast Pass, was up next. We were all placed in the first two rows so had great seats! Prior to lifting off in our little spacecraft piloted by the Galaxy's favourite robotic duo, Threepio and R2, they select a random in the audience, who has been identified as the Rebel Spy. And Emily was selected as the Rebel Spy!!! :D Great simulator ride through Kashyyyk, Naboo & the Gungan City and wee BB8 even made an appearance. The kids were howling and screaming every time we dodged a Star Destroyer or Tie Fighter - fantastic ride. Gracie then wanted to buy a Chewie and Lightsaber in the wee shop after the ride, but as we were returning though it best to do it then, instead of carrying it about all day, she wasn't too pleased (kids can be so impatient, haha).

Indy next, and this was the Epic Stunt Spectacular lived up to its name. Not really changed in the last few decades but still a must-see. Even wee Isabella was going really excited by all the explosions and acrobatics. Pictures speak louder than words as they say, so here’s a few from today.

Stopped for a breather as it was pretty non stop since getting to the park, so the guys got some lunch while we just opted for some desserts as we had lunch booked for later in the day at Sci-fi Dine In Theater. 

Reach For The Sky!

After everyone was re=energized it was time for a bit of friendly competition in our next Fast Pass: Toy Story Mania, a 3-D shooting game where points mean... well just points, so the highest one wins. I’ve been unbeaten at this for the last two trips so I was psyching myself up beforehand as there were a few new contenders on the block. 

The Official Toy Story Mania Leader-board 2017

Gerry: 175400

Corrie: 144200

Michael: 137300

Ann: 128300

Kevin: 121600

Patrick: 90400 (?)

Robert: 78200

Pauline: 73600

Mum: 53600

Wullie: 53400

Alessio: 30200

Gracie: 20400

Emily: 16500

Oh looks who's top... I retain my Toy Story Crown for another year and absolutely smashed last visits score of 143,000. BOOM! Now to find somewhere to get this printed and laminated! :P Just need to continue my streak on Men In Black and Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and Ill have won the Treble! We just made Beauty and the Beast Musical last show after that, and had pretty poor seats way at the back. It didn’t help that there was a big guy sitting right in front of me, blocking my or rather my camera's, vision. Great show which mirrored the animated classic (just like the live action movie, like seriously, no change or twist at all???).

Although we were right next to The Twilight Zone Tower Of Terror after existing Beauty, we had lunch booked, so unfortunately had to skip out on our last Fast Pass. Emily talked non stop about the Tower Of Terror before the holiday so she was more than excited at this point and she absolutely loved it. She was joined with Kevin, Michael, Sarah Jane and Corrie. 

Attack Of The 50ft Woman!

I think the first time I seen the iconic poster for this movie was in McFly's - a bar in Coatbridge Main St, which was my first real pub growing up. Some fond memories in there, and many hazy ones. Sci-Fi Dine In Theater - this place was the real deal, Cadillacs for booths, a huge screen showing clips of 50s classics. 50's style waiters and waitresses, milkshakes, retro decor all in the style of a 50's drive in (think Jack Rabbit Slims in Pulp Fiction with a big screen). It was phenomenal and really glad we booked it, 180 days or so ago now. I went for a Reuben sandwich (awesome), Patrick, a Caprese sandwich (possibly slightly better than mine, possibly), Robert settled on a classic cheeseburger and Ann & Gracie split a rack of ribs and a stack of onion rings. Root beer all round save for me who went with a classic Cherry Coke which came topped with a cherry on top (which that wee sneak-thief Gracie snaffled while I was watching the big screen). All served by the lovely Flora. Bonus Fun Fact Of The Day from Patrick: There were 48 cars in total in the restaurant, each representing one of the 48 states in 1955 :D Our car was from California. Highly recommend this one for anyone visiting, if you like that sort of thing.

You are no Jedi.

When we exited it started raining, HARD. We all had rain jackets, including my camera bag (thank you Manfrotto, you wonderful, thoughtful camera bag maker, you). This was similar to the other night, but I supposed we were better prepared for it this time. We found out where the rest of the party was, and caught up with them. They had just came out of The Great Movie Ride, and after a quick discussion, we agreed that heading home would be the best option. We had covered most of the main rides, with only a few smaller ones remaining, so not really missing anything. Leaving meant no Jedi Training, but they call off the Academy in the event of heavy rain anyway, so we may want to catch it again on our return (you could even call it, Return Of The Jedi! Ok, Ill shut up). We said our goodbyes (quickly) to the other party and set off from the park in a nice warm car (which is usually a bad thing, most days). We were comparing it to the day we visited Typhoon Lagoon two years ago, when it absolutely poured and it was such a vivid memory as the traffic was horrendously bad and took forever to get home. Then we ended up on Same road as typhoon lagoon, dun dun DUN! No delays this time around though, which was good.

Now Tuesday is Kids Eat Free at Miller's Alehouse and we had pre-arranged to all go there tonight, well except that I forgot that our lunch was so late at Hollywood, which meant we had not long eaten. So we dropped my mum and dad off at their hotel and said that we'd see how we felt about dinner later on. For the past few days Id been scouring the internet look for a laptop to replace the absolute dinosaur of a machine that I brought with me. The prices in general were pretty terrific, so I'd narrowed down a few from Best Buy and we made a plan to go pick one up. We got to the shop, where we were instantly set upon by a server asking what I was looking for, I explained the particular model, and she showed them to me. She then asked what it was for and I explained it was for internet and some photo editing. She then directed me towards some laptops at double the price, saying that these ones had touchscreen and had a better processor (it actually had the same processor, but I let it go). I mean don’t get me wrong she was pleasant enough, but don’t try and sell people Office by calling it 'Microsoft' - you either don’t know your stuff or that’s just a sales tactic to trip anyone up who doesn't know any better. I got the feeling it was the later after the hard sell on everything else, which is just plain wrong.

The thing is I wasn't planning to buy a laptop over here but after seeing the prices thought it would be good idea, but I really didn't want to spend a lot on it. To put it in perspective, the one I was looking at was $449 - the same spec machine in PC World back home was 500 quid! I don’t think the assistant really knew what she was talking about in all fairness, though it didn't help with Ann calling Lightroom, LIGHTNING ROOM! Haha, it was like that sketch from The Interns where Vince Vaughn kept saying 'On The Line' instead of Online. Wee soul :P

Going out to the Mall we got stuck in traffic, which meant that going for dinner was definitely out for us. Werent particularly hunger still, so just picked up some snacks, on the way home. When I unpacked and set up the laptop (it took a while to download and install Lightning Room ;) but I was more than impressed. Example - on the first night it took over 4hrs to download around 500 images from a 16Gb memory card. This laptop took less than 10 minutes to do the same. It actually seems to run faster than my Mac at home, so might need to look into a wee upgrade in the near future. On a complete unrelated note, Ann is  the most beautiful-est, prettiest girl in all the seven kingdoms... ;) 

To round off today, here’s our first wee family pic from Memory Maker taken this afternoon (when it was still sunny :)