Opening Day 2008 - Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

My anticipation for my fourth turkey season (and hopefully my third longbeard) really began to escalate a few weeks ago when I visited the at-home gun range of Thrill Kill Decoys creator, Randy Dickson. There I had the opportunity to interact with 14-year old Baleigh, Randy’s niece. The two of us spent some time that day patterning and practicing under Randy’s supervision. Following a late afternoon walk through a Starke County woods to look for signs of turkeys, I was definitely anxious for the impending season opener.

My "Fatty to 5K" Game Plan

Several people have asked me what my game plan for what I refer to as my “fatty to 5K quest”. I began training in early September 2009, roughly six months prior to the Disney Royal Family 5K on March 6, 2010. Rather than wade through the multitude of various training plans that one can find on-line, I chose to just adopt the plan that worked for my sister Annie and brother-in-law Jeremy. They are no more built like runners than I am, and by my starting point, they had already been working out for six months and had been on a run as long as six miles (I think they’re up to 10 miles as of now.)

First Journal - 9/12-9/17/09

Saturday, 9/12/09

A month and a half ago my sister asked me if I wanted to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon with her in March of 2011. “Sure!” was my response. The date was so far off that it didn’t seem realistic so it was easy to agree to. Furthermore, this all came about when I was shoulders-deep in the county fair in my role as the Porter County 4-H Extension Agent, so part of my eager agreement was probably related to a long-term lack of sleep or just the thought of a vacation…albeit a vacation that involved running 13 miles. I kept the thought of becoming a runner in the back of my head as I finished up the county fair and headed off to the State Fair to work the 4-H Beef Show for a week.

Then a few weeks ago my sister asked me if I wanted to join her and her husband Jeremy for the Princess Half Marathon in March of 2010. “WHAT? You said March 2011 before! I can’t run 13 miles in 6 months! Maybe cumulatively over 6 months I could run 13 miles!”