The Milestone

Well, apparently my time in Australia is going to intersect with a few milestones that I can put into my autobiography someday. I already wrote about turning 50 while here (sort of a less-than-exciting milestone) and now I have discovered I have crossed another milestone that is (in my mind) a bit more "positive".

One Sunday, when I was sitting on the wonderful City Cat boat on my way back from a 15K run along the waterfront, I was fiddling with my iPod Nano and discovered I was on the cusp of running my 1,000th kilometer since I started recording my running data on it. I acquired this little device (one of the coolest things ever designed by mere mortals) about 1 year ago, so I have been able to run 1,000 kilometers in that time frame.

Before anyone decides to remind me, I am well aware that 1,000 kilometers is only 621 miles (give or take a few feet) but since I'm now a semi-Aussie, I'm thinking in metric terms (unless you are speaking about temperature, in which case, I am still completely lost). The 1,000K distance is roughly running from Muskegon to Traverse City 5 times or from Muskegon to Chicago 3 times (for clarification, these are "one way" calculations, not "round trip"). Strangely (or interestingly), 1,000 kilometers is the exact distance between Sydney and Brisbane so this a somewhat uniquely Australian experience. However, with my schedule at work being a bit of a challenge and given the fact that the sun sets in Brisbane at around 5 PM this time of year, I was unable to cross the 1,000 kilometer mark while "downunder". My last run on Thursday left me 9K short of the goal and I was scheduled to fly out on Friday morning (June 25th).

That left me to complete this milestone back in Michigan and today I crossed the "magic" finish line while running with my good friend Dave Biondo. Dave and I have run a lot together, around Mackinac Island (several times), in Florida, in Hawaii (that's where the photo was taken) - the Cramblets & Biondos like to take vacations together - and so today (Memorial Day), we ran together and completed my goal.

I'm thankful that I have had the physical ability to reach this milestone and I have benefited in many ways (physically, mentally & even spiritually) through the process. Some of the miles have fond memories attached to them, the places that I've been able to run in and the people (you know who you are) that I have been able to run with. During the process of trying to get to this milestone, I suffered a stress fracture and had to take 3 months off of running - making this even more meaningful. If you're a jogger / runner - then you can probably imagine the inevitable chaffing, blisters, blown out toenails and, yes, raw nipples associated with the process (sorry, I am trying to keep the content "family oriented" but that nipple thing sort of sticks in your mind).

Enough on this topic. I am in North America for the next 11 days for some meetings, a "Run For Wings" 5K race, my son Kevin's graduation open house, and then I'm headed back to Brisbane where the race to get the business there in order gets even more intense. More news - and hopefully a picture of me holding a koala soon!

Learning Lessons From Bob The Tomato

One thing that I have a bit more time to do while I'm here in Australia, all by my lonesome, is to read and I want to take part of this "transmission" to endorse a book that I just finished.

When I was back in Michigan last, Nancy organised a surprise birthday part for me and amongst the gifts my generous friends provided was a book written by the creator of VeggieTales - Phil Vischer. For those who are not aware of the VeggieTales story, it revolved around the concept of a talking tomato (Bob) and a talking cucumber (Larry) who interacted with a world of other talking vegetables where Christian principles were addressed at a "kid" level. At least, that was the plan but the real VeggieTales "tipping point" came when college kids who were working in christian book stores became fans and started a word-of-mouth campaign to shopping adults that resulted in the VeggieTales parent company, "Big Ideas", becoming a pretty huge multi-million dollar business.

Why, you might wonder, would I recommend this book? Because it's a very engaging story of the rise - and subsequent fall - of a man and his dreams and how he learns that becoming the next Christian version of Walt Disney might not be the most important thing at the end of the day. I have ordered a few copies to give to people who I think might benefit from the book as well but it's really an enjoyable read - my thanks to Lynn for see something I needed in this book and for giving it to me!

Sunday's are (usually) a pretty good day for me. I'm getting to know people at my adoptive church and I'm getting used to the Sunday morning service (I grew up "Baptist" so the Pentecostal church is still a bit unnerving to me at times). Once the service is over and I've enjoyed a "flat white" (a specific kind of coffee, sort of like a cafe aulet) afterwards in the gathering area, I generally go grocery shopping on the way home. Now, me doing the grocery shopping - there's a treat to watch! Buying food is not really my idea of a great time but there's something that makes the Australian version of the exercise even more exciting that it would be all by itself. I don't know why but in the Downunder, the shopping carts are constructed so that all the wheels can turn - not just the front two. What this means is that you are (by necessity) intently focused not on the food you are there to purchase but on trying to keep from ramming your cart into something or someone at all times. Now - given that you may also have to traverse an incline to get to your car with the aforementioned groceries - this can become a truly difficult "slalom" style event. It's also somewhat interesting that in a land where there are only a few million people in a mighty big continent, they all feel the need to cluster together - so "together" that parking is generally a real pain (unlike the acres of parking we tend to take for granted at our shopping centers) and is often found below the store you are shopping in. My complaint (in Australian - complaining is called winging (pronounced win-jing)) is a source of great delight to my native Australian friends who have apparently mastered the art of maneuvering the 4 wheel death cart and don't even notice it any more. I, on the other hand, consider each encounter that I survive as a real accomplishment!

After shopping, I jump on the City Cat to go into town and get a run in (generally a 10K), grab a Coke at the Eagle Street Pier and head back home (making sure I sit downwind in deference to my fellow ferry riders) and today was no exception. It was a beautiful day - albeit, the days are really short at this time of year and the sun is setting around 5:15 PM. The sunset today was nice and the clouds were beautiful. I found myself sitting on my deck, enjoying the scene but wishing that Nancy were here to see it with me - I'm really looking forward to being home on Memorial Day weekend for some time with the family.

A special thanks to those who have taken a moment to drop a note or a comment to this Blog - I really appreciate the communication and feedback. It helps!