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!