The Blog Less Traveled

Another bucket list item bites the dust. I’ve always wanted to see a shuttle launch in person. I went down to Florida in late 2007 to finally see one, but it was cancelled at the last minute for technical problems. I was going to wait around for a day or two, but decided that there was no guarantee that it would make it, so I left. This particular shuttle did finally launch, but not until after a week had passed.

As luck would have it, my wife and I were recently invited to a wedding in Georgia. These were friends we had met over 25 years ago. We hadn’t seen them since 1986. One of their daughters was getting married who was only two years old the last time we saw her. We gladly accepted. At the time, I didn’t know that a shuttle launch was scheduled for April 5th, only two days after the wedding. A week or so before the trip, the shuttle launch was mentioned in a news article I was reading. What a great surprise and opportunity this was. We went to Georgia, had a great time attending our friends’ wedding, and left the next day for Florida.

We arrived in Titusville around 4pm the day before the launch. We didn’t have any plan as to where we would stay or watch the launch. We pulled into a bank parking lot next to a city park called Space View Park. As it turned out, this was one of the best public access areas to view a shuttle launch from. It’s on the Indian River, directly across from the NASA launch pads. You have an unobstructed view of the launch and there is a live audio feed from the mission control center. We were able to listen to all the audio going on between Houston Control, the local NASA launch site and the astronauts in the shuttle. We totally lucked out. Also, we arrived early enough so that we were able to secure a great spot. We ended up getting our sleeping bags out, and stayed the entire night in the park. That was definitely an adventure. I can’t remember the last time my wife and I went camping and slept in a sleeping bag. The weather was perfect for our outdoor camping adventure and there were plenty of people there to pass the time with. To top it off, we happened to be sitting by a Canadian gentleman who was a walking encyclopedia on all things space-related. This guy was telling us everything and anything related to the shuttle. He knew every fact and figure imaginable, and then some. It was really quite interesting listening to him.

As the scheduled 6:21am launch approached, people were excited and nervous. We were excited about seeing a night launch, but also nervous about the possibility of a cancelled launch for technical problems. After staying out all night, it would have been a big disappointment to have the launch scrubbed. It was pretty cool listening to all the live audio between the various control personnel and the astronauts aboard the shuttle. About 20 minutes before the final countdown, an announcement came over the PA system that a warning light had illuminated and the launch was put on hold. You could hear the crowd groan when it was announced. However, about 10 minutes later, the announcement was made that the problem had been fixed. There was a big cheer from the crowd. The weather was absolutely clear that evening. Not a cloud was in the sky. Because of that, we were able to see the International Space Station pass overhead about 10 minutes or so before the launch. That was an unexpected surprise.

At 6:21am, the launch went off as scheduled. Wow!!! What a sight. The sky really lit up as the rocket engines were ignited. The skyline went from almost total darkness to a brilliant white fireball. The people at the park were cheering and clapping like crazy. You can see and hear the shuttle for several minutes after the actual launch. It’s something truly amazing to see. Even after the shuttle finally disappeared in the sky, the people at the park were still pretty pumped up. To top it off, about 30-45 minutes after the launch, we were treated to a spectacular sunrise. We ended up doing quite a bit of driving in a short period of time to see this, but boy was it worth it.

This was the last scheduled night launch. However, there are three more daytime shuttle launches scheduled this year before the program is shut down. If you haven’t seen one yet, I highly recommend it. You won’t be disappointed.

Below is a short two minute video I took of the shuttle launch.

Well, I’m going to start a new category today – the “Bucket List”. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the term. It’s a list you make of all the things that you want to do before you “kick the bucket.” There was a movie by the same name that came out in 2007 and starred Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. I just got the movie recently and watched it with my wife the other day.

I began thinking of compiling a bucket list last Fall. I don’t recall ever thinking too much about one before that. As you grow up, especially in your teenage years and early adult life, you don’t worry a whole lot about the future. There’s a certain feeling of immortality in those years and the idea that you’re going to die someday is pretty much pushed back into your subconscious somewhere. As you get older and begin to see more of your family, friends and acquaintances passing away, the idea of dying becomes more relevant. I think I’m at that point. The below bucket list is certainly not the final one, by any means. It’s more of a first cut of things that came to mind, initially. They’re not in any particular order. I’ll probably add more things as they come to mind.

Do you have a bucket list? If so, what sort of things do you have?

Bucket List

• Run a marathon (completed 10/18/2009)
• Run the Boston Marathon (completed 4/19/2010)
• Watch a shuttle launch (completed 4/5/2010)
• Go to Mt. Rushmore
• Go to Australia
• Go skydiving
• Hike the Grand Canyon
• Compete in a triathlon
• Attend a session of Congress
• Go white-water rafting
• Ride in a hot air balloon
• Celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary
• Walk my daughter down the aisle
• Have a grandchild

Another bucket list item bites the dust. I completed the Boston Marathon last Monday. After raining on both Saturday and Sunday, the weather cleared up on Monday. The temperature was about 45° at the start and warmed up to about 55° by the end of the race. It was a little windy in spots, but all in all, a pretty good day for running. The race started in the little town of Hopkinton at 10am. My wife and I stayed at a hotel near this town and I took the hotel shuttle to the starting line. I arrived there at 9am and spent the hour or so before the race in the Athlete’s Village. The village was located on the grounds at the local school. There were several big white tents with bagels, bananas, power bars, coffee, Gatorade, water, etc. Music was blaring, the sun was shining, and there were hundreds of porta-potties for the runners. Just before the start of the race, a group of fighter jets from the local military unit flew overhead and made it to Boston in just about 4 minutes (cheaters!).

About 30 minutes before the race, they came on the PA system and told the runners to start heading for the starting line. The Athlete’s Village is about ¾ of a mile from the actual starting line. As you start the walk, you can feel the excitement and tension building. As you near the line, you enter your starting corral based on your bib number. When the race starts, it may take a few minutes before you actually begin to get into a racing stride, depending on how far back in the pack you are. With around 25,000 runners, it’s a little crowded, particularly at the start. As you’re running and looking down the racecourse, it looks like a solid wall of humanity with little heads constantly bobbing up and down. The first couple of miles are a little bit crowded, but after that, things spread out enough to where there’s plenty of room to run without constantly bumping into each other.

The run went pretty well during the first half of the race. At the 13-mile mark, you pass by Wellesley College. I think just about every girl there had a sign that said, “Kiss Me.” They were all there cheering us on and it was a pretty loud group of ladies. There were several guys that did take the girls up on their offer. However, since this was Hillary Clinton’s alma mater, I politely declined their offer. At the 14-mile mark, my calf muscles started to lock up on me. As some of you know, I injured my back two months before the race and I couldn’t run for a whole month. I was only able to run a total of 60-70 miles over the 2-month period leading up to the race. Most runners training for a marathon will run that much in only 1-2 weeks. My muscles just didn’t have the strength built up in them to handle a 26-mile run. For miles 14 to 23, I would run until my muscles cramped up and then walk until they un-cramped enough to start another short run. By the 23rd mile, my calf muscles completely locked up and I was unable to run any more. I then finished the last 3 miles by walking as fast as I could. When I got within about 100 feet of the finish line, I made my best impression of a running movement, and crossed the line with my arms raised up in victory.

Considering my situation, I’m pretty pleased that I was able to finish the race. It would have been nice to be more competitive, but it just wasn’t meant to be. I managed to get a copy of me crossing the finish line from a video feed from the local NBC station in Boston. The video below isn’t the greatest quality, but you can see me hobbling across the line.

Success! And my first bucket list item bites the dust. I ran the Grand Rapids Marathon yesterday morning. Overall, I’m pretty happy with the outcome. The temperature at race time (8am) was only 29° – a little bit chilly but not too bad since there was no real wind to speak of. I don’t think the temperature got too much above 40° by the end of the race. The fall colors are almost peaking right now and the majority of the race course was along the Grand River and along several local parks. I’m not sure how much time I spent admiring the scenery but it was much better than running the entire course through town. Being my first marathon, I wasn’t quite prepared for the initial portion of the run. I started at the back of the pack and didn’t cross the starting line until over four minutes after the race started. I thought if I started at the back, I would miss all the initial jockeying around trying to get past people. That didn’t work out too well. It took me the better part of 3-4 miles before I got past everyone. I was darting left and right and jumping on and off curbs and medians to avoid and get around people. I’d say I was about six miles into the race before I felt that I had settled into a normal pace. I don’t know if I hit the “wall” during the latter part of the race, but at around 21 miles my leg muscles were starting to tighten up. I was pretty sure that if I stopped at that point, my muscles would start to really cramp up. I think it’s fair to say that the last 5-6 miles of a marathon is more mental than physical – at least for me it was. I went by all of the remaining aid stations without taking anything for those last 6 miles.

I can’t compare this marathon to any others since it was my first, but it seemed to be very well run. The race director, Don Kern, and his entire staff did a fantastic job communicating everything you needed to know. There was plenty of information on the website as well as several informal meetings leading up to the event. There were tons of drinks and goodies all along the route and many enthusiastic well-wishers to keep your spirits up. If you’re going to run a marathon for the first time, I highly recommend this one. The racing shirt and runner’s medal are very good quality and there’s plenty of post-race food and beverages – chili, frozen yogurt, cheese sticks, bagels, Gatorade, beer, etc.

In case you’re wondering, I ran the race in 3 hours, 56 minutes and 46 seconds. Below are a few names and times of fairly well known people who also ran marathons. I actually had a better time than everyone except President Bush. I’m particularly proud that I whipped Al Gore’s butt by over an hour! Plus, he was 10 years younger at the time. I’ll bet I left a smaller environmental footprint than he did, too!

• George W. Bush in 1993 (3:44:52) at age 47
• Sarah Palin in 2005 (3:59:36) at age 41
• Pittsburgh Steelers’ Lynn Swann in 1993 (4:26) at age 41
• Oprah Winfrey in 1994 (4:29:20) at age 40
• Al Gore in 1997 (4:58:25) at age 49