Spike’s Family and Random Things

I come from a running family. My dad (Buck) taught me to run when I was a child. I have three sisters who all run. One has completed a marathon and a tri, one consistently runs the Grand Rapids 25K River Bank Run, and one is a daily but not distance (not yet) runner. I also have several cousins who have run high school track, cross country, and are 5K racers. In fact, we usually have a large contingent of runners show up for the Boyne City Independence Day races. We show up to get some bling in the 2M or go for bling in the 10K (except for the few of us each year who go bandit).

And yet there is another large family that shows up at the BCID races with matching shirts that say “racing is relative” on the back. Well, my family is not one to be outclassed, so we are currently designing ‘family’ shirts for next year. The leading slogan for the shirt is “Second place is the first loser” but I’m pulling for the “I just relatively passed you.” Regardless, you can be sure there will be a skull and crossbones on the shirt.

And if you think we are competitive when it comes to running, you need to see us play cornhole. We have a ‘rules’ committee and match officials. There have also been more than a few grudges and maybe one or two fists thrown over our putt-putt contests. We are serious competitors.

Tuesday I saw something quite unusual. As I was running to the Michigan State track I saw a girl on her bike ride into a car. No, the car didn’t hit her, she hit the car. I was the first one on the scene. I quickly made sure the biker hadn’t lost consciousness, made sure she could move her fingers and toes, and that waited for the ambulance to arrive. She probably sprained her knee, but otherwise was fine. Bikers.

Speaking of Tuesday, my speed workout was alright, hitting most of my goals but falling hard on two of them. They are getting better, and I’m rocking my other FIRST workouts, so that helps.

Finally, I’ve decided that, like Maverick, I should only play beach v-ball in jeans. It should elevate my coolness by at least four points.