Marching in … I mean through … the St. Patty’s Day Parade for Pepper

I never thought I would march in New York’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Yet, there I was among the blaring bagpipes that echoed across 5th Avenue’s skyscraper canyon. The high school bands. The kilts. That undulating sea of green that swarmed like ants through the city. For a brief moment — a break in the swarm — I was part of it. The pomp and circumstance. The Irish pride. The cop yelling, “Let’s go, people! Get across that street!” Run! Run! Run!

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Tips on surviving a 15K race … whatever that is

Just a week or so ago I shared tips on training for a race. A race that was coming up. Only, now it’s in the past. The Jacksonville River Run. A 15K. I have no idea what a K is, but the race was 9.3 miles long. It had a big, hulking bridge on the ninth mile. Gusty winds blew over the top, threatening to throw skinny little runners like me off the side. Yet, somehow I dropped 46 seconds off last year. I finished 273rd (or 237th if you’re dyslexic like me.) That’s out of more than 16,000 runners. Not bad for a skinny boy who almost went over the bridge.I feel pretty good about it. Especially considering a couple years back I suffered a surfing injury that almost ended my running career. I’m not elite or super fast, but pretty proud of where I am. So I’m back to offer some new running advice. It’s my philosophy of running, along with how I survive a race with lots of Ks in it:

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Famous figures in my food?! Count me rich

It is time for me to get rich. Long enough have I wallowed about, toeing the line of abject poverty when I could be tap dancing into the lap of luxury. Why shouldn’t I be rich? I look nice in good clothes, have expensive tastes in shoes, and how else will I afford gas for my stretch Hummer? Lucky for me I’ve finally figured out how to do it. Not by working hard. Not by playing the lottery. Not even by trying to convince Nigerian email scammers that I am an American prince who has been overthrown by his people and now needs to transfer $32 million from a seed bank in Kansas to my newly adopted home in Botswana. (That one had real potential!)

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Focus. Run. Keep training … must … resist … beer!

Must stay focused. Must keep running. Must stay on schedule. Keep the pace up. Not slack. Not … give … in … to … the … tempta … Oh, the heck with it. I want a beer and some pretzels. So goes my on-again, off-again training regimen for the upcoming 15K River Run in Jacksonville. Mostly it’s on-again. I’m on an overly ambitious quest to get back down to the times I was running in college. At 39, that’s no easy feat. Even more remarkably, I might just be on track. “Might” is the key word, and only if I STAY on track.

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