How far does one push? 2011 Pumpkin Holler Hunnerd Recap

When things get tough (& they ALWAYS DO), how far does one really push? When we are faced by what seems to be a "boundary" against which we are determined to break through; at what point is it fruitless & does not really have to do with our innate capacity to break through? When does it make sense to make a wise choice when there is nothing to prove (to others AND to ourselves)?

Well such was the case in this year's Pumpkin Holler Hunnerd. Our intention - to successfully complete our 2nd 100 mile run. Often times, even the best laid plans need to be flexibile. Everything was in place, fully stocked supplies & a ready crew (thanks Skip) & pacers for the second loop (Mitch Drummond) as well as the final loop (Tom Wozencraft). It was a well designed course. For us 100 milers, it consisted of a 8 mile out & back (thanks to our race director, he threw in an extra mile - Thanks Ken) followed by (3) 31 mile (50K) loops.

After the typical per-race jitters, we were off on our journey.

At the top of the first out & back found Mitch serving up waffles for hungry runners.  (BTW - did I say "top"? Listed as "rolling hills" & a fast course this was the first of many, many hills.

As the day unfolded, the nature of the course began to sink in.

Rolling Hills - NOT! Gravel - NOT!

The course was beautiful. Scenic country vistas along the Illinois River, lakes & ponds (& an occasional dog).

It was the surrounding beauty that helped take my mind off of the grueling course.

After the first loop, I was joined by Mitch as my pacer only to find out that Tom had car problems & would not be able to make it to pace me for my 3rd & final loop (bummer!).

As the sun went down, Mitch & I ran through the night. It is amazing what one talks about when you are out in the country running for hours on end. Things from chicken farming to the fact that I w graduated High School with his wife.

Bathtub Rock was beautiful the first loop but seemed a bit more treacherous at night when I was tired & sore. I DID NOT want a bath at that moment.

The end of the second loop was rough. Hips hurt, knees hurt feet h . . . well, my feet were actually fine.

We came into the Start/Finish around 7 AM in fairly good shape. Mitch had completed his first 50K & with my little 8 mile out & back at the start, I had made 70 miles. Doing the math, we determined that my 3rd & final loop to complete my 100 miler WAS NOT going to happen. I would have had to pull an 8 hour loop - - NOT!

Here is where the "pushing" part comes in. I had no doubt that I cold make a 3rd loop but NOT in 8 hours. It was the wisdom that I had not left anything on the table, made my best effort & pulled a 70 miler.

I was happy (although a bit disappointed & wiped out) as this time, the course won.

Watch out though as Know No Boundaries WILL beat this next time. (May even have revenge this year!)

Blessings to all.

K2

Breaking Out - A Transformation

I want to relate a story about a very good friend of mine who has been a tremendous inspiration to me and a shining example of breaking through self set, self limiting boundaries & even boundaries that may have been imposed by society to achieve a phenomenal goal.

We will call him "John" so as not to embarrass him or cause him any uncomfort.

"John" came into my life through a faulty tail light on my wife's car that was taken to Wal Mart for repair. "John" did not normally work there, but due to a temporary leave o

f absence from his regular job, was the one who took care of my wife. "John" had been looking for a church & just happened to see a window sticker on our car that peaked his interest. Fast forward a year or so, now "John" & his family have joined our church & we have become good friends.

Now "John" was not always this way. In his past life", "John" was very active in a number of biker groups; you know, the ones you REALLY FEAR! "John" was definitely a different person than he is now. Turning his life around, focusing on his family & strengthening his spiritual side in & of itself is a tremendous inspiration but is not the point of this writing.

In my ramblings about marathons & ultra marathons, "John" decided that he wanted to run a marathon some time next year. He went to one of our local running stores & after looking over the plethora of running shoes, picked a pair & started on his journey.

"John" made out a running schedule to plot out his daily runs & weekend long run. He was spending more & more time out on the trails & alone with time to ponder the worlds problems, think about what he is thankful for & have some quiet time to pray. There was the odd encounter with shadows (oh yea, it was not a shadow but a skunk - maybe I ought to leave this for another post), dear & time with his daughter as she rode along side on her bicycle.

Convincing me to run the Warrior Dash with him September 24th, we had a BLAST running & climbing at Turkey Mountain.

"John" had planned on running the 10K at the Route 66 Marathon this November but with his distance up to about 8 miles now (& further by November), he will likely sign up for the 1/2 Marathon.

His marathon debut will be some time in 2012 (possibly the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon in April).

Coming from where "John" came from to running his first marathon (& hopefully not his last if I can help it), he has truly broken thorough his old self into a new person (& one that I feel blessed to be able to call a friend).

"John" will also be crewing for me when Know No Boundaries runs our 2nd 100 mile run on October 15th & 16th at the Pumpkin Holler Hunnerd.

Thank you "John" for being my friend & a true inspiration.

Blessings to all.

Bridging the Years

Bridges, what are they? What do they do? Why have them?

They supply a way to get from one point to another when there is no apparent way over to or across some chasm. Often times one needs tocross "troubled waters" in order to reach their desired place.

Bridges are not always pristine & they do not always guarantee safe crossing. Often times there are obstacles & possible pitfalls that can cause us to fall into the abyss.

There are however, other types of "bridges" that we encounter.

PEOPLE can be bridges in that they can help others to overcome obstacles or provide a means for them to achieve something.

Sometimes people can help others to "bridge the gap" between different generations or assist when there is a lack of knowledge in a particular area. The middle sibling can often bridge the gap between a teenage son or daughter & the parents.

Technology can also bridge gaps as in how cell phones & Facebook has bridged the communications gap between countries & cultures.

The mission of Know No Boundaries is to help people to "break out" of their self set limitations." In a way, we are providing a bridge of sorts to help them overcome a self set limitation.

Age is often thought to be an obstacle wherein the "older" folks cannot (or I should say WILL NOT) do this or try that. At Know No Boundaries will walk the talk to prove that the age limitation CAN be bridged.

Late in July, KNB & a few friends decided to celebrate our 52nd birthdays by doing "52" of something. We decided to do 52 crossings of the Pedestrian Bridge which connects the East & West sides of the Arkansas River in Tulsa, OK.

Ken Childress & I crossed the pedestrian bridge 52 times ending up running just over a half marathon. Darryl Stillson decided to go for it as well but he started earlier & headed off while we were still running.

So, what is point of mentioning this run, at 52 years, we decided to bridge the age gap by proving that age IS NOT an obstacle, only a measure of the amount of life experience one has accumulated.

Now, BE THE BRIDGE for someone in your life.

God Bless;

K2

Disappointment, Friendship & Inspiration

Well the 2011 50 Mile Midnight Madness has been written in the history books. We went into this with high aspirations to have a good finish despite the fact that it was going to be in the triple digits temperature wise.

Unfortunately the heat DID take its toll on us & we turned in a DNF (Did Not Finish). After starting our 4th loop (10.3 miles per loop), the heat, p

lus a brief bit if under training did us in. It was a smart move as we want to be able to run again.

It was obvious that we disappointed ourselves as well as our friends, & the supporters of Know No Boundaries however a strange thing occurred. When we posted our disappointing results on Facebook, it was these friends & supporters who indicated that WE were an inspiration to them. Go figure! In our low times, at a time when we felt that we let our friends down, WE INSPIRED THEM!

This is where the FRIENDSHIP lifts one up out of our disappointment. THIS is what friends do.

They say that one can be considered blessed if they can count good friends on one hand in ones lifetime. How is one to feel then when they have more than they can count?

It is THESE FRIENDS that provided us with a Can of Inspiration lifting our initial disappointment to one of thankfulness & gratitude.

Is is THESE FRIENDS who inspire us to be better husbands & wives, better fathers & mothers, better co-workers, better managers & overall, better people.

THANK YOU MY GOOD FRIENDS & GOD BLESS.

K2

Problems

As a living, breathing, imagining, creative human being, we ALL have problems. Our problems can me as minor as where we want to eat for dinner to how am I going to complete this project on time & under budget to how am I going to feed my family having just lost my job.

It is NOT the intention of this post to trivialize anyone's problems only to tell you that Problems are nothing more than a boundary that we perceive as restraining us or keeping us from attaining whatever it is that we seek to achieve. The key word here is PERCEIVE as it is our own perception that keeps us from moving on, through & beyond whatever problem we have ad hand.

We have all heard the old story of writing ones problems in the sand. The concept basically is that in writing our problems in the sand, they are washed away at the first incoming tide. It is a metaphor to how real life problems are when

we write them down & have a chance to look at them from a different perspective. Often times a new or renewed perspective totally changes the entire scenario & hence the provision of a solution.

On a recent trip to Phuket, Thailand; I had the chance to "write my problems in the sand". At first it seems to just be the act of scribbling the word "problem" in the sand with a stick but no sooner had I written the word, the surf came in & upon its retreat, took my problems along with it. All I can say is that it was a totally surreal feeling & one that I cannot truly explain in words.

What I can say is that when I looked down & saw my "problems" gone, I did indeed feel as though a tremendous weight had been lifted from my shoulders & that between me & God, that everything would work out.

God Bless;

Ken

Some Things Need To Be Bound

Hello friends.

By now, you have all gotten the point of our foundation and the fact that WE set our own boundaries (or at least 95% of them). It is our own internal dialogue with ourselves that tell us what we can and cannot do. These seemly fragile strands of fine thread which we think as small obstacles on our journey to our goals become steel cables shackling us within our own self created prisons.

These self created boundaries are in a plethora of areas such as financial, physical, spiritual and emotional to list a few. Know No Boundaries is that catalyst to help people to break our of these boundaries initially through the provision of wheelchairs, prosthetics, counseling, guidance and mentoring.

There are however, SOME things that need to be bound. Some things that not only need to be bound, but to be bound AND eliminated. Things such as sin, hate, prejudice, bigotry, lust and a host of horrendous diseases. I believe that many of these CAN be eliminated if we would only break through some of the boundaries that are holding us back from eliminating.

One such "THING" that needs to be bound AND destroyed is Cancer. Having hit us personally now and over the past few years, we will be doing what we can to support groups trying to raise awareness of this dreaded disease as well as funds to fight it.

Know No Boundaries will be participating in the Relay for Life this Friday, June 3rd. And true to form, we will be "breaking our own boundaries" by running/walking the entire 12 hours. It will be at Broken Arrow's South Intermediate High School track starting at 6 PM and ending at 6 AM the next morning.

Please come out to support us, feed us, run/walk with us, tell us some good jokes, bring us something to drink (a Starbucks Frappuccino would be nice) or just send prayers.

It is unfortunate that the bad things in our society and in our lives also know no boundaries.

Blessings;

Ken

2011 TATUR Three/Six Hour Snake Run

Well, the 2011 TATUR Three/Six Hour Snake Run is now in the record books. Ken Childress & the TATURs once again did a fabulous job.

Ken & Brian discuss a few final race details before the gun goes off while patient runners meander around with baited breath to start.

The gun went off @ 9:00 AM sharp & we were of; everyone jockeying for their ideal spot in the train of runners. 2011 has been a slow year starting for Know No Boundaries as far as building a good mileage base because we spent the month of January in Gabon. Our first boundary for 2011 was the 25K at the Post Oak Challenge in February. The six hours is not the boundary, it is the fact that I went into this with a strained left knee. I used Kenisio Tape last night, but as I did it myself, it was not likely done right. I did watch the video though, so we will see. I guess I should have shaved my legs first, eh? Oh well, it will hurt coming off.

Snaking through the Turkey Mountain trails we came across our first aid station at mile 1.

As always, Susan is all smiles. She & her cohorts were fabulous in the early hours of the race. They even provided a few "snakes" to set the mood.

It is always great running Turkey Mountain as friends abound.

Lyle "the man" , looking good here as we cross paths.

Charlie looks like he's flyin' by & in perfect form.

Caroline also looks great as we all seem to cross paths all day.

As always, Randy looks awesome. It must be his long legs.

The day went on (& on & on & . . . ). The weather could not be better however my left knee began giving me problems. YES it was wrapped & YES & was not pushing too hard, but I did not want to be stupid & jeopardize other 2011 endurance runs.

Coming around to the far aid station once again, the crew had changed but still the same great treatment.

Sandra & Pat decided to give Dana a bit of support as she came through the aid station in addition to typical GREAT TATUR support; just like Susan & Company earlier.

Cuisine was varied, but I had a hard time sorting out some of it.

One big thing was that the team from 5 Hour Energy Drink came out to support the race & hand out a few samples (it worked out great for a sample about 2 hours into the race.)

Micah & her friend were great & I am sure were popular with everyone there.

Anyway, the knee kept hurting & as we were not taking any risks, I opted to pull out after (4) loops; approximately 17 miles. The Snake trophy will have to wait for another year & I didn't need the medal.

Be careful pushing today & live to run another day. So I chose the later.

We were only able to push the boundary so far before bordering on stupid.

Better next time - - - - - - besides, the 50 Mile Midnight Madness will soon be upon us.

God Bless;

K