{"id":4789,"date":"2017-06-05T15:50:32","date_gmt":"2017-06-05T20:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/?p=4789"},"modified":"2017-06-05T16:07:27","modified_gmt":"2017-06-05T21:07:27","slug":"happy-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/?p=4789","title":{"rendered":"Happy Birthday!!!"},"content":{"rendered":"

A little while back, I was invited to a Birthday Party. \u00a0As a rule, I don’t get \u00a0invited to Birthday Parties much anymore. \u00a0I think maybe, at 55, I’m past my prime? \u00a0It’s kind of a shame because I really(!) like cake!<\/p>\n

\"Birthday<\/a><\/p>\n

This Birthday Party was different. \u00a0It was for a friend (who was throwing his own party~which is awesome!) who was turning 40. \u00a0He is an Ultra Runner and a Triathlete. \u00a0Serious athlete!!!<\/p>\n

For his party, he asked some of us to meet at the trails and for each of us to run 40 miles. \u00a0That, running the 40 miles, was the party!<\/p>\n

What a great idea!!! \u00a0I loved it!<\/p>\n

Of course I said I’d be there~wouldn’t miss that for the world!!!<\/p>\n

Yesterday morning, about 15 of us laced up our running shoes, and hit the trails at Butt’s Park.<\/p>\n

This park and I go back a few years. \u00a0This was where I ran my very first Ultra back in 2014. \u00a0I’ll NEVER forget that race. \u00a0It was a 50K called Big Butts. \u00a0The name of the race alone sold me on it!<\/p>\n

That day, the RD (Race Director) had set up a large dial thermometer so you could see the temps as you came through on your loops. \u00a0On my second loop that goofy thermometer read 112* \u00a0I remember thinking, \u00a0“Phooey on that! \u00a0I’m walking!!!” and I did! I walked almost that entire last loop…BUT, I finished that beast! \u00a0*race swag from Big Butts~too funny!<\/p>\n

\"18740618_1344411642345635_9030694606430051344_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I also said I’d never run there again.<\/p>\n

So, here I was, 3 years later, running back on the trails at Butts Park.<\/p>\n

“Never say never.”<\/p>\n

We met up and started running at 6:00am. \u00a0It wasn’t too warm. \u00a0Low to mid 70’s with high humidity but not bad running weather. \u00a0Due to the park getting a lot of rain, we had to change our route to a 5 mile loop that was less trail and more asphalt but it was do-able.<\/p>\n

This was the start and finish (S\/F) for the loops. \u00a0 It was nice and shaded.<\/p>\n

\"18920367_10211609136856450_5138544425960035232_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A lot of it was in the sunshine and that got pretty warm.<\/p>\n

\"18882125_259226901213106_8687983127306671277_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"18835703_259226931213103_1824321951390457975_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This guy right here? \u00a0He and I ran Big Butts together on that terribly hot day back in 2014. \u00a0He was there yesterday and so we ran together most of the day. \u00a0We hadn’t been able to run together since that race so we had a lot of catching up to do! \u00a0He was one of the three people who were able to run all 40 miles!<\/p>\n

\"18920284_259227281213068_280019392288927708_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I ran 30 miles. These are the other two men who ran the entire 40 miles. *The guy on the left is the Birthday Boy!<\/p>\n

\"18813522_10211609134376388_1783271353455415198_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There was pizza and cookies and soda and beer and 5 gallons of Tailwind for fueling during the run. \u00a0Perfect Ultra food!<\/p>\n

\"18951171_1348760428577423_2146129420419611227_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There was one snake sighting. \u00a0We saw deer and rabbits, too!<\/p>\n

FUN group of people!<\/p>\n

\"18814368_441047756268016_4036816380556296974_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"18835908_10211604229133760_2059329146326097996_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Best Birthday Party Ever!!!<\/p>\n

Happy Birthday, Ben!!!<\/p>\n

#IRun4Aiden<\/p>\n

\"18983211_10213048877087394_902019228_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A little while back, I was invited to a Birthday Party. \u00a0As a rule, I don’t get \u00a0invited to Birthday Parties much anymore. \u00a0I think maybe, at 55, I’m past my prime? \u00a0It’s kind of a shame because I really(!) like cake! This Birthday Party was different. \u00a0It was for a friend (who was throwing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[21,6,3,7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4789"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4789"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4803,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4789\/revisions\/4803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}