Tag: Family

16 Weeks Until The NYC Marathon, But…

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July 13, 2025

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Well, this is a strange and unique feeling for me.  The NYC marathon is 16 weeks away and today would be the start of my marathon training season.

But I’m not training for marathons any longer.  

My most recent marathon last January was my last marathon.  

As I completed the Dopey Challenge in Walt Disney World in January, I determined that my marathon days were over.  My reasons for retiring from marathoning are legion.  I’ll touch on some of them below, but I have written a lot about that on these pages before.

The following are some of my scattered thoughts as I break away from the 16-week training period for the NYC – a ritual I followed for the better part of a quarter-century:

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But The Best Part…

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I got the start today for our baseball team.

I went the first five innings and earned the win. We won 7-4.

I never thought, at 56-years-old, I’d still be playing baseball, and pitching no less.

I am on a wonderful team comprised of the greatest group of men you could imagine. I look forward to every game.

Every game is a joy. Every inning. Every single pitch. It is all wonderful. I’m living a dream.

And dreams are good.

But the best part of it all isn’t a dream.

The best part is that I get to play baseball on the same team alongside my son.

There is nothing better than that.

The Most Valuable Baseball Card Set Ever

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On Christmas Eve, my father gave me the most wonderful set of baseball cards I’ll ever own. These cards are also the most valuable in my collection. “Priceless” is a word used too often, but these cards, individually and as a set, just might fit that description.

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Getting To (and Giving To) Sesame Street

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I am among the first generation of Sesame Street kids.  I grew up (in a sense) with (and even on) Sesame Street.  Ernie, Bert, Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Kermit the Frog, Bob, Maria, Mr. Hooper, and the others were all a big part of my childhood.  I felt like Sesame Street was part of my suburban neighborhood in northern New Jersey. The characters were my friends, even if I didn’t know them personally.

I learned a lot by watching Sesame Street.  While I credit the wonderful picture book Crash, Bang, Boom for teaching me first how to read, I did learn a lot about the alphabet and numbers, and so much more, from the people, the monsters, and the other characters on Sesame Street.

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The Greatest of All Time!

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As we progress through life, our priorities change – sometimes dramatically.  As we age, we gain wisdom and make decisions, big and small, placing different values on things that we determine to be important.  Some things that might have seemed important at one time no longer are.  As life changes, priorities change.  

And this is good and necessary and important.

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4.3 Miles… For Mark (I Miss You, My Friend)

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My dear brother-in-law Mark passed away in February. It was sudden, unexpected, gut wrenching, and very very very sad. It still is.

My life, and my family’s life, will never be the same.

Mark was a special person, a true kind human being who did not have a mean or angry bone in his body. He simply loved everyone and he saw everyone as his friend. Mark didn’t understand unkindness. It made no sense to him. Literally. It simply made no sense. He couldn’t understand it. More, he couldn’t even comprehend it.

Mark considered me his best friend. And I was. And he was mine, too.

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Too Far?

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One of my favorite quotes comes from T.S. Eliot. It reads, “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”

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Chronicle of a Comeback (vol. 25) – They Call This Progress!

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As I chronicle my recovery from Achilles Surgery along with my quest to get in the proper shape to run another marathon, I am pleased to report that I am making great progress.

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Chronicle of a Comeback (vol. 22)

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Progress.

That’s the word.  Progress.

Two steps forward. 

I am hoping there are no steps backward as I continue to build strength in my comeback to running following Achilles surgery in January.  I will hopefully get strong enough to run the New York City Marathon in November.

A few thoughts on all of this before I share the updates on my progress.

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