Jim Carrey vs. Adam Sandler: Part 3 of 3: Where they go from here?

Don't Know how much of a step up this is from "Jack & Jill"?

  Well, last I left you guys it was showing Part 2 after showing Part 1 of Jim Carrey vs. Adam Sandler. Now the question is how have their movies been the last 5-7 years currently, where their careers are heading from here on out with what movies they got coming up. But, more importantly I want you to decide whom you think is the better actor/comedian, etc.

Up above is the movie poster for Adam Sandler's new movie coming out this weekend, "That's My Boy" The plot is about a child star(Adam Sandler) whom had sex with his teacher and how 30 years later he tries to improve his relationship with his son(Andy Samberg) who is getting married. It brings to mind a little bit in the past 7 years or last 10 years if anybody I know has walked out of an Adam Sandler Movie and thought, "OMG that was so funny, I laughed so hard I was in tears!!!!". Well unfortunately, NO. Pretty much since Anger Management (2003) I don't think there has been an Adam Sandler movie since then that I have loved or just enjoyed.

He attempted to remake The Longest Yard (2005) with Burt Reynolds(star of the original) and a couple of ex-NFL stars and Pro Wrestlers let it was ok but not what I expected. He did star in a good movie with Reign over Me(2007) in which he plays a man who lost his family during 9/11 and years later reunites with his college buddy played by Don Cheadle who tries to help him get his life back together which does show his acting ability.

 However, the bad finally came with I Now Prononce You Chuck & Larry in which he and Kevin James are NYC Fireman pretending to be gay and married to keep up an insurance scam so that his best friend's(James) children can have benefits.

He tried to do kids movies like Disney's Bedtime Stories but the critics dislike it. Here's the trailer

Then of course came GrownUps (2010) starring him, his SNL Buddies David Spade, Rob Scheinder, and Chris Rock along with Kevin James whom now has become their new CHRIS FARLEY

Of course the bad continued with Just Go with It (2011) and of course Jack & Jill (2011) in which case I mentioned swept this years Razzies.

http://dmoneystwocents.blogspot.com/2012/03/razzies-p.html

I tried to go into this three part blog post not to be one sided but I have to think that Adam Sandler movies have gotten much worse over the years. But the thing is people still are going to see them. I enjoyed his early career in movies, the comedy albums he put out, and his stuff on SNL but I think its time for him to grow up in acting and take on a new style of comedy. Don't believe me here's a link that my sister Cortney has provided for me.

http://movies.msn.com/movie-guide-summer/adam-sandler's-10-worst-movies/photo-gallery/feature/

 Jim Carrey, on the other hand, has not made too many movies the last few years but he's been able to put out some really good comedies such as Fun with Dick & Jane (2005) about a couple who go into debt after Carrey's character loses his job at a firm to a slezzy executive, so Dick and Jane go out on a hilarious crime spree. And in this clip and trailer from Yes Man (2008)

Movie proved Jim Carrey still got it when it comes to comedy. However, he has made some bad movies like The Number 23 about a man who becomes obessed with the number 23 after reading a book about a man who had that same obession. Weird. But he has make some entertaining family films by lending his voice in Horton Hears a Who (2008) and A Christmas Carol (2009). He still shown he can act by delievering a good performance in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). This was about a man wanting to erase memories of his former girlfriend after she did so of him but can't do it because of the good times that were had. It's a good movie.

Anyway I'm excited that starting this fall Jim Carrey will be filming Dumb and Dumber 2!!! A real sequel to the first since Dumb & Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd had nothing to do with Carrey, Jeff Daniels or The Farelly Brothers and now all have agreed to do a sequel almost 20 years later to see what the characters are like now. I don't think it will be like the first but if it's funny I'll defintely see it. Carrey has some more movies lined up one with Steve Carell so we'll see if he continues down his path.

In my opinion after reflecting, watching clips of both Sandler and Carrey's Movies I tend to side with Jim Carrey. He can make you laugh, has musical talent, can do very good characters and impersonations, and can act very well. Adam Sandler can do those things as well but he has tended to focus more on gross out comedies more and less on the acting which I think makes people forget some of the good things he can do with his talent.

I'm not anti-Adam Sandler. This isn't a one sided blog post. I think in the over aspects Jim Carrey has had the better career and made better movies. It's hard to tell whose more financial successful. Probably Sandler due to his Happy Madison Productions company but Quanity doesn't necessary equal Quality. I hope Sandler would just expand himself a little bit like Jim Carrey has throughout his career.

Well, I'll leave you the reader to decide. If you enjoy this take a look back at the last 2 parts to decide for yourself.

Part 1 Early Careers

Part 2 Rise to Stardom

And that's my Two Cents!!!

What is your calling???

  This is pic has a bible verse that speaks very true. In first Peter chapter 4 verse 10. In which Peter, the father of the church tells followers around Asia Minor to serve each other with the talents that you have.

  Speaking of Peter, this became familar to me when at Bible Study a little over 2 weeks ago when during the lesson we were reading from Mark 1: 16-20 where it said

16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” ¹⁸ At once they left their nets and followed him. ¹⁹ When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. ²⁰ Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

The disciples that Jesus had called had no idea where it would lead them since many of them had come from around Galilee which to many Galilee is like the "Appalachia" of Israel if you will. After 3 years of following Jesus, many of them weren't unsure of what would be next them but Jesus told them after his resurrection from death to wait and they would be filled with the Holy Spirit and they would speak in different tougues. Once that occured they went all over Europe, Asia, and the Mediterranean spreading the gospel and others after them did so too making our great Christian community all over the world what it is today. Messages and lessons speak true over 2000 years ago up till today.

God was able to call those disciples whom many consider to be the most unlikely people at that time to lead and spread his word. It can be the same thing today even in all aspects of life. There have been people that were the most unlikely to lead but when the opportunity came to those they were able to run with the ball and do great things you might say. It goes with leading corporations, leaders of nations or armies, people in entertainment, sports, etc.

We have been given some opportunities and God wants us to use them to help others and each other in one way or another. Kind of the reason why I'm typing this is because my small group leaders are hoping to plan on building a church whenever it be here in Columbus or somewhere else around the country. They feel that it is their calling and that is what God has planted in their hearts. I support them for it and be able to pray for them in their success to hopefully for them accomplish this mission. The only sad thing is that my small group in a couple of weeks will end but I know another one with a couple of the same people will began but I may want to spread my wings a little since I know there have been those I've grown close to are moving on afterwards and join another group at my church in hopes that I would meet others, but still continue my walk with God along the way. I hope to continue to see those in my current small group from time to time.

The really great thing about my friends wanting to plan a church is it got me the motivation to finally jump into what has been on my heart and I've been talking about to almost everyone for a long time the last few months, what has been one of my things to do on my New Year's Resolution That of course is to get my certification in being a personal USATF certified coach and NFHS certified running coach whenever it may be coaching cross country/track & field at a Junior High or High School Level or just basically coaching individuals (like some other people I know) and give them training plans for goal races from 5k-Marathon, recommend them to running shoe stores (like Columbus Running Company), recommend them to a nutrionist as well, and have them keep track of their process so I know whenever for them to back off or add on depending on their background. So far the only experience I've had coaching was track and field for 2 seasons at my high school after I got out of college. I was able to get the Boys 4 x 800 relay to Regionals twice, the Girls 4 x 800 Relay to Regionals once, a girl to the Regionals in the 800 meter run, but in my 2 years of volunteering coaching I got a girl to the State Meet in the 3200 Meter Run once, a boy to State in the 1600 Meter Run one year the year before I got him to the Regional in the 1600 M, and a boy to the State Meet in the 3200 Meter Run both years I have volunteered coaching for my High School.

I realize it could be hard for me to get these type of jobs due to my work schedule which is basically one of the reasons why I did not persue it any further after I moved because I was afraid I would become too busy and not have enough of my own time to train.  Also, the fact that I'm not in education and they sometimes give those jobs to teachers whenever they know anything about the sport or not. To me distance runners can make the best coaches. They have been around Track & Field and have an interest in the sport. I admit I don't know anything about throwing events but its cool to see how far they go. I dunno I could just be good to coach cross country and maybe be a distance coach in track. It could be hard since I've now been a track official now for last 2 seasons. But I could just coach cross country, and officiate in the spring and coach individuals outside of cross country/track & field who may want to PR in the 5k to the Marathon no matter what pace they run or skill level. Anyone is welcome.

I realize I have to read up a little more on training and coaching but I could do on the side from my regular work. I can do more than be an official. But, I'm not giving that up nor my regular job. My career is my main income. Lately, I haven't been too happy at times in my work. Some days it's just going through that routine. Don't get me wrong I'm thankful for it along with my job security. But, there are days I feel like Peter from Office Space.

Love that movie. I'm still going to be working at my job as long as they let me and do it to the best of my abilities. There are some positives about the job i do, but I feel I like to do things on the side that I can enjoy. Running has been it but I'm not a professional getting paid to do it, there is a lot of pressure to maintatin that fitness level. Lot of my friends outside of CRC are amazed at my fitness level. Yet, I'm humbled for it and work hard but have fun competiting. Besides it keeps me from going insane from this Department of Defense Accounting Job.

Once I compete the online development course which shouldn't take too long I plan on taking a Level 1 course at a school or college somewhere for 3 days. I think taking the online course would help me become a better official as well. My only hope is after the training that I would be given the chance to be able to coach whenever it be individuals with goal races or at a local junior high or high school but start out as an assistant and be able to get my name out there. This along with officiating is something that keeps me involved with the sport if I slowly back down and don't compete as much anymore in the years to come. I know that day will come especially if I get too busy and settle down with a family hopefully.

Anyway, I didn't mean to bragg about my plans. I just wanted to encourage you all with what God has done for you and if you are being call to do what you think he wants you to do with your talents or interests. Don't want to go on too much longer, but I've seen a lot of people use what they have to the best of there abilities and the good feeling it gives them helping others.

I just want to leave a word of encouragement to my friends who are starting a church. I know with all the resources, connections, and leadership you developed over the years you have a great chance of succeeding. Starting out small isn't a bad thing either who knows it could effect people very deeply. One great example, Two cross country/track teammates from a NCAA Division III University got together to form a running store, over the years it has grown to support the running communtiy with running groups, charity races, and a group of people whom have grown to be great friends.

That's my 2 Cents!!!!!!!!!  :)

Jim Carrey vs Adam Sandler: Part 2 (Rise to Stardom)

  Well, I last left you with part 1 http://dmoneystwocents.blogspot.com/2012/05/jim-carrey-vs-adam-sandler-part-1-early.html After being busy with going to friends weddings and mothers day I give you part 2 of Jim Carrey vs. Adam Sandler. This time we'll leave off with Jim Carrey.

   After leaving In Living Color in 1994, Carrey went on to film movies. In fact the year 1994 was in fact Jim Carrey's huge rise to stardom. He started in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective which he co-wrote in order for the character to fit his comedy. He made it very memorable.

He stared in the sequel 2 years later Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1996)

In 94 he stared in The Mask

This scene showed his musical talents as well. In 94 he was also in Dumb & Dumber and I don't have to tell you how great of a movie that was. Just read this http://dmoneystwocents.blogspot.com/2011/05/top-10-of-my-funniest-movies-of-all_2370.html

1995 was pretty good too. He got casted as The Riddler in Batman Forever (1995)

The Cable Guy (1996) was a little dark but still good. Even if it's not one of his best comedies I still would rather watch that than Adam Sandler's Jack & Jill anyday. Liar, Liar (1997) was funny and it kept showing a lot of his physical comedy. This especially after his son in the movie wishes that for one day he can't tell a lie and Jim's character has a hard time lieing.

Though the next couple years Jim Carrey began to show a little more of his acting signs with The Truman Show (1998) where he plays a character where his whole life is a TV show. He portrayed the late comedian Andy Kauffman in Man on the Moon (1999). Both roles got him 2 Golden Globes but no Oscar nominations. Damn you Academy members you seem to like Sean Penn and George Clooney too much or they have their heads up your "you know whats". Anyway he was also in some great dramas like The Majestic (2002). Now that was a great movie I think he should have been nominated for the Oscar for that. I WOULD RENT IT IF I WERE YOU!! Also did Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) a comedy/drama. That was pretty good and he got nominated for a Golden Globe for that but no Oscar nomination.

But during the time he was able be in those dramas he still was able to make some more great comedies & family movies like Me, Myself & Irene (2000), The Grinch (2000), Fun with Dick & Jane (2005), Lemmy Snickets's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), and one of my personal favorites Bruce Almighty (2003).

That's it for Carrey for now and on to Adam Sandler's rise also starting in the Mid 90's like Jim Carrey. He started in of course Billy Madison (1995) after leaving SNL.

Next he moved on to Happy Gilmore

Those movies I think are all time classics of his that showed his true comedy style. Which got him to become more of a box office success later with Big Daddy (1999), the romantic comedy The Wedding Singer (1998), and of course my personal favorite The Waterboy (1998).

The success of those movies helped him to launch his Movie Production company "Happy Madison Productions" in which helped his SNL buddies Rob Scheinder and David Spade stay in Hollywood and become stars themselves in movies they stared in like The Hot Chick (2002), Deuce Bigelow: Male Gigolo (2000), and Joe Dirt (2001). They were pretty good. Sandler thought still made some bad movies like Little Nicky (2000). But still he was able to break out some good comedies like Mr. Deeds (2002) 50 First Dates(2004 another romantic comedy with Drew Barrymore) and Anger Management (2003) with Jack Nicholson.

But, Sandler was able to show a little bit of his acting chops with movies like Punch Drunk Love(2002) that got him nominated for a Golden Globe and in Spangish(2004).

Up till the Mid 2000's Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler were not only the most box office successful comedian but actors in Hollywood. I'll examine how their careers are currently going, what have they won and what potential I see them going in Part 3: Right Now and where do they go from here. That will be the final Carrey/Sandler post and I'll let you determine who is better.

Happy Mothers' Day........again!!!

Yeah I know I already said it to her once but I just want to post it on my blog just to show how lucky I am for my Mom in keeping my head straight!!! Happy Mothers' Day again

O yeah Part 2 of Jim Carrey vs Adam Sandler will come later this week!!!

Jim Carrey vs Adam Sandler: Part 1 (Early Careers)

Jim Carrey

Vs

Adam Sandler

  Well, now this is the one I've been bragging about for a better long time. I'm going to determine who is better Jim Carrey or Adam Sandler. Yet, this all started at work with another buddy of mine at work. He is not one of the two guys who likes MacGyver like those two did in my Jack Bauer vs MacGyver Post. Though that guy likes Macgyver and is a little anti-social with some people and what does he know. He's a Adam Sandler fan. Keep in my I love Adam Sandler's movies but I tend to like Jim Carrey's Movies much more. I think that some of there movies reach the same and different types of audiences.

  However, recently their movies have fallen off a little bit. Especially Adam Sandler's. His movies have not become as funny as they did in the past and he has to rely on his buddies to help him out like Rob Scheinder, Kevin James, etc. Recently his movie Jack & Jill (2011) had swept this years' Razzies.

http://news.yahoo.com/sandlers-jack-jill-goes-downhill-razzies-023645224.html

They are the Golden Raspberry Awards given to the worst movies and actors of the year. Another movie done by his production company "Happy Madison" had Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star in there list of nominations as well.

In the past I thought his movies have been entertaining but through the last couple of years the quality has gone downhill. The same could be said for Jim Carrey.

  Well, to be honest Jim Carrey hasn't done to much but he has just guest starred in 30 Rock & The Office. He has made some decent movies like Mr. Popper's Penguins, and done voice adaptions for A Christmas Carol. But, it's a far cry from what he has done in the past.

  For this occasion I will breakdown this debate into 3 separate posts. This first one I will look at their  earlier careers and how they started out. The 2nd one will deal from the mid 90's into the mid 2000's around the time they have achieved the most success. The last one will deal with their careers now and where they are going from here. And I'll try to be fair and partial as best as I can. Some people thought I showed favoritism to Jack Bauer in the Bauer/MacGyver blog but I compared them and I still think Jack Bauer can kick his ass. Anyway now it's Jim Carrey vs Adam Sandler.

First let's examine, Adam Sandler

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Sandler

He's from New York and graduated from NYU's Tisch School for Arts and found his niche for comedy in clubs and on TV. He guest starred on The Cosby Show and was a regular on the MTV Game Show Remote Control.

He would soon go on to be a regular and a writer on Saturday Night Live. He did a lot of stuff with Chris Farley.

Though the Lunch Lady skit with Chris Farely was his funniest. Watch and see

http://www.dula.tv/watch.php?file=lunch-lady-land-from-snl.flv

He is very musically talented. It shows evidence from his comedy albums and skits on those albums in which some of his stuff on the albums didn't appear on SNL. He didn't have too many characters on the show besides the  herlihy boy.

Once again Chris Farley to the rescue. He was also the Canteen Boy in which he portrayed a naive, childlike assistant scoutmaster with an acute attention to detail. He used snake calling to get even with those who made fun of him. The sketch had some controversery when in it the Scoutmaster portrayed by Guest host Alec Baldwin made sexual advances towards the Canteen Boy and it stirred up much controversy due to its implications of pedophilia. I saw the skit online and I'm not going to post it or show a pic since it's a little disturbing and not that funny at all.

Anyway, in 1995 Sandler left SNL to persue his movie career. We'll leave it off right there with him for Part 1.

Now, on to Jim Carrey!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Carrey

According to his bio Carrey comes from Canada. He had a natural talent to make people laugh and had a lot of help financially from his father. Until he was discovered by Rodney Dangerfield that Carrey began to go into more comedy clubs. He even had starred in some short run TV Show called The Duck Factory (1984)

And a couple of movies like Once Bitten (1985), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) and Earth Girls are Easy (1989). Damon Waynes was also in Earth Girls and they formed a friendship which lead Carrey to be one of the cast members' on older brother Keenan Ivory Waynes stetch comedy show In Living Color!!

In Living Color really brought out his crazy comedic side. Pretty much with characters like Vera De Milo.

and of course my personal favorite................Fire Marshall Bill.

He should have made that character into a movie. Only difference between SNL and ILC was that Color was on primetime on Fox but mostly on around 9 while SNL was late night on Saturdays and not too much retrictions. Which I think is why In Living Color didn't last long. But it launched the careers of the Waynes Family, Jamie Foxx and of course Jim Carrey.

Jim Carrey left In Living Color to start in his first starring feature film in 1994 while a year later Adam Sandler did the same when he left SNL.

I just wanted you to take a look at there best stuff from their TV shows in their early careers. Part 2 will discuss their rises to major fame. Don't mean to be one sided but I'll leave you with another Fire Marshall Bill skit. They are hillarious and I can give a great impersonation of Fire Marshall Bill. Just ask me next time you see me!!

Race Review: Kentucky Derby Festival Mini Marathon and Marathon (I ran the mini)

  Well, it's been a little while for a race review so might as well give ya one. This past weekend I ran the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon and Mini Marathon. But, I ran the Mini-Marathon portion of the race. The Half Course was flatter than the full and the prize money was top 5 deep but top runner in each age group would get a free pair of ASICS shoes so that would be just as good as money. I felt much better after bruising my tendon which only got me off my legs for two days back in early April so my training was back on track for Louisville. Felt really good the weeks leading up to it.
 
  I went down with Beth, her husband Joel, Kayre, and Ginger from the church I go to. Beth being originally from Louisville had of course stay with her dad's house and her aunts' house. Her dad was going to run the full.

  The expo was ok but not all that impressive to me. I've been to better. It made the Columbus Marathon Expo look like the Boston Marathon Expo. There were the typically small running clothing vendors and a few tables for marathon and other races. Only thing I liked was a table put on by BEEF where they gave me a Beef Cooking Recipe Book. I need to cook something in my new Crocpot.

  Anyway, afterward we met the rest of Beth's family at this small tuscany restaurant on the westside of Louisville in a strip mall near a Wal-Mart. The food was pretty good but the service not so much. Took about an hour to get it and it wasn't that crowded in the restaurant for a friday night when we got our food around after 8:00. Got back to Beth's dad house and got to bed. I got up early since I wanted to be down there for the race early.

  I warmed up for about 2 miles just to run around the start and the finish areas just to get familar with them. Went back to my vehicle in the parking garage nearby, stretched got my CRC jersey and flats on and proceeded to the start line before getting some strides in.

  We took off right on time at 7:30. The first mile I wanted to feel a little bit comfortable and get myself in a good position. The top 8 were really up there there. From the results 1st to 9th place was from 1:02:40 to 1:06:07.

http://resultsarchive.active.com/pages/searchform.jsp?pubID=3&rsID=126134

After that there was almost a 4 min separtation from 9th place to 10th so there weren't any more guys after that. Back to the race. My first mile was at 5:10 a couple seconds more than what pace I wanted but still felt pretty good. But from miles 1.5-4 I virtually ran alone but the guy who would finish 10th was behind me. 2nd mile I hit in 10:25 still felt pretty good. Ran into a little bit of wind blowing from the northeast and it was in the open part of the westside of Downtown but still hit 3 miles at 15:42. I finally caught up to the marathon leaders and one other guy running the half marathon and we hit the 4 miles at 21:08.

  After many zig zags around the streets we hit the 5 mile mark around 26:35. Little slow than I wanted and try to pick it up and hopefully the marathon guys would pace me like they did for a little while when I last ran here in Louisville 4 years ago. We were at 32:02 at the 6 mile mark and hit 33:05 at 10K still feeling good. We ran south towards Churchill Downs and hit 7 miles at 37:20 glad it picked up a bit when we went down in a straight line on 4th Street. There was a crowd surrounding the turn for a little bit before we went into Churchill Downs at hit 8 miles at 42:40, I was still on a 5:20 pace hoping for the best after we got out of churchill. We entered in through a tunnel which goes under the dirt track and took us into the infield where there were roads that made into circles. It was pretty confusing but there were arrows to point along the way. I wished there were volunteers there to help us out because it would have been much easier especially for the lead runners in the half and full who are up there. The small turns slowed down our momentum. We finally ended up going out the back way and crossing back over to Central Ave where the Full Marathoners turned right and headed south on 3rd Street while the half marathoners headed north on 3rd towards the finish. The Kenyans headed south. Could have used them for the last 4 or more miles.
   The other half marathoner  that was behind me that finished 10th was able to catch up with me and the other guy who finished 12th and we were together for about 1 1/2. The 9 mile mark was hit at 48:20. Churchill Downs defintely slowed down our mometinum which allowed the 10th place guy to catch us. We hit 10 miles around 53:50. 10th place guy took off and me and the other guy battled it out for 11th. The 11 mile mark was hit in 59:20. I was able to speed up and break away from the 12th place guy in order to have a good finish which I ran the last 2.1 in 11:11 which was a 5:20 pace. Which I ran that pace in miles 8-11. After turning on Main Street around 12.4 miles or 20K I strided out to the  turn on Preston Street to the finish in 1:10:39. 3rd fastest half marathon ever after running 10 of them lifetime. Let it was 17 seconds under my PR. Still was very happy with my effort despite those bad miles wished there were a couple more guys in that race who would have ran 1:07-1:10 and the result could have been different. Who knows. But, after the whole injury and my after fiasco last summer and fall I was pleased and satisified with my effort and result.
   However, I found out later I finished 2nd in my age group(30-34) and missed getting free pair of shoes. O well I least I got my free beer at the beer tent. :) I cooled down for about 3 miles and waited around to cheer the rest of my church friends who were running the half. They finished around 2:11. We had a cookout at Beth's dad with their family and friends and I got to drive his 89 Corvette!! It was pretty sweet. I never driven a Vette before though I'm a Ford Mustang guy but Corvettes are awesome rides. I decided to head back see some friends and celebrate their birthdays.

All in all a really good weekend with friends. As for the race it shows how far I've come back from being banged up and hurt all of last summer and fall and what I need to do in order to have a MONSTER Summer and Fall of training and racing with some goals in mind. Stay Tuned, Thanks for reading, and that's my two cents!!!

P.S.-  The Jim Carrey vs. Adam Sandler post is coming up next. This one will be separated into 3 parts it's so good!!

Boston: One year later

   Today, as I am typing this right now it will be one week since the 2012 Boston Marathon. By the time I finish this post it may be a few days later but it comes at a time when about one year ago that I was able to run the race that has been the pinnacle of every runner. I decided not to run again this year. Mainly due to the costs of going there. I'll run it again someday but I have to run another full to get a qualifying time for my age group which is now 3:05:00 which shouldn't be that hard for me.

     So for this Boston I'm sitting here at work looking at the splits of the leaders and my friends and other C-Bus Pacers running over at Boston. Yeah, this is something I shouldn't do at a gov't job but I get quite a bit of work done and there are others around here that don't hardly do S***!! That's our gov't hard at work people. But don't want to be too negative about my job it just causes too much stress and it would effect everything else positive in my life.

  A lot has happened over the last year since I ran Boston. I ended up getting hurt in my hip muscle when I tried to come back too early after Boston and it derailed my summer and fall racing plans, I had to sadly drop out of the Half Marathon at Columbus in October. I guess my body wasn't quite ready to tackle a half. However, I was able to end the year on a good note and represent CRC in Seattle at the USATF Club Cross Country Nationals and continue my streak of running it 6 years in a row and hopefully going for # 7 at the end of this year. Turning 30 becomes a big deal for me as well. I felt that I haven't accomplished anything outside of running, my high school coach suddenly passed away this summer , my sister moved back home due to her job situation but she is working part time and taking law classes to become a parallegal, there have been changes at work which makes it difficult to adjust, for one I would like the opportunity to telework, but I haven't gotten a laptop at work and I don't know when they will give me one.

One of the biggest issues interally I had to deal with the fact that I'm 30 and still single. Nowhere close to finding a woman to call my best friend to spend the rest of my life with and share everything about. Well, I feel as if I'm sharing a little bit of my life to everyone by writing in this blog. But, I try not to get to overboard. I'm not the type of guy that constantly updates my facebook status every hour everyday. That can be obessive. I try not to make a big deal about meeting someone. I know God has someone for me. I just got to trust in him, have an open heart, and stay positive.

  I think staying positive ties into training. A funny thing is our preacher was preaching about "Run to Win" which was the title of the sermon. The verse taken was from 1 Cornithians 9:24-27

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. ²⁷ No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

In this passage it is talking about mostly a relationship with Jesus and how when athletes train hard to compete so should we when we want a better relationship with Jesus. A great note in the Sermon was, "Don't stop training, you're in a marathon not a sprint." Life is like that as well. It can get pretty hetic at times but you can't let the bad things or the stuff that depresses you get you down. Things are not easy. I've come a long way since the last year and especially in the past like it mentions my pre-boston article from last year.

You just gotta keep running to get that prize in the end whenever in running it be winning a race, a PR, or just to finish in some cases. Same goes for life. Now a days people except a handout from our government. You have to be humble and hope for the best and try to focus on the reward at the end.

I know my running goals aren't done yet. I'm working on getting my coaching education done in the meantime and I have a goal to run the Columbus Marathon this fall not only to PR but for personal reasons. But I'll get to that when the time comes. Right now the best thing is to keep your head up, don't be discourage, and keep running towards your goal whatever it may be sports related or not.

That's my two cents.