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Our family lost a great man yesterday. Surrounded by loved ones in his own home, David, my father-in-law, lost a courageous 18-month battle with cancer. We all miss him immensely.

Of all the amazing memories David provided our family, one day stands out for me:

Our relationship was very open for a father and son-in-law and when it came to life with cancer, I asked because I didn’t know and he told because he didn’t have to sugarcoat it. Last summer while out for coffee I asked him what things he had wanted to do but had never had the opportunity. He spoke of more travel, of watching his grandchildren grow, of doing more art and of going to see an NCAA basketball game. That was a strange request and I asked him why. He told me that he had always been fascinated with the atmosphere of the American college and it’s basketball games and he had wanted to be a part of it.

For Christmas, Caroline and I gave David two tickets to Kansas versus Michigan State on Saturday, January 10th. He had remembered our conversation and was absolutely ecstatic to go to the game. We planned a full family weekend around the game: the entire family going to East Lansing, staying over in a hotel on the Friday night and while the men went to the basketball game, the girls would go shopping.

Mid-week our trip was in peril as David had became very ill and the weather reports were calling for a classic Michigan/Canadian snowstorms. On Friday, we decided to cancel the hotel and it appeared as though the entire trip would be called off.  But as he had already done many times, David summoned the strength and we agreed that just the two of us would leave at 7 am to make the 1 pm tip.

We had everything we could possibly ever need: tickets, water bottles, snacks, coffee, CD’s loaded with Brit Pop and a friend riding beside us. Everything that was, except a camera…

While the entire day stands out as a highlight of my time with David, the drive to the game is one of the best conversations I have ever had. For three hours, we had a free flowing conversation ranging in unimportant topics such as the Red Wings (our favourite hockey team) and their goaltending issues, politics and Obama, our favourite bands, cd’s and songs and how our wives were both terrible drivers.

We also discussed important things like how you adjusted when your life was no longer infinite, about needing to take risks in life (David openly discussed his pursuit of Lorna, his true love), love, parenting and family. I realized then that somewhere along the way we had stopped being connected through his daughter and had become friends on our own accord. It was nice.

The basketball game was a good game, Michigan State used it’s defense to dominate a still meshing Kansas team and won 75-62 game. The atmosphere and the experience were awesome (despite our last row of the upper deck seats). We watched 2000 white t-shirt clad MSU students surrounding the court, jump up and down for 2 straight hours as they sang fight songs, booed Kansas and went wild with every Spartan basket. We were impressed by the 60-year old alumni all around us who did the same things. We had a blast, staying until the final whistle then lingering to soak up every last morsel of the environment.

When we had arrived in East Lansing, a light snow had began to fall. By the time we got out of the arena, a full-out winter storm was in effect and heading east. The 4-hour drive to East Lansing became a 9-hour drive home to Hamilton. Our wives pleaded with us to pull over and get a hotel room. But we were Men! bull-headed, stubborn men who would rather roll into a ditch then admit defeat to mother nature. So we trekked on, listening to the NFL playoffs, David napping when he needed to and we ultimately got home safely. It was a long and exhausting journey but like life, it was more then worth it when you reflected on it.

I am very grateful for that day because it was just the two of us. Usually, we would always have one of our girls with us and so this ultimately only happened a handful of times. I knew when I dropped David off that I would always appreciate that day and now more then ever I do.

Fast-forward to March. March Madness is a kind of holiday in our family, filling our brackets, playing hokie from work and cramming as much basketball as humanly possible into 3 weekends. In one bracket, I picked Michigan State to win the tournament not because I thought they could but because reliving the memories was definitely worth the $20.

As a two seed, State won their first two games of the tournament easily and brought on a rematch with Kansas. A great game, MSU pulled it out and you could start to feel something special going on. Next up was the #1 seed in the tourney, Louisville…State ran away with the game, the incredible defence we had seen 3 month before was officially showcased to the entire world. With the Final Four in Michigan, MSU would make the national championship game before facing off against a superior North Carolina team.

It would have taken a small miracle for the Spartans to beat UNC and we needed the same with David and his cancer. Neither miracle came. But while the end result was not what we had wanted, the journey was incredible filled with great memories, laughter and cheer.

Thanks for a great day and being a great friend. I miss you, David, and promise to take care of your girls.

I am putting togethor the final touches on my preperation for the 2009 Around The Bay Race this morning.

I would call this training a pretty good success as I had 3 runs over 20 km’s in training and am feeling good. This year is a little different as I am in marathon training and not running the race and then taking a break.

I ran the race in 2:45 in 2006 and ran a cramped filled 2008 race to the brutal time of 3:09 minutes. Today, will likely end up somewhere in the middle but I am hoping it is closer to 2006 then 2008.

Looking forward to it. Will follow up with a post and thoughts on our family vacation to Florida as well.

I have been doing a lot of interviews for summer staff positions and the first question I ask to every interviewee is ‘What do you want to do when you grow up?’

I find this to be an extremely relevant question for both myself and them. I am offering them a job that is for ten days a year and with minimal pay (slightly above minimum wage). With two week breaks between each shift it is extremely difficult to maximize my staff without having a clearly defined motivation for each employee to excel for all ten workdays. Sometimes I get lucky and the person wants to become an entrepreneur or in a role that is defined by customer service - awesome, I can put them in a role that will show them the hard work and dedication it takes to excel in this type of role.

Sometimes, it is not that easy. A future firefighter or doctor will apply very little from the lessons they will learn in the job. Conversely, often these are the best interviews. Clarifying how they believe the position will assist them in getting better at what they will become is imperative in managing them for the upcoming season. With so many people helping me too achieve my dreams, I definitely want to give back to these young employees and point them towards success.

So by knowing what they want to be, I can give them guidance and if I can not help them then i have been very forthright and told them, I think they could excel in a different role.

A must-read for any runner, Haruki Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is a pseudo memoirs chronicling Murakami’s lifelong passion with running; mostly via his training for the 2006 New York Marathon. The books strongest point is the way HM deftly introduces his thoughts and values in life through his unadulterated enjoyment of running long distances (he has run in 26 marathons, several triathlons and an ultra marathon*).

*I have fantasy’s about running in an ultra marathon or competing in an Ironman competition (4 km swim, 112 km bike and 42 km run). Anyone who can do this is superhuman, as training for a marathon is something that is pushing me to the limits right now. Even if I did it 3 days, I believe that being able to do the Ironman would be something that would change your life for the better. My thoughts are relatively the same on the Ultramarathon, although only of one discipline.

I refer to the book as a pseudo-memoir because I do not know that much more about the career and life of HM. The book only offers occassional glimpses into his past, instead taking the reader on a much more intimate journey.  HM introduces himself on an extremely personal level explaining his passions, strengths, weaknesses, beliefs and philosophies on life through running and the relevance running has played in shaping these views.

Despite reading his memoirs, I would not feel comfortable giving a speech or eulogy of HM, the book does not present me with that information. However, I feel as though the two of us would be able to sit down over an ice cold Sam Adams and discuss the minutae of life for hours like two old friends. This is in large part due to having a similar outlook in life but also HM’s ability to strip down the barriers that seperate his writing career and personal life.

The other aspect of this book that I loved was the writing style. HM’s writing is uncomplicated (I did not underline one word needing to discover it’s meaning*), almost simple. The style creates a smooth and continuous flow that in many ways mirrors the flow of an incredibly satisfying long run.

* I started this habit about 5 books ago and it can make you feel extremely stupid. I reread a book that I was underlining a word on nearly every page and at it’s conclusion my thoughts on the book had changed (for the better) because I better understood the writer’s message. That being said, underlying two hundred words will make you rather embarrassed and not feeling quite as intelligent as before. The counter argument is that it has already improved my vocabulary and understanding of the books.

On a personal level, I did not come away from this book with any tangible knowledge. I am not a better runner, I did not improve my techniques or learn the key to a successful marathon. What HM did through his experiences was compartmentalize and develop some of my thoughts on running. That is what was really enjoyable about this book, a testament to HM’s abilities as a writer.

This book was a perfect compliment to the beginning of my 1st marathon training. I often struggle at the beginning until I make the first breakthrough and catch my second wind (this happened on the 22nd of January). After reading a chapter (even if I was lying in bed), I inevitably felt like heading out for a ten mile run.

Grade: A-

My Christmas gift to the nurse was four dates (film, theatre, concert and sporting event), as she had been stuck in the house with the insane winter we are having. On Friday night, we went and saw Lykke Li at the Phoenix in Toronto. Neither of us had heard of Li before December of this year, when she started popping up on top 10 albums and top 100 song lists. We listened to the album several times and had a strong appreciation for her debut album, Youth Novels.

Li put on a strong performance, dancing (strangely), engaging the sell-out crowd and seeming to have a good time. She played my three favourite tracks (Little Bit, I’m Good, I’m Gone and Dance, Dance, Dance) within the first five songs of her set. Which led to a strong intro but also left myself a little disappointed*.

* One of my favourite aspects of going to see a concert is the anticipation of when my favourite songs will be played. Based on all the internet discussion over which 3/4 songs Springsteen was going to play at the Super Bowl, i believe this is a phenomenon for most concert-goers.

The nurse and I both enjoyed Li’s live performance as the music was edgier and rockier then the album version. We did not stay for the encore as we were both tired and I continue to take a moral stand against encores (something I will cover later this week).

Overall, it was a very good show and a hot date for two new parents who are reentering the dating and socializing scene. We would definitely go see her again.

Grade: B-