Next Up: New York Marathon!

I leave early tomorrow Morning for the New York Marathon! My bib number is 38862 and I will start the race in the second wave at 10:00 a.m. EST - 7:00 a.m. PST. You can find out more details about the start of the marathon at the following link:

http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/entrantinfo/start_services.htm

I've been training for months and have been nursing an injury to my right leg but I am as ready as I can be at this point. I will be happy to complete in under four hours but up to my leg injury I'd been training to complete in 3.5 hours. If I complete in 3.5 hours, I'd qualify for Boston! I've ran a couple of 1/2 marathons during my training and 10K's and all have been great times. 26.2 miles is a whole different story. Kent and a couple of friends will be in New York as well.

You can sign up for alerts if you want to track my progress at the following link:

http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/athlete_alert.htm

TV and Internet Schedule information can be found here:

http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/broadcast_schedule.htm

If I keep on pace you can pretty much predict where I will be at any time on the course. once I cross the start line my goal is to run at about 8:30 minute miles for the first 2-3 miles and then pick up the pace to 8 minute miles for 16-18 miles and finally finish the last 4-6 miles at a 7:45. I'll keep you posted with regular updates!

You can visit the official Marathon Website at the following link:

http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/about_index.htm

Keep your fingers crossed and send me good luck - Oh and don't forget to approve Referendum 71!

Later -

Jim

Yesterday was a BAD day!

So if it were not bad enough to see Oregon run all over the Dawgs yesterday - Ironically after posting my request for you to support/approve referendum 71, I came home to the following sign.

There were 18 of these yard signs at the freeway exit that we use everyday. Everyday we go to work, come home, run to the store or go visit family and friends we are reminded of the hypocrisy of the religious right. It's very upsetting to know that there are people out there who want to vote on my right to live in a loving relationship with my partner. They say this is about marriage and protecting children - that's not what it's about at all. It's about intolerance, ignorance and fear - it's about preaching to love your neighbor as yourself, turning the other cheek, judge not least ye be judged - and then doing just the opposite. It's very sad that on organized institution that could be doing so much good (and some do) in this county has turned into an oppressive mean spirited organization. If as a society we want to defend marriage then perhaps we should be focused on lowering the divorce rate, teaching tolerance, and remembering that diversity is the one true thing that we all have in common and celebrate it EVERYDAY!

Jim

Remember to Approve Referendum 71

Just a reminder as you fill out your ballots to do the right thing and vote to approve Referendum 71! As an individual in a registered domestic partnership relationship in the state of Washington your vote directly impacts both Kent and I and many, many friends. I honestly do not know how anyone can look themselves in the mirror and vote to reject this referendum. Shame on them! As a man who is gay and one who grew up Catholic, went to Catholic school, was an alter boy - the God I was taught to believe in was one of love, compassion and one of treating others as we would want to be treated.

Do the right thing and approve referendum 71!

Jim

Another Football Saturday!

Since we lost last weekend in the final few seconds of the game I did not write a post. Today is a big game against our biggest out of state rival - the Oregon Ducks! There is no team in all of football that I hate more than the ducks! Their fans are infamous for being rude and downright mean to opposing teams. Time to bring them down!




Go Dawgs!!!!!!!!!

Jim

It's a Football Saturday!

I've been negligent in my posting once again but after doing a quick update yesterday I made a list of all the things I need to post about. The two most time consuming things going on right now and therefore most appropriate to post about are college football and marathon training.

Since it's a football Saturday - I'll catch you up on the college football we've been enjoying. My last football post was our opening game against LSU. I blogged a lot last season about coach Willingham and the need to fire him which occurred before the end of the last season. Steve Sarkisian the offensive coordinator for USC was hired and what a difference good coaching can make. Last year the UW Huskies went 0-12 - it was a painful season and Kent witnessed 10 of 12 losses in person. It's a new year in Husky nation! Here's a rundown of our season to date:

LSU - Opening game of the 2009 season. Number 11 in the country, LSU was heavily favored and there were tons of LSU fans in town for the game. You could not go anywhere in Seattle the days leading up to the game without running into tons of LSU fans. The Dawgs lost the game 31-23 but not before demonstrating great improvement to a home crowd over the previous year. Despite the loss it was a great game - where the Huskies actually going to do something this year?

Idaho - Second game of the season and the Dawgs are expected to win. My nephew got married on this weekend over in Lake Chelan so Kent and I drove the three hour drive to Lake Chelan for the rehearsal dinner on Friday and then turned around and got up early Saturday morning and drove back to Seattle for the game and then back to Lake Chelan for the evening wedding! It was a lot of driving but it was worth it to see the Dawgs break a 15 game losing streak dating back to Nov. 17, 2007! Huskies win 42-23! There is hope at Montlake! Turns out the Vandals are a pretty good team and as of this writing has gone on to win 5 games. Only loss this season was against the Huskies.

USC - Best game I've ever attended! Huskies take on number 3 in the nation USC in front of a home crowd hungry for a big upset! Since our new coach was the former offensive coordinator for USC we wore buttons thanking USC for the coach! The Dawgs manage a huge upset and win 16-13! First time I've seen the field at Husky Stadium rushed by the hometown crowd! Unbelievable game and a huge win for a team that went winless the previous season. For one short week UW is ranked in the top 25 teams in the nation! (Kiss of death, which frankly seemed a bit premature, but it was still fun!)

Stanford - Away game - hopes high, only to lose big in Palo Alto. Dawgs lose against Stanford 14-34. Turns out that Stanford has a pretty good team this year and currently has a 4-2 record. Ironically the last time the Huskies won an away game was in 2007 at Stanford - Kent and I were at this game along with our friend Bill. I hope they break the away game losing streak today!

Notre dame - Okay, I'm not usually bitter about a loss for long but I still have not put away the bitter bag over our loss to Notre dame 30-37 in OT. We travel to two away games each year and this year Notre dame was one of the away games we attended. What a great experience despite the loss! We met our friend Bill in Chicago and drove to South Bend for the game. Great campus and the locals were especially nice. Kent has a former coworker attending graduate school there right now who met up with us and gave us a quick tour of campus so the entire experience was a lot of fun! So why am I bitter? Bad officiating! The UW officially challenged a couple of the calls and it was determined that had the correct calls been made the Huskies would have won the game! It would have been so sweet - the Huskies and Notre dame have played eight times and the Huskies have never won against them - this was our year and it was stolen right out from under us! Jake Locker was pissed!

Arizona - Huskies win a miracle game in the 4th quarter at Husky Stadium. They played well in the first half of the game and actually went into half ahead. The third quarter the Huskies pretty much fell apart and it looked like we were going to lose this one and that our chances of going to a bowl game were all but lost. Washington's Mason Foster made the miracle play and intercepted a deflected pass off the foot of an Arizona player and ran it back for a touchdown with 2:37 left. The Huskies rallied with two touchdowns in the final three minutes to stun the Wildcats 36-33! College football is never over until the clock runs out!

So here we are half was through the season and we are playing 500 ball with real chance of pulling together enough wins to make it into a bowl game! The remaining games are all Pac-10 conference games so they are pretty critical games from this point forward. The Dawgs play Arizona State tonight in Tempe so we will be watching that game later tonight. This is a huge game!

It's good to get caught up on my football blogging. I'll post an update following tonight's game.

Later -

Jim

About 71

I am here with another ask - I know it's been awhile since I've posted but now that the November ballots are arriving I need to ask you to vote to approve Ref. 71.

Voting APPROVE on Ref. 71 is a vote to keep the domestic partnership law that provides legal protections for lesbian and gay couples and seniors who are in committed relationships. To be able to take unpaid leave to care for a critically ill loved one, without being fired. To be able to cover a partner in family health insurance. To make sure hard-earned pension and death benefits protect children when a parent dies. Approving Ref. 71 ensures that important protections are not taken away from committed couples, so that they are able to take care of each other, especially in times of crisis. Keep the domestic partnership law - Vote APPROVE on Ref. 71 by Nov 3.

I really hope I can count on you to not only vote to approve Ref. 71 but to pass the word to family and friends to approve this Referendum.

Thanks - more posting soon. The New York Marathon is only two weeks away!

Jim