Long time no see

Well, I took forever in posting here... sorry. I've been up to quite a lot since I last wrote here. I have been training like mad and loving it. I have been racing a few times and doing quite well. And, I am set to go to New York for the Olympic Trials (Nov 3rd) and Japan for a 1/2 marathon the next week.

To get to the trials I had to run under 2hours and 22 minutes in some marathon. I decided after thinking, e-mail, and talking to people that the St. George marathon was the best race to enter. It's a net downhill course, previous winners have times under the 2:20 A standard qualifying time (so that I don't have to pay for the trip to NYC), and it was the most beautiful marathon that I could run. So, I trained a bunch and got to Utah with my dad a couple of days before the race. I had the privilege of going over the course with another runner, Sean Sundwall, who's run the race a couple of times and himself was trying to make the Olympic trials. The night before the race I told my dad that I was confident the I would be able to run under 2:20 in the race and that I "Kinda want to win it too."

So, race morning.... I'm excited, but not nervous. It's 4:15 AM when I finally get to stop pretending like my lying in bed is sleep. I get a cup of coffee (not something normal for me) and ride the bus up to the top of the course (you can't drive up). It was a beautiful drive up the day before, but at 5AM there is nothing to see and the lack of a view isn't subtracting from my body constantly reminding me that I have to pee, and badly. We get off the buses and I'm the only one around running up to the bathrooms.... which are blacked by lines of people. Hey, it's totally dark, so I did what any other guy would in my shoes... go the other way and find a tree or two. I was actually surprised to see trees, but it was a happy discovery. Fastforward to the start of the race.

I've warmed up lightly and the 36 degrees doesn't feel too bad w/ short shorts, a jersey, long-sleeve dri-fit, gloves and an ear warmer. The starter gets us going and after a 1/2 mile we have our "elite" pack. I'm totally new to there being preferential or at least different treatment of me as a "fast" runner, so this was exciting... to be with other "elite" guys. We talked a little bit here and there... it was good. We shared with each other some of our race goals (making the trials for one) and tried to keep a realistic, decent pace. My strategy for the race was to think of it was a 20mile long-run with a 10k finish. This would allow me to enjoy the first part and not freak out about things so much (i've had problems mentally in the past). So, I ran with "the guys" for about 11 miles, then started thinking that I could go a bit faster. There was one guy ahead of me leading the race... maybe 30 seconds or so ahead. So, I decided to go after him. I caught him around mile 12 and kept up the same pace. He didn't seem to want to hang at that pace. I kept going and lost track of him.

At the 1/2 marathon I went through somewhere near 71 minutes. I looked at my time on mile 12 and realized that I was going to be a bit high and I picked it up... I really didn't want to see 71 minutes. The nice thing was that tt didn't phase me when I did see it. Miles 14-16 had quite a drop in elevation and I sped up considerably there. Afterwards I was looking at splits each mile and noticing that despite my easy gate and relaxed feel, I was flying. This was the best part of the race. I am running miles 16-19 and feeling amazing! I've never felt better and run so fast in my life. The sun was finally up and hitting the beautiful orange and red hills all around. The beauty of my surrounds really helped me along. At about mile 19 I started getting tightness in both hamstrings. It was too low to really be able to massage on-the-run, so altering my stride a bit was the only recourse. I was a little concerned that after mile 15 where I threw up about 5 times I might have started to get dehydrated. The fluids that I had prepared ahead of time were not sitting well in my stomach, so I took water the rest of the race. I got to mile 20 and remembered "10k to go."

This is the section in the race that is beautiful, but in addition, you can finally see the city. 6 miles to go and I had to run something like 35 minutes to go under 2:20... that doesn't sound too bad. The miles are taking longer now "in my head", but I keep hitting low 5's for splits. I felt goo d enough that I would have been able to pick up the pace, but I didn't want to limp into the finish with the possibility of terrible hamstring cramps... so I stayed consistent. The last two miles were some of the most fun. You are finally really in town and people are lined up sheering you on. There were a couple of bands along the way too. At a mile to go I picked it up a bit (why not? I had 8 minutes to finish it!) and kicked the last 400m. All in all, it was AMAZING! My dad was there at the finish on the phone jumping around. People I didn't know were smiling and I felt like I could have kept on going for miles more. God granted me quite a day. I've never felt better in a race. I've never been more relaxed in a race. I've never felt like it was easier running that speed. I've never had such a positive mental race either. TGBTG. 2:16:42

From winning the race, I won a trip to Ibigawa, Japan where I will run in their sister city marathon... though I will only run the 1/2 marathon distance as this race is only 8 days after the trials in NYC.

Since St. George I have been training and preping for NYC and considering when to move to Seattle. I am excited to enjoy NY and the trials, where I don't have any idea how my body will hold up or how well I will race. I will attempt to leave the results up to God and do my best to run even splits and finish with nothing left in the tank. That would be a good race. Well, I hope you enjoyed the read. I will post more later. Have a great day!

Training for Life

So, it’s been a long time. Since I last updated I’ve been really busy. Here’s a brief rundown. I finished a race (weblink) in Canada and ran very well. I climbed the “Chinaman” mountain in Canmore with the other USMR (US Mountain Runners) I was with… they were going crazy fast up that super steep mountain… Then I flew to Reno where I spent the night in the airport (my own decision), bad decision. I got to the AIA (Altheltes in Action) Altitude Camp a day late and that’s where I’ve been for the past 2.5 weeks.

We’ve been running around Mammoth Lakes, CA having a blast. Be it tempos, fartleks, mile repeats, or sweet long runs; this place is running heaven. Just make sure you get out the door early enough to enjoy a bit a reprieve from the heat in the afternoon. Having a cold creek to ice in and a pool to relax with friends helps quite a bit.

The main focus of this camp is two-fold. The first is the obvious running. The second is getting in God’s Word to see what He says about how to live. Through this aspect, we incorporate our faith and running. The realization that running is not life, like some shoe company once said, is one that most people have not stopped to think about. If you put all of your thoughts and time into one thing, you might get pretty good at that thing, but consider the cost. We need to have balance in our lives… including community with others and a realization that there is more to the world than me and my life.

At this camp we share a lot from our lives with everyone. I have shared things I am good at and things that I struggle with. There is so much freedom that comes from me sharing the things that I struggle with, even though it is hard. I realize that I am not the only one that struggles in this way, though I often believe that lie. I also am comforted by a group of people who want the best for me. These people really want me to grow as a person and as a believer. I trust these people. As you are reading this, I hope you to can understand the importance of sharing your burdens. I like the verses from the Bible that tell us that two are better than one and that a cord of three strands is not easily broken. I also like the verse from the Proverbs that says “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” I want to help others and I want others to help me. For this to be deeply helpful there needs to be trust and love. That can only happen fully I believe in a strong Christian community. I hope you can find one that feeds you spiritually and socially.

As I look forward to moving up to Seattle, I am praying for a community that I can be a part of that brings fullness of life to those involved and additionally, one that shares that light of life with others too. I want to be challenged, I want to held accountable, I want to trusted, respected and loved. A group where I am considered family. I am excited in not knowing what this will look like and hopeful that it will be greater than I expect. But I know that I likely won’t walk into such a group, but that I will in some way need to be a part of its creation. I am praying for just that. I pray that you will find the same.

I hope you make this a great day,

Nick Schuetze

Altitude Training

Well, I have been in Mammoth for a week now and boy, does it feel great. The air is crisp, clear, and dry and the trails are soft. Mike and I were doing or own thing running around here and there the first couple of days here in town, then we saw another runner who invited us to run with a group of guys who are training up here. It has been great getting to know them and running with them. It's encouraging getting to run w/ other people and having a set schedule for running during the day.

This week I got in a good 85 miles, even as my hip was bothering me a bit (it's getting much better). I ran a tempo run yesterday (5 miles) and a 15 mile long run today ( I was dead tired for that run). The legs are feeling kind a tired, probably due to the mileage increase and the lack of sleep from the first part of the week. I think that altitude was making it hard to sleep.. that was causing me to take naps, which probably made sleeping at night a bit harder too. So, today I napped for a good 2 hours. I think I will sleep okay. Tomorrow I plan on resting the legs with 2 easy runs of 45 min each. After that I hope to find a new set of glasses waiting for me @ the post office. I had some new glasses made for me before I left, but I wasn't around to pick them up... thank goodness for great parents. Speaking of....

If you believe in the power of prayer, would you pray or my Mom, Cyd (like Cydney). She has had pain in her shoulder and knee for a while... but recently it got progressively worse. So much worse that she went to the hospital because it was so unbearable. As far as I know, the exact cause is still not known. I love my Mom dearly and it's hard to hear about her pain. I would like to say that she is a firm believer in the Lord and that she's taking each day as it comes... one by one, trusting that God is there with her through it all.

Recently I decided that I wanted to give a talk on what pain does in the lives of people and more specifically Christians. This was first an idea from a radio clip I heard that asked why we don't have statues and sonnets praising pain, for in the midst of pain, some of the most amazing things in history have happened or been set in motion. As I have thought about pain and it's effects more and more I am realizing that all around me there are people who are in pain. It is manafest in many different ways. For some it's emotional, for others it's physical, relational, or spiritual. There could be more... I am not done exploring it. The way that these peopl are reacting says a lot of who they are, what they believe, and how stressed out they are because of the pain. I never would have thought when I first started looking into this topic that I would see so much pain. What I am coming to realize is that everyone understands what pain is. It is a universal feeling. Some hide it better than others, but deep down inside they know its effect. Through this universally shared experience you can connect... and I can connect with others. I can share what pain can be useful for, how it helps us in our walk with God, how the experience helps us understand what Jesus went through on the cross, or how to comfort others in their sufferings. If you have any ideas that you want to share with me, please share them in the comment section below, or email me @ nshootz@hotmail.com .


Well, I'm off to bed. Take care out there and like my brother says: Make it a good day!

~Nick

Mammoth Adventures

That's right! Mike and I pulled into Mammoth Lakes, CA today! It was kinda funny that we got in today, since all along we had planned for Monday night... You see, we were driving past Mono Lake. We had planned on camping there after we went for a run. But, after spending much longer on the road on the way down and teaching Mike how to drive a stick (#$*%^#$#@! sorry Black Beauty <--that's my car's name) we both considered the following (very Bill Nye-ish, don't you think?):

1. We had no idea if there would be a place to run down by the lake
2. We both wanted to sleep in beds... (I haven't had the pleasure for over a week)
3. We both wanted showers after the run. (b/c it's hard to sleep when you are hot and have dried sweat all over yourself.... "But what about the lake?" Well, let's just say the shore is covered in black flies and the water is 3x saltier than the ocean... not the best for cleaning one's person eh?)
4. We are 20 miles form Mammoth Lakes and we know where to run when we get there.
5. Mammoth is Beautiful and awesome this time of year (an a lot of other times a year too!)
After considerations.... the choice was obvious: GO TO MAMMOTH!!!

So, we made it to our/my final destination. I will be here for the next 5 weeks. YIPPY!

One last thing. I want to tell you about the man we are staying with. Before today I have never ever to my knowledge chatted, talked, seen, observed, or any other use of a verb with one of the nicest, gentle, and kind people that I have ever met. Him name is Jeff. We connected with him through another runner we met @ Mammoth last year. Jeff as far as I know lives a simple life in the hills of this small town. To keep him company he has 3 cats. I don't remember all of there names, but one of them is named Princess. I can tell that he cares for them greatly, though I have only seen a few interactions between him and the felines. When we arrived early, there was not problem (we called first to make sure we would not be unwelcome of course). He brought us in, showed us his place, offered us his food, gave us a key, showed us how to feed the fish, offered us towels, and asked for little in return (watch the place for a few days while he is on vacation). We just got here. He doesn't even know us. He trusts that we are not crazy, irresponsible people (and he would be correct with the assumption). He will be entrusting all that he has here to our care. That is quite amazing to me. Some might say that's foolish, but I think it incredibly generous. Today at church the Pastor @ Tahoe Forest Church (TFC) talked about responsibility. I want to be a more responsible person... as I hope you do too. Now I get a chance to put that into practice.
On a similar note, I think Jeff could be quite lonely. I say this not because he has three cats and I don't ever want to have 3 cats in the house... but I say he might be lonely because for an hour this evening he played the piano for me. He would flip through various books trying to find tunes that I would know. I confess that I was not too good at the task of identification, but I did throughly enjoy the endeavor. It was obvious that he hadn't played much lately, but by the end the notes we crisp and the beat consistent. He seemed to greatly enjoy playing for me. My presence gave him a reason to do something that he hadn't done for a while that we both enjoyed. It reminded me of my mom playing the piano when I was young. Our whole family would gather together in the family room and listen to mom. I am sure that would be playing with toys, but I absorbed the music nonetheless. When Jeff played tonight, I wondered who else might enjoy this talent of his and how often he felt comfortable in sharing it with others. I feel thankful to have been able to spend some time with Jeff. I hope that we can have more time together (maybe I can get some lessons? What out Abbs!) and that I might be able to help in some meaningful way.

Adventures in CA

Well. A lot has been happening lately. I made it down to CA w/o any serious problems... though one problem was not having A/C in the car. It was supposed to get fixed, but the needed parts were scattered across the country when I left Portland. I guess direct shipping didn't happen. Oh well, old school A/C = roll down those winders. It was wasn't hot on the way down, so I managed just fine. The first stop was when I got to the coast on Hwy 1 in CA. I pulled over and slept in the car for the night. It worked out very well, except that I did not wake up as early as I should have. (I gotta stop turning off the alarm). I drove down the 1 the rest of the way to San Fran and tried to enjoy the drive. I like the southern OR coast a lot better... it's more scenic and beautiful. The 1 is fun to drive b/c it's so twisty, but I was stuck behind many slow drivers out to see the sights.
I made the San Jose airport by 4:35, a bit after I was supposed to get there to pick up Sayenko. He was pretty cool about it all.
That night we shot pics @ Jimmers' (Greg Jimmerson) wedding rehersal... I think it went well). We got to see a bunch of Altitude Camp people that have been scattered the last year. It was really great to see Katie and Avery Blackwell. They flew in from Germany that night. The wedding was the next day.
We stayed 2 nights w/ Mike and Jen, friends of Jimmers and got to run around the Bay Area. We took a trip up to San Fran and got some great pics of the bridge and bought some chocolate. After a bread bowl of chowder, we headed back to Menlo Park and stayed w/ Mike's friends' parents.

They were very kind, offering a bed and some peach cobbler before we got to bed. The next morning we decided to go to the Moneray Bay Aquarium. Man, that was a good idea!
The aquarium is huge. We though we had seen all of it, but we missed about a 1/5th... oh well... more to go back and see next time. Mike and I had our cameras out the whole time and I took about 250 good pictures. I'll try to post some somewhere...

We spent the night in the car at the hilltop park. This time it didn't feel so good since the car was more full and the seats didn't go down as far. The next morning we set off for Truckee, CA.

It's a little town in the mountains of CA NW of Lake Tahoe. It's a great place to spend some time. There's a big lake (of course we had to run around it), mountains and trails all around (good for hiking, biking, and running...), and Tahoe is quite close. I plan on riding around the lake in the next couple of days. Mike and I are staying with Katie Murphy, this very enthusiastic teacher that we know from Mammoth's Altitude camp. Me , Katie, and 2 other local teachers went hiking this morning. It was a great hike to the top of a couple of peaks here in the area. I think I will go running later on today, tough very easily as my left leg is in pain.
I am trying to fix the problem, but it is not going away quickly. I have a race up in Canada at the end of the month that I am worried will make the leg worse, so I need to be sure to train smart right now. Pray for me if you get a chance.... I need to be patient and to be wise in how I train (I like to go crazy in trails and hills and there are a lot of them here).

Well, that's it for now. I hope you are living life to fullest wherever you are. I think life it more simple than we often make it... so take a second be thankful for all you have, don't be afraid to laugh at yourself, and love on those around you... that's pretty simple.

Take I-5 North

Welll, I got a call from good old Mike S. about the McMillan Elite team... it turns out that neither of us are in for the team. So, Mike will stay in the Seattle area to train. Matt (Ex-housemate) is already living there as well and I decided that I would move to where ever Mike went. So, like it says up top, you'll have to take I-5 North to visit me at the end of the summer. I think it is interesting that I will be again living in a liberal, eclectic, fun, interesting, and diverse city. This new one will just have a more prevalent traffic problem and a population that might lead terroists to think it ripe for an attack (let's hope not). I don't know all of the details about the move (the exact when and where), but I will know more as the summer progresses. I have about 3 leads on housing already through friends. I am blessed to have many good friends. If you are reading this, I hope you take the time to make good friends. It takes sacrifice, but you will both grow closer and I believe you will live better lives for it. I goota get to bed.. I'm hiking in the early morning tomorrow... so have a great 4th! Happy Independence Day! A day to celebrate the freedom that we so richly enjoy and so often take for granted. God Bless, Nick

Wedding Madness and Bitterseet Memories

Well, (today) is the third wedding in a row and it is the one I am most pumped for. My best friend Oli, is getting married to Ann in a park at 3pm. Although my housemate Matt would say that all this wedding business isn't worth the trouble, I disagree. I think it's awesome to see two crazy cool people come together with a commitment to weather the storms of life together with God leading them. I am not ready for that day all that soon, but I can appreciate that many of friends are ready for a shared lifetime with one they love dearly. Anyways, enough on weddings...
This past week has been pretty eventful. I finished my first year of teaching. It was a bittersweet day on Tuesday when I turned in my keys and closed my door for the last time. It was great to hear from many of my colleagues that I would be missed and that they wished they could do what I am embarking upon... I am setting off this summer to follow my dreams of serious training for long distance running. My hopes are to make the Olympic trials for now. I want to set PR's in all of the distance events that I run too. These dreams will cause me to move to either Flagstaff, AZ or Seattle, WA. These are places where I can train with highly motivated runners, get coaching from experts, and have the facilities nearby that I will need to utilize to attain my goals. I feel kind of silly wanting to follow my dreams like this... like I should grow up already... but in a day when it seems that more and more people are dissatisfied with life and people don't like who they are and wonder how they became who they are now... I wonder if I will be able to avoid that for a bit longer.
It's not just that I am following some silly dream... it's more than that. I feel like I have been given a choice by the Lord to run or teach. It's a choice that I have to make and no one else can make it for me. I want to do now what I likely won't be able to do later on in life. I don't want to have regrets. I want to enjoy the life the Lord is offering to me. And as I think about what that will look like, I think of a friend of mine who will be doing some medical missions to PNG (Paupua New Guinea). She is following the leading of the Lord and serving others. I know I can serve through what I do. I want to do that. If you see me around, could you help me remember that? I would really appreciate it!

Good Night!
"Shootz"

High-Stakes Testing / Moving

Well, yesterday was power packed... I woke up late, but still was able to ride into work on my bike. I am so glad I was able to do so, since the weather was so nice. I also probably saved myself $5 in gas! At work I administered my semester final for the first groups of students.
It's amazing to me how many asked if they had to take the final. Did they think that by asking me enough times I would end up canceling their test? What would we do instead... talk? Not that I don't like talking to my students, but wouldn't a student who spent hours studying want to show how much that time was worth? Well, maybe I'm an idealist. These kids are probably more nervous about how this will effect their grade and for that reason would rather not have to face a high pressure testing situation. I don't blame them for that. I just hope that they realize that in college, they will face many high-pressure situations and this is practice for those times.
On the other hand, high-stakes testing is something that I have always disliked in principle. I know that some students don't test well. I also know that there a re alternative forms of assessment that can address the problem of assessing students with varied learning styles. The problem is that of time, desire, effort, and bias. My time is precious and as this being my first year of teaching, I have had to create and design all of my own labs, assignments, and lesson plans. Do I have time to devote to designing multiple tests? Not if I want to run a lot (and I do!) or have some social life. I think I would go crazy if my entire life was about teaching. So, next is effort. I put a lot of effort into creating and designing the components of my classroom. I wish I had more to give, but my desire for other things limits that. Last is bias. This may be the second greatest reason why I don't make alternate forms of testing. I don't feel that I can effectively judge alternate forms of work. Assessing a paper or project and assigning value to those in a way that is consistent is something I struggle with. "So why don't I so more so that I get more practice?" Well, I'm glad you asked. I didn't take the time to design another test because I didn't think about it ahead of time. Sounds lame? Well, that's the truth. I will do it better next time.
There are always alternative methods in teaching and I will explore them more and more as I continue to educate young minds. My plan for teaching next year is to get a substitute position or become a para-educator in the district where I end up moving. That might be in Flagstaff or in the Seattle area. I had thought that AZ was the place to go, but it I want to be in a place where I am close to at least one friend... so if Matt or Mike don't go to AZ, then I don't think I will either. Oh choices... I don't mind being up in the air a bit, but it would be nice to know where I am headed so I can make more permanent plans.

Welcome

Hey everyone! Welcome to my blog.
As my first post, I just wanted to say hi.

Come back soon and I will have more info posted!
I hope you have a great day!


I'm looking forward to the beach!