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!