This Pretty Much Says It All

Baseball

Not sure how many of you were watching, but I think tonight may have been the most exciting night of baseball I've ever witnessed. Me and the Little BOy were going absolutely nuts. Also, I've never been so happy about a Yankees loss  - even an epic collapse like this one.

Wow. Within minutes, Sox blow a 1 run lead (with two outs in the nine and Papelbon pitching no less) and the Rays come back from a 7 run deficit to make the playoffs.

All I can say is this: I can finally put 2004 (the Yankees epic collapse) behind me.

Anyway, Go Yankees. For whatever it's worth the Tigers make me very nervous.

Uno Mas

This here is my main boy Scooter B. Dooder. I met him my first day of college, literally. Scooter has done an amazing job these past 18 months getting himself into shape and I'm super proud of him. Here he is after a 5.5 mile run. Way to go, Scoot. Impressive.

And Last But Certainly Not Least

The Wife and her buds on a hike on what looks to me like Mount Tam. Nice job Ladies. You all look pretty darn good, too, if I do say so myself.

Amazing Job, Y'All - And A Special One Day Extension

Nice job everyone - pretty darn impressive. And thank you all for sending photos - they were all fantastic.

Because we play fast and loose with the rules here (rules?) I'm going to do something different this year. We are going to extend the "race" by one day - a weekday no less (tomorrow or Wednesday - I don't care!) so that we can get one last set of pictures and participation from those of who who may have been otherwise occupied this weekend. That's right, I'm looking at you, Wife, Payro, Dad (tennis?), CrazyMama and Geremy. Snap and send, people.

So have at it, y'all. And if anyone who's already participated has a picture they'd like to share from a Tuesday workout, please feel free to do so.

The Wileys

This here is my main peeps Michael and Danielle Wiley. I've probably spent more time this year with Wiley than anyone other one of my friends. He stokes me (and gave me the idea for the Stoke me blog).

He lifted for an hour and then he and Danielle ran five miles together. Lots of "togetherness" this year - I love it.

The Quirkes

Even though I don't get a chance to see these guys given that we live in different Statesand I've never met the girls in person, I love this family. They definitely win the award for most active overall family. Outstanding job, Quirkes!

From Nick:

Good weekend for the HS Run for Thyroid Cancer. We kicked it off with a soccer game yesterday and wrapped it up with a family 5k followed by individual kids races.

I was so proud of the girls; P won the 3-4 age group up against even the boys and V destroyed the 5-6 race.

Jen logged 12 today including the race and I went 10. All around good day and of course, for a good cause.

The 45 second videos of the girls races are great, and will be hosted on my family blog (thequirkehouse.posterous.com) if you are interested.

Talk to you soon.
Nick

And Young Ms. Sellers

In the spirit of young Ms. Berlent's three hours of tennis I present to you Rob's daughter - we'll call her "S" who played three water polo matches yesterday. These young kids are tiring me out. Another awesome sport and outstanding effort.

Young Ms Berlent

Toddies daughter - we will call her "R" - played three hours of tennis yesterday. And look at that form!!! I love tennis so double points for R! Great going young lady.

Gail

Here is Gail, who ran 22 miles today. Man, we have some epic performances today! Unreal. I'd write something nice about Gail but her e
Ail to me captures it best. Here's what she says which captures my sentiment perfectly. You're the best Gail.

Hi Howard,

Here's my report for this year's Run for Thyroid Cancer -- did a nice 22-mile training run in your honor on Sunday morning. Thought I would make it extra special by running from my home base, Bayside, to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, where a passing bike rider kindly snapped the attached picture-postcard of me in front of the famous Queens Unisphere ("Greetings from Queens"). I told him I needed to send it to you in California for a run for thyroid cancer awareness, so that's one more person whose consciousness you've raised.

Thanks so much for your moral support over the last three-and-a-half years. Who would guess that just googling "thyroid cancer" and "ultrarunner" barely a month after my thyroidectomy would lead me to your site and your inspiring friendship? Hope we get to race a long one together one of these days.

Be well and happy!

My Main Man Rob

This here is my boy Rob, who ran 2:40 on trails today. Rob is training for the North Face 50k, which he is running with yours truly. I fully expect him to kick - then drop - my ass. Thanks for getting out there Homie and great job. Sounds like your training is coming along nicely.

The Little Boy

The Little Boy got in on the action. He played some baseball this morning and then ran 4 miles with me this afternoon. He's a heck of a good runner and running with him is among my favorite things in the world. Thanks for getting out there, Little Boy.

My Brother Neil

My brother Neil ran 4.5 while dressed like the dude from Loverboy. He's pictured here with my niece, who did nothing except look so damn cute. Nice job, Neil. Glad to see you back out there my man.

The Liberts

Melissa is another former colleague from Chicago. She and her husband Ben are awesome. So is baby M - I hope I get to meet him some time soon. The Liberts have participated in this all four years - and I'm greatly appreciative of that.

Go Blue, Liberts. You guys are awesome.

John Howlett

This might be a favorite because my ex colleague and John Howlett wasn't known for his love of aerobic activities - back in the day, at least. But that seems to have changed because my man is gearing up for a duathlon next week. Unreal and I'm very proud of him. Here he is getting ready for a run on the Chicago lakefront.

Nice job, Howlett. I'm impressed.

Argh

I'm using the new Blogger mobile app for some of these posts and it's a bit frustrating; it's cutting pictures off at edges. So, apologies to Phil (that first swim picture posted below), Rookies dad and anyone else who accidentally gets omitted!!

The Rookie

My main man Glen, aka The Rookie. One of my great buds from high school. Here he is having just ran a 5k with his father and his son. Three generations! Now this stokes me. Nice job Rook and family.

I have several others I'll soon post as well.

This is coming together nicely.

Toddie B

My main man Toddie B might win gnarliest feat of the weekend - he ran the Hampton's Marathon in. Long Island. In his words:

Hampton's Marathon - 3:50

Humidity aside, I gotta give some major props to the RD's. They put on an amazing and brautiful race. Would definitely do this one again.

Can't wait to see every one else's gnarly feats of athleticism.

Congrats Todd on an awesome, awesome effort. Most impressive one thus far.

The Little Girl

The Little Girl is doing her part today and tomorrow - she's swimming her first fall meet of the season. Over two days she's swimming: 100 fly, 50 breast, 100 free, 50 fly, 100 IM, 100 fly, 50 free and 50 back.

That's a ton of swimming.

Swim + Crossfit

So far I have a one mile swim in and a one hour Crossfit. Egads is Crossfit hard - holy smokes.

Coach Phil Swimming 21 Mile, 2 Man Relay

Phil and my friend Vito. What can I say about this? 21 freaking miles - that is truly something. Beyond gnarly. I need to calculate how many "points" this is worth. Suffice to say, a lot.

The Big 1,000

Well, this is quite the milestone if I do say so myself; my 1,000th post. Hot damn - that is a lot of writing.

I recall like yesterday when I first started this blog; more than anything, it was a vehicle to keep everyone updated on where I was at with my thyroid treatments. Obviously, over time, it has morphed into much more than that - not sure if there's isn't a subject that hasn't been covered during the course of these past few years.

The one thing that HAS remained constant though is all of you. I might not have the biggest audience - that was never the intent of this blog and it never shall be - but i sure do have a tremendously loyal one. I've said it before and I will say it one more time: thank you for paying attention and being part of my life. Everyone who reads this is either family - or like family - to me, and I look forward to sharing 1,000 more posts with you (if you have the constitution to handle that of course. I'd understand if you didn't).

One thing which I have mentioned in the past but will surface again is that I am giving consideration to changing the name of this site. To be honest, the only reason I haven't is that I can't come up with anything better. I am open to any and all thoughts and suggestions.

Lastly, tomorrow kicks off the Thyroid Run, so be sure to send your pictures. Alas, I will not be doing my originally planned. I'm going to bend the rules and say that the "Run" kicked off a bit early - last night - by Coach Phil, who swam from Catalina to Palos Verde in a two man relay - a total of 21 freaking miles. That my friends, is incredible. Congrats Coach Phil and I will post your pictures shortly.

Cross Fit

So, I had my first official Cross Fit class last night. I've wanted to try Cross Fit for year's and Coach Phil, who's normally a bit of a skeptic, has convinced me to give it a go.

After doing the complimentary entry class, I signed up for nine "on boarding" classes, where they teach you the exercises in a more one-to-one type of fashion. This is perfect for me because when it comes to weights, my form is generally pretty horrible. After about a half hour of reviewing and practicing various exercises, we went into our workout and it was as tough as advertised. I have the obvious benefit of being in shape, but what I'm discovering quickly is that my aerobic endurance is solid, but my anaerobic - which is the zone where Cross Fit operates - a bit less so.

Anyway, I can see myself getting into this, big time. One area in which I severely lack is the strength department; I'm just not fundamentally strong. Never really have been. It's why I am faster on the roads versus the trails; I am more of a finesse running (roads) versus hill climber (which obviously requires greater strength). I think Cross Fit might be the answer and I imagine it will help my running along the way. I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Courage!

I'm really stoked on the Little Boy of late. After a bit of cajoling on our part, he decided to do the Fall swimming program with the Little Girl.

That might not sound like much, but in his case, it is. He isn't the world's greatest swimmer, he's swimming with kids/peers who are far more advanced than him (many of whom have been swimming upwards of six years already) and he's swimming alongside a younger sister who happens to be a superstar at this sport.

But he went for it - and I think that's something that took great courage on his part. As his dad, I'm spectacularly proud of him. A lot of kids would have understandably resisted.

Now here is the kicker. He's proving to be really good - and he's improving by leaps and bounds every week. I swam laps with the two of them yesterday and I was literally astonished by his improvement. If he keeps at it like this, I very well might have two stars.

But even if that scenario doesn't come to pass, its the effort that counts and in this case, he's made a great one. If you're reading this, Little Boy, which I think you might be these days, I'm very, very proud of you.

That said - keep at it. I suspect your hard work will be rewarded. If it hasn't been to an extent already.

Sweet Home, Chicago

Apologies for my absence; I've been traveling like mad for work. Five consecutive weeks on a plane and I have at least two more to go beforeI'm home for seven consecutive days.

I went to Chicago on Thursday for client events Thursday night and Friday and stayed through this morning. It was fantastic seeing all my Chicago peeps and I miss them a ton. And I loved seeing my new NIECE (!) too - she's three months old and just adorable (just like her mother).

I love San Francisco - it's definitely now our home - but I'm always wistful when I visit Chicago, especially around Fall, which is by far the best season. Chicago just reeks of college football in the Fall and there ain't nothing better than college football. Except the baseball playoffs. But I digress.

Anyway, please remember that this weekend is the Howard Solomon Run for Thyroid Cancer. Get ready for some action and be sure to send photos.

And also if you have a moment be sure to visit Bum or Stokes You and be sure to leave a comment or two. I think I'd like to see this one take off a bit.

Inspirational Video of the Day

A Game For the Ages

Not sure how many of you watched that Michigan-Notre Dame game on Saturday, but it honestly may have been the most exciting football game - let along Michigan - that I have ever seen. And I've been watching Michigan football for upwards of 40 years. Astonishing doesn't even begin to describe it; it was just epic and maddeningly entertaining (though I've sure my Irish friends would beg to disagree). The coolest part was watching it with the Little Boy. I think that's the game that made his a true fan; he struggles a bit with the whole football thing, but even he was jumping up and down. And it was a great lesson for him that it's never over until it's over. Anyway, all that being said, it was an entertaining game but not a particularly good or well played one. I'll take the win, but I suspect that we could possibly be in for another long season. Regardless - Go Blue!

Remembering

Any post on any subject would probably be inappropriate on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, a day that will haunt every American for the rest of our lives. The moment from that day that will probably stick with me forever was not knowing whether my brother Scott was in the Towers or not (he wasn't). I knew his office was in the immediate vicinity but I couldn't recall if it was the Towers or not and I couldn't get a line for an hour to my parents. That was a long and scary hour. The other moment that will stay with me was knowing that I had friends in those stricken buildings - and realizing that I was likely watching them die. I wasn't sure who I knew in the Towers, but I knew it had to be someone(s). And I was right. Rest in peace Melissa, Pete and Steve, all of whom were taken way too young. For whatever it's worth, I don't just think of you on 9/11.

Portland, OR

Just back from a whirlwind two days in Portland, OR. I've been on quite the traveling tear of late. I think this is my fourth consecutive week on a plane and next week I'm heading to Chicago. This trip was work related but it was fun. We got tickets last night to the North West Music Festival, which my client (Hyundai) sponsored and saw two great bands: Purity Ring and Phantogram. It was a later night than I'm used to but a fun one all the same. Wish I took pictures but it was a pretty dark club.

In other news, this is my first post using the new Blogger app. If you happen to use Blogger download this pronto; it's pretty impressive. I'm going to post a random photo just to see how it uploads.

Laguna Beach

See the full gallery on Posterous

We had a great time in Laguna this weekend. One of the highlights was the 5k that my company helped produce on behalf of my client, Hyundai. As part of it, we brought in ultra runner Jenn Shelton from Ashland, OR (you might recognize the name if you read Born To Run) and her boyfriend Erik Skaggs, also a top ultra runner. They are both super cool people and the Little Girl and Jenn particularly hit it off together. I think these two are cut of the same cloth.

Posted via email from Howard Solomon

Greetings from Laguna Beach

We are in Southern California for the holiday weekend - Dana Point specifically. I'm mostly working this weekend but the family is in town and they are having a good time. As am I actually. What I'm doing constitutes work but it is fun and does involve running a 5k tomorrow, one which my team has spent months planning. So all is good. Anyway, I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow. This place is astonishingly beautiful. (Note: I cleaned up typos based on my father's comment. Creating posts on the iPhone is near impossible)

Jeez, Louise

Only two freaking comments to my last post? What's up with that? Come on people, I need COMMITMENTS!!! Rob, you out there? Rookie? Geremy? Dad? ANYONE? Time to come out of the woodwork people. If I get five comments today I'll up my commitment to Livestrong by a few hundred dollars. So - let's hear it!