Boston and the Epic Run

Hey all you prospective 2009 Boston Marathon runners, I have a cool announcement from the people at the Beyond the Epic Run movie!! Serge will be at the Boston Marathon expo and they want you to have a chance to meet him and see the film. Here is an excerpt from an email I got from the movie promoter about the event:

It would be great if you could let your other running bloggers know that Serge and the film will be at the Boston Marathon. If they are interested, I can arrange a time for them to meet Serge at the expo. Something special we are only doing for media and bloggers. He will also be hanging out at the Runner’s World and Beyond the Epic Run booth. We will be showing the film in room 200 at Hynes Convention Center:

• Friday April 17- 5:30- 7 p.m.
  
• Saturday, April 18- 4:30 to 6 p.m.
  
• Sunday, April 19 – 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Going back to meeting Serge, we might be trying to arrange a blogger lunch with Serge at the Marathon during the Expo. Let me know if your bloggers are interested in meeting Serge and who they are and I will send them the details.

So if you or someone you know is going to Boston and would like to meet Serge and/or see the film, let me know and I'll get you more details. I so wish I was running this year! This would be such a cool opportunity!

BP news

I had my appointment with the doctor this morning regarding my high blood pressure. It has come down quite a bit over the last week or so. I guess the game plan is working. We borrowed a BP monitor from Lani's aunt, and I have been checking it multiple times a day all week long. I was pleased to see that my BP had come down quite a lot. In fact, a lot of my readings were in the normal range. That was a relief. I brought a copy of my spreadsheet with all my data (BP, pulse, date/time, activity prior to reading, and food I had eaten).

This morning, the doc said I was quite a conundrum. I am healthy, I eat well, I exercise, and he couldn't find anything wrong with me, but my BP was still a little high. My worst fear was that he'd go straight for the meds. I really do not want to take drugs, so I was relieved when he said he was reluctant to write a prescription. However, if he can't figure anything out, he didn't seem to have a problem with putting me on some. Based on my spreadsheet, he thinks I am very stress-sensitive. We decided to do some blood work and do a follow-up in three weeks. Between now and then, he recommended that I look into meditation, visual imagery, biofeedback, or anything else that might help deal with stress. Does anybody know any good books/videos/cds, or have any recommendations?

Our new arrival

Wednesday after work, I was at the middle school getting ready for our 2nd track meet. I was getting out some equipment when my wife called: "Umm, I think my water just broke." So I said, " I guess I'm not going to the meet then." I got my other coach all set and the kids on the bus, and then headed straight home. This was about 4:00. I got home as fast as I could, but she hadn't starting having any contractions yet. But, later while we were eating dinner, they started coming at pretty regular intervals and the intensity was increasing. This was about 6:30. Labor progressed pretty quickly, bet everything went very smoothly, and my son was born at 10:55 pm. An April fool's baby. 7 lbs, 8 oz, lots of dark hair. I can't wait to take him running!

I am so amazed with Lani. I can't imagine what she goes through during birth, but man is she tough! She handled it so well and did such an incredible job (completely natural, by the way. She's very in to natural birth and even has a birth blog, if you're interested, where she writes about research, news, and just about anything related to birth.).

Here are a few pics:
p.s. I heard the track meet went well, but I don't know any details. I'll get back to work sometime next week and find out.