Post Row

This past Sunday was my big B-Day Row where I completed 45,000 meters of rowing to raise money for Girls With Sole.

What an interesting experience. 

Aimee arrived at Coca Crossfit around 7:15 to get me set up and started by 7:30.  The first spinning session started at 8 so we greeted people as they began showing up.

I completed my "warmup" row in 25 minutes.  This would be the slowest pace I wanted to go at..being a 2:30/500m.

In between 5k's I would walk around to stretch, drink and eat.  I needed to treat this like a half Ironman since I would be at it for approximately 4.5 hours.  I forgot to take a picture of my second 5k, but all of my splits are down below on the whiteboard.

I decided that I would do every third row on the row machine we affectionately call the Beast.  This machine is ooooolllllllllddddddd.  Definitely not as smooth as the newer machines.  But it did have a cushier seat that would help provide some comfort for my posterior.  At the end for of my third 5k my time was in the low 24's.

In the next picture you can see some of the bikes used to spin while I was rowing.  It was nice to have the distraction of Tom and the girls while I was rowing.  The music Aimee and Kelly selected also provided some good beats.  I found some good rhythm at times.

 Someone got a picture of me rowing and sporting the Snakebite Racing top. 

Two hours in and I started the 5th 5k with a new group of spin girls.  Some of them carried over from the first group and rode 3 hours to my 4.5 of rowing.  Those are some awesome friends to stick around for a double spin.

Pictured below you can see my neighbor Nina.  She grabbed her husbands bike and trainer to come out and support me.  She did awesome and enjoyed the 90 minute workout.

Row #6 was back on the Beast.   My first 5k under 24 minutes.  Definitely some good tunes to make me pick up the pace.

I forgot to take a picture of Row #7.  My time was slightly slower because my forearms were started to cramp.  I've had sore forearms from pull-ups and rope climbs before but nothing like this.  My arm would cramp and my index finger would curl towards my palm.  I had to massage both arms and straighten my finger out.  I also switched to a bicep curl row to change things up.


Below is row #8.  40k meters, 4 hours, 2 spin sessions. 

This is Liz Ferro, founder of Girls With Sole.  She felt bad leaving me but I told her it was okay because Coca was about to fill up with people competing in the Crossfit Games Open WOD.  So I would be seeing some more friends coming in.

This is the 9th and final 5k of rowing.  I finished on the Beast in 21:58.  The extra seconds were because I had to pull the handle to wake up the display again.

When I left Coca I had with me $300 from people giving me cash and checks during my time rowing.  Add to that some on-line donations of $175 and my B-Day check from Grandma & Grandpa, my rowing generated $525 for Girls With Sole.

That breaks down to about $11.67 per 1,000 meters rowed.  I can live with that.  I can also live with the temporary pain in my arms because I know the help Liz and GWS provides to girls in the Cleveland area is priceless and very beneficial.

Next up is the Girls With Sole Swim-a-Thon on Sunday.  Not quite sure how I will recover for the swim but I'll put forth my best effort again for GWS. 

So if you want to give in honor of my rowing or wait and see how many yards I can swim this Sunday my donate link is below.

Game On.

http://www.active.com/donate/keeptri-ing/eric_gibb

Row....Row....Row

Aimee gets a kick out of this commercial from Gieco.  When ever I say I'm going to row she does her little impersonation of the guinea pig.

Row

Row

Row

Well all of my row training will come to fruition this Sunday at Coca Crossfit where I will be going for 45,000 meters to raise money for Girls With Sole. 

You can read about how you can help raise some cash for GWS at this post.

If you want to join in on the fun this Sunday I will be starting at 7:30AM. 

You can find Coca Crossfit at:

34601 Mills Road
North Ridgeville, OH 44039 

I have already heard back from several people that they will donate $1 or .50 per 1000 meters.


That will definitely help me stay focused on the 45,000 meters.  I will be breaking up the row into 5k segments to give myself a chance to drink and eat during the time.


If you don't want to row, Kate will be having some workouts available to for $5.  If you have ever been interested about Crossfit stop on by and talk with Kate.....maybe try a workout.


Come Sunday morning it will be Game On.

Cure for the Common Cold

DON'T CATCH A COLD.

Sounds simple but in reality it's near impossible to avoid. 

And that is exactly what I battled this past week.  A common cold that filled up my sinuses and made it hard to breath and sleep. 

With my recent travels and the wild swings in the weather it was bound to happen.

Unfortunately I didn't move into the "sick room" at our house before Aimee caught the cold. 

So my recovery week was moved up one week. 

Next week I travel again for work. 

I'm also one week out from my 45,000 meter row (Sunday 2/26) and a B-Day Crossfit WOD (Monday 2/27) I created. 

And for some reason I decided to signup for the Crossfit's Open Games...to "see what I'm made of".

So there will be a little bit of juggling of the schedule to make everything fit, stay healthy and rest up. 

And I forgot to mention that my right hip flexor is sore.

Time to be smart and not HTFU too much this next week.  It's only February and there is a long season ahead. 

Game On.

It's Time To Spend Some Cash

I'm not spending the cash.  YOU ARE!!!

And not on yourself.  Instead you get to hear about me doing crazy shit and then you send money to Girls With Sole, my charity for 2012.

At the beginning of the year I said I would be asking for dollars.  Now that the Christmas bills are paid and you planned accordingly to get a refund from the IRS you can help me out.

Originally I was going to swim the Cleveland Tri Club's "Big Swim Challenge" where I would do 100 yards 100 times = 10,000 yards.  Well that didn't pan out because of work.

So instead I have two events coming up that offer some ways to make alternative contributions.

Event #1 = 45,000 meter row, 2/26/12

I turn 45 at the end of February.  
On February 26th I will row 45,000 meters.  
All at one time with minimal breaks for my sorry tush.  I estimate it will take me about 4.5 hours to complete.

Event #2 = 2nd Annual GWS Swim-A-Thon, 3/4/12

The swim-a-thon lasts 2 hours.  I want to see how many yards I can swim during that time.  Last year I did 10,000 yards but that takes almost 3 hours.  This time I am going to push myself a little harder to see how far I can go.

For each of these events I don't want any "standard" contribution.  I want you to have fun as well.

Think outside the box for you contribution.

Rowing:
One dollar for each 1,000 meters rowed = $45
$.50 for each 1,000 meters = $22.50
$.25 per 1,000 meters = $11.25
Make a donation for how long it takes me.

Swimming:
Now this is an unknown, except for the time.
How about 1, 2 or 3 dollars per 100 yards...or per 1000 yards.
The fun part is that we don't know what the amounts will be.  I will be pushing myself to get the most yardage possible to get the biggest contributions.

So who is with me on this one?  Last year we raised $1164.99.  How much can we add to this total?

I don't need you to visit my donation site just yet.  

You need to hear how well I do at each event.

Maybe my body will shut down and I can't reach 45,000 meters on the rower.

Maybe my arms will give out during the swim and my yardage will be lower than expected.

It's a gamble.  A gamble I'm willing to take.  Wouldn't you rather gamble on me instead of a sporting event?

Game On.

Community

I'm sure you have heard before, "No man is an island."  And quite frankly I don't know why someone would want to live that way. Isolated and not sharing their experiences with anyone? 

That's not for me. 

And that is where Community comes in.  Community comes in many flavors, styles, interests.  And with the ability to have a presence on the internet with portals like blogging, webcasts, forums, etc. the community is that much bigger.

Admittedly my "communities" are primarily sports related.  Running, cycling, triathlon, Crossfit.  Even trail running is a sub-set of the running community.

I have made a lot of acquaintances and friends this way, and they don't necessarily cross groups either.

And these communities often lead me to other interests as well.  I'm trying to branch off into photography and am enjoying learning about the breadth of this art form.

Community has played a big part of my week.  I was traveling to Dallas, TX for work and realized that I had contacts in the city.  Natalie is a teammate on Snakebite and Dan was originally from Coca Crossfit.

I joined Natalie and her friends at the movies.  We watched Bicycle Dreams on the big screen and I came away in awe of these people.  It was nice to spend time with a friend and not alone in a hotel room.

I also joined Dan for two workouts at Crossfit 214.  It was nice to go into the gym, see the workout, and know what to do.  Crossfit is definitely universal.  The coaches and people are supportive and allow me to drain my body during a workout.  I left some sweat on the floor during this mornings WOD.

I'm fortunate to be a part of these communities and have some great friends to share my experiences with. 

Crossroads of America

Work sometimes takes me out of town for my customers.  My latest project had me driving around the northwestern part of Ohio.

I passed through New Hampshire, Ohio driving from point A to point B.  As I passed through the center of town I had to stop and get a couple of pictures. Something about what used to be in this small town called out to me.

It looked like this "general store" was closed for good.  I'm sure that pump hasn't been used since the 70's.

Crazy Eric

This morning I woke up and was trying to decide what to do.  I hadn't been to Crossfit for a while, but I also hadn't run since the weekend. 

The wind was blowing on an already cold morning.  Maybe a run wouldn't be such a good idea...there I go wussing out again.

So I opted for a Crossfit workout instead.  Kate has open gym 7 - 8 in the morning.  We can come in and do the daily WOD, work on miscellaneous skills, movements, flexibility or just shoot the shit.

I decided I would get my running in AND a good Crossfit workout.  After some warmup exercises and 3000m of rowing I setup my workout station.  The only piece of equipment I needed was an Abmat (something used for sit-ups).

I put my WOD on the white board and set the timer.

10 pull-ups
Shuttle run
10 push-ups
Shuttle run
10 toes to bar
Shuttle run
10 sit-ups
Shuttle run
10 Burpees
Shuttle run

Repeat for a total of 5 rounds

The Shuttle run is just like you did in elementary, middle and high school.  I ran back and forth to five different spots on the gym floor. 

The Toes to Bar....well...

So anyways....the worst part of this workout was the unknown.  I just put it together because it got me running and most of the other exercises were upper body.

The second worst part was running after the burpees.  Jumping up and down then the shuttle run was killer on the quads. 

I just plugged away at the rounds.  I was really doubting my sanity during the fourth round and thought about cutting it short.  But I wrote 5 on the white board so I re-committed myself to completing the WOD as I wrote it.

The fifth round was starting to get into my gut.  My brain was going fuzzy and I was happy that I didn't have any food in my stomach.  I was either going to finish the final shuttle run strong or puking.

I was pretty close to doing both.  I sprinted across the finish line and immediately bent over against the wall trying to get my breath back. 

Finish time was 36:33. I felt like I just set a PR in a 5k.

Kate was cheering and encouraging me on the entire way and it was great hearing her voice in the background.

As I was collecting myself I could hear Kate introducing everyone to a new member.  All I heard was, "That's Crazy Eric down there.  He's an Ironman."

Guess I have a new nickname at the gym.  Just a part of the Crossfit community that I really like at Coca.

Crazy Game On

Making your own workout

I hit the pool this morning for some yardage.  It sure is hard to get out a warm bed knowing you will be standing on the edge of a pool in your speedo/jammers working in up the courage to jump in.

I've been very loose with my swim training.  I have not been dipping into the bag of workouts for a long time now.  Usually I think up a workout as I drive to the Y.

My first 1000 yards are always the same.  500 warm-up doing crawl, breast and back strokes.  Then 500 yards of drills.

The main set today was only 800 yards but the intensity was the focus.

The workout broke down as follows:

200 - 25 hard, 150 steady, 25 hard
200 - 50 hard, 100 steady, 50 hard
200 - 75 hard, 50 steady, 75 hard
200 -  200 hard






200 yards cooldown


I used this as a race simulation.  Short hard efforts act as the start of a race and the ending efforts would be surges to break away from a pack or catch a faster pack.

Because the time swimming hard increases the total time for each 200 should drop.

My 200's were: 2:59, 2:56, 2:51, 2:46. 

Boy did I feel it in my arms.  But the feeling told me that I was maintaining good form and catching a lot of water with each stroke.  The times reflect that also. 

Give this workout a try and let me know how it goes.

8th Annual Winter Run for Regis Trail Fun Run - Report

...or the

Have Your Legs Ripped Off, Beaten Against a Frozen Tree and Put Back on Backwards Saga.

You may remember some previous reports from the Winter Run for Regis.  This was my fifth time at this race and I love supporting the Regis Shivers Scholarship and the Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher House.  It also helps that this run is a blast thanks in part to the head honcho Tanya.

One of the best parts of this race is listening to her pre-run instructions.  Tanya is funny and isn't shy of telling people to shut up so her instructions won't be missed.

Aimee and I signed up for the half marathon again.  We would have TriSaraTops, JenP, Brandy and Ana joining the fun this year.  They were all newbies to either the event or the course.  A fresh layer of snow had fallen overnight and the clear skies had the temperature at 10 degrees.  At least there was no wind.

With the unceremonious "go" we headed out on the 8 mile loop.  As the crowd started to thin out I found a comfortable pace with two other runners.  Cassandra and Jeff would be my running mates for this first loop.

Being a very casual run it's great to be able to talk with people. The cold weather was fine if you were running.  My toes finally warmed up at a couple of miles.  We talked about other trail races, triathlons, and other BS. 

At the first aid station I took my time and they continued on.  I ate and drank what I felt like.  The Coke and Mountain Dew were already getting slushie.  The PB&J sandwiches were not frozen yet.  I thanked the volunteers and head back to the start/finish(Home) to complete the 8 mile loop. 

Back at "home" I had my number marked that I completed the loop, said hi to Joe and hit the restroom. 

I thought I felt good starting the 5 mile loop.  Before we actually hit the official loop part there was another aid station.  I took a HammerGel despite its frozen condition.  I would get a small bit out and let it melt in my mouth.  I needed some extra energy to make it through the loop.

As soon as I hit the rollers through the woods my legs started to complain.  My left knee was starting to bother me and a general lack of energy was sitting heavy in both legs.  Maybe that 90 minute bike session on the trainer was a bad idea.  I rode pretty hard since I had missed the Tuesday spin because of work.

I started walking every little incline.  It felt like a monstrous hill but I kept the legs moving.  Slowing down too much or stopping would have been worse because of the cold weather.  Each time I would spot a tree and tell myself that that is when I would start running again...no matter what.....because it would get me back to "home" that much faster.

It was a big struggle to keep moving.  But I embraced the mental challenge of pushing my legs despite their protests.  I crossed the finish line and gladly relinquished my race number to the volunteers.  I had completed the 13 miles in 2:25.  Two years ago I managed a 2:05 on the same trails. 

I wasn't very well prepared this year.  Since the Salt Fork 10 Mile Challenge I had let my running slip pretty bad.  I need to get my ass in gear.  I signed up today for Triple T again.  Now that is a course that will kick your ass if you don't prepare properly. 

So let this past weekend be the start of something wonderful.....a good training plan leading up to Triple T.

Game On.

Indoor Trainer Test

The Snakebite Team has been having spin sessions every Tuesday at Ride & Workout, one of our sponsors.  The cool part is that we lead the classes.  Five of us have been rotating through the classes and we each bring a different style to the workouts. 

I like to come up with theme, build the music around it then create a workout.  I was testing out my latest playlist this morning.  I had my laptop on the floor in front of me to keep me focused on the workout.  No television, just the music from my playlist.

I don't want to tip my hand for my next spin session so you will need to wait two weeks.  I will post it here.

But here is one of the other workouts I lead.  Try it out and let me know what you think.

Game On.

All songs are from ESPN Jock Jams Vol. 2 and 3.  These are the "exercises" I used as a guideline for the spin session.  I might have improvised a little during the class. 

MG Snickerdoodle

This post is for those that don't follow me on Facebook.

MG Snickerdoodle is the American Kennel Club name for our dog Snickers.  

Snickers, and Ruby, were first introduced as part of Family and Friends Friday.

This picture was taken about 14 years ago.  Such a small little puppy.

This picture was taken 3 days after Christmas.  This picture holds so much meaning to me because I believe it shows him in the twilight years of his life.  

Little did I know 14 days later we would be saying goodbye to our wonderful family member.

We had a great life together and he will be missed. But he is in a better place.....waiting for us to call his name again.

I share this poem in remembrance of him.  He is having fun now with Bo, Foster, Freya, Frankie, Marley, Calvin, Claude and many others who have passed before him. 

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
 
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
 
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
 
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
 
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together.... 

Digital Photography

For Christmas I got myself a new camera.  The Nikon D5100 was my one and only choice.  I'm so glad I got it.  It allows me to do so many different things.  I've enjoyed learning about the basics of photography playing with my new toy.

I have been reading a lot from the website Digital Photography School.  It has really helped open up my thought process about what to take pictures of and how to use the equipment. 

Here are some of the latest "tinkerings" with zoom blur.

My desk

My computer monitor...like I need to tell you that.

This is Ruby on our bed.  

All of these pictures are raw from the camera.  I have not done any post processing with programs like Photoshop. 

Pretty cool huh?

Overnight Visitor

It's been a busy day with running, work and having some visitors at the house.  Aimee's niece Brooke, 3 months old, is spending the night with her mom and dad.

She's a cutie, isn't she.

Christmas is over

One last picture of the Christmas tree before we take it down.  Don't worry.  It's a fake tree so we don't have to worry about it being too dry. 

WOD:  Rest Day

And I ran.....

So the weather was pretty nice here in Cleveland today. The temperature got into the 40's and the skies were clear for most of the day. I sucked it up and ran outside. Actually it wasn't hard to do.

I ran 4 slow miles. Better than nothing, right? I was still tired from the crossfit workout last night. It must have taken more out of me than I thought.

I did the math during my run and I lifted a total of 175 * 10 = 1750 * 3 = 5370 lbs. Then I add on the weight lifted during the deadlift max, which I don't know the total of, and we are over 3 tons.

Moving that much weight reminds me of a video I saw of the great Jack LaLane.

Before the run I noticed the thin layer of clouds looking rather nice with the sun setting.

I need to run.....outside.

What has happened to me where I have become Wimpy Wimpy Wimpy about running outside.  The weather hasn't been too bad and I have done some running outside.  But my running in general has been almost non-existent.  So when I looked outside today at the cold with the wind driving the chill into the single digits I turned around and said "forget about it".

Our three planters with herbs are still growing but the cold is starting to take over.

So I would say these plants are Heftier than I am.

I've been trying to make up for it with crossfit and rowing. 

Todays WOD:

After warmup we had ten minutes to reach our max in the Deadlift.  I managed 255lbs tonight.

The workout was, using 175 lbs on the bar:
10 deadlifts
250 meters rowing
10 deadlifts
500 meters rowing
10 deadlifts
1000 meters rowing

I focused on form over speed on the deadlifts.  I was really happy with my 1000 meter row time...just under 4 minutes. 

They call her...Biker Chick

Our running friend Dale likes to give his friends nicknames.  Because of her triathlete status, Aimee was nicknamed Biker Chick.

For Aimee's birthday and our anniversary, both in September, I made her something for her medals.

It was a slow process due to my inexperience with wood working tools and mounting the appropriate hardware.

The medals are hanging from two crank arms I had boxed up in the basement. 

It looks good in our office.

Workouts of the Day (WODS)

Morning Swim
2700 yards
500 warmup
500 drills
Swim with pull buoy
200 3 breathe stroke
100 5 breathe stroke
200 3 breathe stroke
100 3 breathe stroke
100 4 breathe stroke
100 5 breathe stroke
100 4 breathe stroke
100 3 breathe stroke
50 x 10 on 60 seconds
200 cooldown.

Evening Spin session
1:30 with the Snakebite Team.

The 2012 Racing Schedule

Because of my knee surgery last year my racing was rather limited. I only did one triathlon and it was a sprint. I did manage two aquabike events, sprint and half. Then my running really kicked in during the fall. You can find my race reports at the following links:
CVNP Fall Running Series #1
CVNP Fall Running Series #2
CVNP Fall Running Series #3
CVNP Fall Running Series #4
North Ridgeville Turkey Trot
Nakon Turkey Trot
Salt Fork 10 Mile Trail Run

Wow...I did a lot of running up to Salt Fork. Since then I have not done very much. And I have a trail run in two weeks to get ready for.

The 8th Annual Winter Run for Regis Trail Fun Run will be a training day for sure. Slow and steady, have some fun, enjoy the outdoors.

Looking forward to the new year I do have a tentative schedule. And there is a major benefactor to my 2012 insanity.....Girls With Sole (GWS). Please visit the site to understand what they do. That's okay....I'll wait right here for you.

Isn't the organization awesome?!?!?! The founder Liz is a dear friend of mine. I am not able to help with her programming but I can certainly help raise money for her organization. So I am devoting the entire year towards GWS.

Each of the events listed below will be fund raisers. The beauty is that people can decide which event they want to donate against. Maybe January or February is a bad time to donate, but July is a good time of the year. People can make a choice.

I will also be encouraging people to donate "differently". I don't want to see the standard amounts. I want to see dollars per minute, yard, meter, mile, etc.

I'll post more details as each event comes up.

On with the insanity schedule.

January
Run for Regis: Entry is confirmed and quite a few of my trail chicks will be there.

Cleveland Tri Club Big Swim. This will be the 3rd year in a row of going long. 8,000 yards in year 1 and 10k yards last year. Going for 10k again.

February
At the end of the month I will be turning 45. I have also been rowing at my crossfit gym Coca Crossfit. I will row 45,000 meters. This should take me about 4 - 5 hours.

March
Nothing scheduled yet.

April
Athens Half Marathon/Training Weekend

Tough Mudder Ohio. I have formed a Tough Mudder team as we attack the course mid-April when I'm sure the water will still be on the chilly side.

May
I am making a return to the Ohio Triple T. I still need to signup.

June
National 24 Hour Challenge. 24 hours of bike riding.

July
Unknown. My son is getting married this month so I may need to lay low.

August
I have something in mind. Have to see I can make it happen.

September
The Rev3 "Revolution". This is a sprint tri on Saturday and a the HalfRev on Sunday. Think DoubleMussel...which I've done before.

October
GORUCK Challenge. You just have to read about it.

November
Bobcat Trail Marathon. Aimee wants to do this one. I can't pass it up.


Like I said there will be updates and additional information as I get closer to the different events.

One last thing. I bought myself a nice dSLR camera for Christmas. The Nikon D5100 fits my shooting style perfectly. It also has some features I really like. Instead of a 365 Photo project I will try to post original pictures every day.

Today's picture is of the box my mom gave us before Christmas. She makes a batch of treats for the holidays. Chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate from molds, Hershey Kisses, cookies, etc.

I love Aimee very much and I felt that I needed to sacrifice myself so I could save her from the evil treats in the box.


It's the just the type of guy I am.

Happy New Year - 2012

New Year....New Beginnings....New Adventures.

In typical fashion I started 2012 with the Cleveland Tri Club's Polar Bear Plunge. It was great weather that saw over 325 people take the plunge into Lake Erie.


Hey I'm smiling so it couldn't have been that bad. By the time we got home my toes were no longer cold.



Aimee and I then got ready for my family to come over for dinner. With the family expanding this year, more on that later, we pushed our holiday meal to New Years Day. It doesn't matter when we get together because once we sit at the table great times are sure to be had. This year was no different.

We don't need the wine to enjoy ourselves but it does help compliment the meal of beef tenderloin and lobster tails.


Happy New Year's to all. Make 2012 your year of change, challenge and adventures.

Game On.

Remembering

It wasn't until 4 days later that I was willing, or ready, to remember. It always sat in the back of my mind. I would overhear people talking about it but I didn't actively pursue it...remembering. I didn't watch any of the television broadcasts. In fact I was so involved with my own day I only thought about it when I saw certain things that forced me to remember. The people around me never really said anything about it either and seemed to go about their day as it was any other.

I flew to Denver Thursday afternoon, yesterday, for work. The Sunday paper was still around the house so I stuffed it into my backpack and would read it on the plane. I now find it rather ironic that I would read that particular issue of the paper on an airplane flight.

The front page pictured the new memorial pools in downtown Manhattan.

A special section had two hands reaching up to the sky in apparent grief while looking like two towers. Inside were selected stories of what people remembered from September 11, 2001.

As I read those stories I found myself reflecting back to that day as well.

I was working from home. No customer appointments required me to be anywhere. I was listening to the radio when the DJs started talking about the first plane crash. It was background noise. I don't know at what point I finally turned on the TV but it was after both planes had hit the towers.

The images were mesmerizing. I called Aimee to check on her and see if she would be leaving her office in downtown Cleveland. Not evacuation orders had been given so she was going to stay at the office working with an out of town consultant.

She was more concerned about her sister, Becky, who was flying into New York that morning for work. Becky could see the smoke coming from the towers as she rode in the cab to her hotel.

I continued to watch the TV and hear what could possibly be provided from the newscasters.

My most vivid remembrance from that morning was when I was standing in front of the TV and saw the first tower collapse.

I yelled at the TV, "NO!..NO!..NO!"

As if my words would stop the crumbling and everything would be okay. I sat down on the coffee table and couldn't believe my eyes. An entire building was gone.

The next two days was spent watching the TV as updates were given as soon as they were available. It was very exhausting.

The weekend of 9/13 - 16, Aimee and I had scheduled a trip to West Virginia with my brother and his friends for some white water rafting. There was no need to cancel the trip since we weren't flying.

Actually the white water rafting was the best thing we could have done. It was a two day trip with some remote camping and rock climbing.

We were able to get away from the media overload following the attacks. We would get small updates from the people driving us from point to point but otherwise we were isolated.

It allowed us to laugh, share good times, celebrate some birthdays and decompress.

There is no doubt that the past decade has further defined this country. Some of it good and some of it bad. We have also changed as a people, but unfortunately time allows us to slip back into old habits and forget the positive results that surfaced after the horrific events on a sunny Tuesday in September.

No...I wasn't directly affected by the events on 9/11/01. But we all were affected in some way.

I do remember. I'll never forget. They will be a part of my memories until I die and a part of history forever.