running

Bill Thorn is arguably the best high school Track and Field coach in the Southeast and hands-down the best in Georgia.  I ran for Coach Thorn in high school and he was, for many years, "the thorn in my side."

I always thought him as a mean, crusty, old man, but he just wanted the best for his team and to see people succeed athletically.  He would never let you quit and made you push your body's limits to the max.  His battle cry was "given time, hard work beats talent."  And that very maxim rang true in his own life.

When Coach Thorn developed cancer, instead of submitting to chemotherapy, he of course chose to run it out.  At 77 years old, he's the only runner to complete every single Peachtree Road Race since it's inception in 1978.  "The Peachtree" as it's known to the locals, is the world's largest 10-K race.  At Landmark Christian School, my alma mater, Coach Thorn led the track team to an amazing 7 consecutive state titles ('96-'02). 

He's well respected as both a runner and a coach.  I'm proud to say that I've run for Bill Thorn.  Every time I run I can still hear him yell, "Change speeds Brooks! C'mon Brooks, change speeds!"  I always thought I was in top gear, he seemed to think otherwise…

I just went out on my deck and I saw something very peculiar.  There was a small child, probably only 2 or 3, running through the parking lot of my apartment complex.  It wasn't like a full run, it was more of a wandering run.  I kept watching and waiting for his parents to follow…  They weren't there.

It was obvious the child was lost and looking for his home.  Then from the other side of the complex I see a dad running.  A different run from the child's.  His run was a voracious, aggressive one.  As he slowed pick up his son, he said, "Where have you been?"  And the child started crying as dad carried him back into their apartment.

I have (unintentionally) not attended church for a full year.  I can count the number of times I've prayed, talked to God, or read my Bible in the past year on these ten fingers of mine.  The picture was crystal clear to me in a split second.  

Like I said, I went out on my deck and I saw something very peculiar…. or maybe someone is speaking.

1.  First Impressions

I feel like I've always been capable of making great first impressions.  I follow five simple principles: smile, look people in the eye, have a solid handshake, ask good questions, and throw in a pinch of self-effacing humor.

2.  Making my Parents Laugh.

I may not be funny to most people.  I may not be funny to my  co-workers.  but I think I know what pushes my parents tickle buttons.  I think it's because I've known them longer than anyone else…  

3.  Quoting Movies.

After watching a movie twice, I can remember and quote the entire movie for the most part.  It has come naturally, so I can't really attribute it to any particular practice other than a photographic memory.

4.  Running

No matter how old, fat, or out of shape I get, I'll always be able to run a mile in under 6 minutes.  I haven't timed myself in a mile since my sophomore year of college (almost 5 years ago) and I'm 100% positive that I could go out and post a sub 6:00 mile.  It's in the genes, thanks Dad.

5.  Dressing Myself.

Call me braggadocious, but I have a keen sense of style.  I was unofficially voted "best dressed" in high school; a superlative I will always consider a highlight of my life.  I am persecuted for my style/attire to this day.

Starting at the top left and going clockwise is 1.Waimea Bay, 2.a beautiful road running along the coast between Haunama Bay and Sandy Beach, 3.John filming surfers on the North Shore, and 4.a goofy foot riding the Banzai pipeline.

All in all, the trip was simply relaxing.  We stayed on Oahu for the whole week, but I think next time I'll venture to Maui, or the Big Island.  The most surprising thing about Hawaii is the amount of Japanese tourists.  Being a Caucasian male of 25 definitely put me in the minority.  If I recall correctly, Japan accounts for 60% of Honolulu's tourism.  

I really wanted to post pictures and videos of my adventures while I was there but our hotel internet connection was ridiculously slow.  Or so I thought…

It turns out that one of my posts showed up in the top searches in Google and for a couple days it got slammed.  Since then, I've switched hosting companies thus increasing my bandwidth, only to find Google excluding it from their search anyway… jerks.

If you're looking for a good hosting company with ridiculously good customer service, check out:

They are wicked cool. 

It is 62 and breezy tonight and from my 3rd story balcony here at my apartment in Cool Springs… it feels like a little slice of heaven just landed.

This weekend was a great one as I got a chance to run both Saturday and Sunday.  Four miles each.  The experience of running in a urban area is much different from the running I’m used to in Franklin.  There is so much more to see… more hills, more people.  I actually think that I run faster when running in the “city” setting.

I found this great podcast called PodRunner.  The podcast is basically a compilation of hour long techno beats that help you keep your cadence in stride when running.  There are different ‘casts you can download depending on how fast you run.  Pret-ty Nifty…

i stayed up entirely too late last night. i watched thomas crown affair (love that movie). worked a little with adding speakers to our new website. read a couple articles online. watched a videocast on john edwards. listened/watched piper's sermon from passion07.  after finding out i couldn't sleep i then watched the devil wears prada (actually not bad).

out of all that hubbub there is one thing that remains on my mind. this verse: "do not rejoice over me, o my enemy. though I fall I will rise; though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a light for me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me out to the light, and I will see His righteousness." for some reason that is extremely comforting to me… i've royally screwed up in the past and this helps me out.

today was the first back to work for me since december 21st.  that’s quite a long time…  it was a good break, but i’m ready to hit the ground running with 2007.

after i finished playing catch-up today, i decided to allocate the later half of my day to setting my professional goals for 2007.  to my surprise i am putting more work in to setting these goals than i expected.  it should prove to be an interesting year.

i will also be starting a little side venture sometime this month.  i will be doing a weekly show via a website so stay tuned for that because it’s going to be very interesting…

here’s to ‘07

the UBD will be torn down this month.    UBD slideshow
115 S. Debardeleben St. Auburn, AL aka. “the UBD”, “the Ugly Brick Duplex”, or “Ugly Boys Duplex”

i made this legendary auburn residence home for a short time during my auburn days. i came into the picture being the sixth roommate taking brian koon’s spot while he interned a fall semester. the other five, or as i like to call them, the allstar team of duncan chancellor, gray brantley, john pritchard, david ytterberg, and the infamous mr. james theodore farmer III.

the UBD was my favorite out of the four different places i lived while in school. i guess it was my favorite because of the many many memories that house held.

i was in auburn this past weekend so jp and i took a stroll to the UBD and see if it actually was still there. it was. but when i walked through it, it just felt empty. it lost it’s character. it lost it’s flavor. it lost it’s soul. the 5 guys who once inhabited it together are now spread throughout the southeast. 2 in nashville, 3 in auburn, and 1 in perry, ga.

here is a list of memories:

no pants tuesdays
spades tournaments
catching an un-named roommate (duncan) making out in the driveway
scaring that same un-named roommate after he watched saw
waking duncan up for mcdonalds breakfast after a late night
brotherhood & long nights in the cabin
gray’s dip cups all over the house (mine were contained to my room)
our serious sit down talks
john throwing gray’s dip cans away
jp’s general mood towards everyone in the house
late night talks on the roof
smoking cigars on the front porch
18 ft. snowman and tons of christmas lights
a breakin resulting in a loss of two shotguns, a watch, tons of dvds, & money
mr. jtf III not sharing his expensive furniture with the common area
25 person mafia games at 3am
duncan’s trips to walmart returning with 8 movies and no food
toxey, the black lab
gray running around in a thong that said, “rockstar”
taking duncan to return brian’s “leftovers” to hastings
bannister’s weekend visits
duncan’s closet of perfectly starched shirts
sing-a-long in the cabin
tb & jtf wine and cheese night in the cabin
james’ urns and pumpkins

ok so i can’t sleep. and i really really want to. i’ve got about 10-15 good (or so i think) business ideas running through my head. a couple are ideas on how to improve my business at premiere. a couple revolve around how to make money in real estate. and a few other ideas i have regard starting new projects all together…. of course i think every single one of them could be purple.

my old professor, dr. kincaid used to call these 3 martini ideas. because as we all know, (or maybe just me) everything sounds great after the 3rd martini.

i haven’t had three martinis; but i have, over the past three days, been sleep-deprived, spent over 10 hours in the car, and am now flat wore out. i’m so tired and worn out that crazy biz ideas keep flying in my head keeping me awake. i always come up with great ideas when i’m sleep-deprived.
i love creating things. i love getting hyped up over late night ideas and laying out future plans for them. i wish i had my 3M post-its with me…. and maybe that 3rd martini… it just might help me sleep better.