Sunday, January 31, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
A Bosnian in Fresno!
One of the greatest things about being on staff with InterVarsity is that it's easy to care for the world. Between alumni of ours that are serving in far-flung places around the globe to events like Urbana, I'm constantly made aware that God is working in places far beyond my own little ministry sphere. What a joy it is, when Josh and I pray before he goes to sleep, to have our choice to pray for situations and dear friends in places like Afghanistan, Venezuela, Guatemala and Bosnia and (to name a just a few).
This past week we had the privilege of welcoming Enisa Dedic into our home. Enisa is the General Secretary of the InterVarsity-equivalent student movement in Bosnia. The kids loved their Aunt Enisa! Here are a couple of pictures:
This past week we had the privilege of welcoming Enisa Dedic into our home. Enisa is the General Secretary of the InterVarsity-equivalent student movement in Bosnia. The kids loved their Aunt Enisa! Here are a couple of pictures:
Friday, January 08, 2010
Friday, December 25, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Bathroom 2.0
Two weeks ago now Bob the Builder and I tackled the floor in the kids' bathroom. One day and done. In the end, we had to demo about and inch and a half of flooring from previous incarnations, and in the process we discovered a good amount of leakage under and around the toilet. The good news? A level, dry and normal floor!
Three pictures. The first one is the before shot. You can just make out the water spread line. Next, mid-project. Yes, for a short while we had wood floors! Finally, the finished project. Good
times.
Three pictures. The first one is the before shot. You can just make out the water spread line. Next, mid-project. Yes, for a short while we had wood floors! Finally, the finished project. Good
times.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Last race of the season report
Last Saturday, Amy and I loaded up the kids in the family truckster and headed over to Fresno State for the Toys for Tots Fun Run. We had a great morning! Here's my list of the highlights:
1. Watching Joshua race the quarter mile kids race. The little man was amazing. He did his new running shoes proud! We think he finished 4th among the 7 year old boys, but the best thing was that he had a great time. He's got his race bib and green ribbon up on the wall in his room; pretty cool.
2. Winning something. I won a running race for the first time in 20 years. No kidding. OK, so it was just my age group, 35-39, and this was not a huge race or anything, but still, it was fun to win (for the record, I think I finished 10th overall). The etched plastic Christmas ornament was alright, but the look of awe and glee on my kids faces when they called me up to the podium was the best. Superdad!
3. My time. As I was with the Turkey Trot, I was aiming for sub-20 minutes for this 5K, and I just missed. 20:18. I went through the 1 mile at 6:13 or so, the 2 mile at 13 flat and then 19:44 at the 3 mile. Next year, more speedwork as preparation and no injuries (sore knee this time), and the 20 minute barrier falls.
4. Full contact. I knocked down the woman who went on to win the women's race. No kidding. I did it. I went all Zola Budd on this woman. What happened is that as we raced together through the first mile or so, she kept dropping back and then catching up to me. When she would catch me, she would then cut right in front of me, causing me to break stride. This happened 3 or 4 times, and then the next time, well, let's just say that I didn't choose to slow up. Her heel overlapped my right leg and the next thing I know, she's faceplanted on the road. Don't mess with Rob Dixon.
5. Everything else. This is a great event. Santa showed up, The Little Caesar's dude was there, Red from Red Robin cruised by and the Marines were there. Lots for the girls to do, and Amy came home with a big ol' bag of fruit. We all agreed that next year, everyone's running!
Here are some pictures from the day:
1. Watching Joshua race the quarter mile kids race. The little man was amazing. He did his new running shoes proud! We think he finished 4th among the 7 year old boys, but the best thing was that he had a great time. He's got his race bib and green ribbon up on the wall in his room; pretty cool.
2. Winning something. I won a running race for the first time in 20 years. No kidding. OK, so it was just my age group, 35-39, and this was not a huge race or anything, but still, it was fun to win (for the record, I think I finished 10th overall). The etched plastic Christmas ornament was alright, but the look of awe and glee on my kids faces when they called me up to the podium was the best. Superdad!
3. My time. As I was with the Turkey Trot, I was aiming for sub-20 minutes for this 5K, and I just missed. 20:18. I went through the 1 mile at 6:13 or so, the 2 mile at 13 flat and then 19:44 at the 3 mile. Next year, more speedwork as preparation and no injuries (sore knee this time), and the 20 minute barrier falls.
4. Full contact. I knocked down the woman who went on to win the women's race. No kidding. I did it. I went all Zola Budd on this woman. What happened is that as we raced together through the first mile or so, she kept dropping back and then catching up to me. When she would catch me, she would then cut right in front of me, causing me to break stride. This happened 3 or 4 times, and then the next time, well, let's just say that I didn't choose to slow up. Her heel overlapped my right leg and the next thing I know, she's faceplanted on the road. Don't mess with Rob Dixon.
5. Everything else. This is a great event. Santa showed up, The Little Caesar's dude was there, Red from Red Robin cruised by and the Marines were there. Lots for the girls to do, and Amy came home with a big ol' bag of fruit. We all agreed that next year, everyone's running!
Here are some pictures from the day:
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Turkey Trotted
So I did a Thanksgiving day Turkey Trot again this year. If you remember last year's debacle, this was a very different experience. But it was a bit of a debacle nonetheless. Here's the story.
I came into the race lacking sufficient training, particularly speedwork. Also, I had (as usual?) some injuries. This time, put me down for still-healing right ankle tendons, a sore left knee and a tender right hammy (thank you racquetball on Monday night!). In spite of all of this, I was hopeful for a sub-20 minute tour de Woodward Park. Here's my recap of the morning:
6:40: Wake up only to realize that I had slept through my alarm. Not only that, but with the whole crew coming and an 8am gun, Amy and I had to leap into action. It wasn't pretty.
7:01: After a Dixon-family-getting-put-together-in-the-morning record, we pulled out of the driveway to head up to the park.
7:14: Two-thirds of the way to the park, at the corner of Shepherd and Willow, to my horror I realize that I had forgotten my race bib. What am I, a rookie?!?
7:32: Back in the driveway at home with Amy running in to get the number off the couch. I'm standing next to the running van trying to stretch something. In the car, the kids are totally baffled by what is happening.
7:46: Make it to the park, find easy parking, meet up with Adam and Brian and do a half mile warm up run to the starting line. Having to run to the starting line is becoming a Thanksgiving tradition for me!
8:00: Gun goes off and so do I. After the first quarter mile or so, I'm in the top 15 runners on the course. I'm flying. I'm also breathing hard.
8:06: I come through the first mile in 6:10. I can't believe it. It has literally been 20 years since I've run a mile that fast. I'm still in the top 30 on the course, and at this pace, breaking 20 minutes is very much an option.
8:13: Let the reader understand that the second mile on the State Course is the tough one. Couple of hills, including a delightful little number called the "Killer Hill." Unfortunately, any training I have done recently has been on flat roads exclusively. Quite honestly our driveway is the biggest hill I run up on a regular basis. So I suffer through mile 2 but still manage a 13:08 at the 2 mile mark. Still in with a chance...
...except that about a quarter mile past the 2 mile line, the power goes out. Like totally out. I have nothing. It's the wall and I'm stymied. I pull to the side, I'm groggy, I start jogging, people pass me, I'm confused. Misery.
8:21: I stagger across the finish line in 21:23. It's one second short of a "modern-era" 5K PR for me, but I could care less. The chute worker asks me if I'm OK. "I think so," I say. In the end, I finished 9th in my age group, 105 overall out of some 1,400.
What's the moral of the story?
1. Half marathons and 5Ks are apples and oranges. I've trained this entire year for the longer distances, not these short ones. As a result, my leg turnover needs some work. Really I was sprinting for that first mile and it would be great not to have to do that!
2. If you are going to race on hills, you should train on hills. Enough said.
3. At some point, it's mental...and I've got some mental strength to build up! My High School running buddy Mitch used to say that it's "90% mental." I think he was maybe mostly right. I'd put it at like 55% I think. But clearly if I'm going to actually try to race and win things, I will need to get tougher upstairs. I imagine that the only way to do that is to keep trying, so in that sense, I'm glad to have gone out hard and to face the wall.
What's next??! One more race in 2009. Another 5K, this one at Fresno State on the 5th. Can't decide what I'm more excited about...Joshua making his debut in a quarter mile kids race or another chance to go under 20 minutes! Let's call it a tie. It's gonna be great.
I came into the race lacking sufficient training, particularly speedwork. Also, I had (as usual?) some injuries. This time, put me down for still-healing right ankle tendons, a sore left knee and a tender right hammy (thank you racquetball on Monday night!). In spite of all of this, I was hopeful for a sub-20 minute tour de Woodward Park. Here's my recap of the morning:
6:40: Wake up only to realize that I had slept through my alarm. Not only that, but with the whole crew coming and an 8am gun, Amy and I had to leap into action. It wasn't pretty.
7:01: After a Dixon-family-getting-put-together-in-the-morning record, we pulled out of the driveway to head up to the park.
7:14: Two-thirds of the way to the park, at the corner of Shepherd and Willow, to my horror I realize that I had forgotten my race bib. What am I, a rookie?!?
7:32: Back in the driveway at home with Amy running in to get the number off the couch. I'm standing next to the running van trying to stretch something. In the car, the kids are totally baffled by what is happening.
7:46: Make it to the park, find easy parking, meet up with Adam and Brian and do a half mile warm up run to the starting line. Having to run to the starting line is becoming a Thanksgiving tradition for me!
8:00: Gun goes off and so do I. After the first quarter mile or so, I'm in the top 15 runners on the course. I'm flying. I'm also breathing hard.
8:06: I come through the first mile in 6:10. I can't believe it. It has literally been 20 years since I've run a mile that fast. I'm still in the top 30 on the course, and at this pace, breaking 20 minutes is very much an option.
8:13: Let the reader understand that the second mile on the State Course is the tough one. Couple of hills, including a delightful little number called the "Killer Hill." Unfortunately, any training I have done recently has been on flat roads exclusively. Quite honestly our driveway is the biggest hill I run up on a regular basis. So I suffer through mile 2 but still manage a 13:08 at the 2 mile mark. Still in with a chance...
...except that about a quarter mile past the 2 mile line, the power goes out. Like totally out. I have nothing. It's the wall and I'm stymied. I pull to the side, I'm groggy, I start jogging, people pass me, I'm confused. Misery.
8:21: I stagger across the finish line in 21:23. It's one second short of a "modern-era" 5K PR for me, but I could care less. The chute worker asks me if I'm OK. "I think so," I say. In the end, I finished 9th in my age group, 105 overall out of some 1,400.
What's the moral of the story?
1. Half marathons and 5Ks are apples and oranges. I've trained this entire year for the longer distances, not these short ones. As a result, my leg turnover needs some work. Really I was sprinting for that first mile and it would be great not to have to do that!
2. If you are going to race on hills, you should train on hills. Enough said.
3. At some point, it's mental...and I've got some mental strength to build up! My High School running buddy Mitch used to say that it's "90% mental." I think he was maybe mostly right. I'd put it at like 55% I think. But clearly if I'm going to actually try to race and win things, I will need to get tougher upstairs. I imagine that the only way to do that is to keep trying, so in that sense, I'm glad to have gone out hard and to face the wall.
What's next??! One more race in 2009. Another 5K, this one at Fresno State on the 5th. Can't decide what I'm more excited about...Joshua making his debut in a quarter mile kids race or another chance to go under 20 minutes! Let's call it a tie. It's gonna be great.
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Pics from the race today
Today James and I ran 13.1 miles. We had a great time. Here's a couple of pictures, and, yes, that is a beer in my hand. What can I say? Most races have water stations, this one had a beer station!
Friday, November 06, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
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