Three Things Thursday

1. Last night after work I made the hour drive north to Green Bay to meet up with my friend Peggy for the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon/Half Marathon kickoff event. Even though I've done this race in the past, I've never gone to one of the kickoff parties. But this year, when I read the announcement I knew I had to go. See last night the guest speaker was Sarah Reinertsen, someone who's crossed the finish line at Ironman Hawaii. But more notable, she's the first female leg amputee to cross that finish line. Her first attempt she missed the bike cutoff by 15 minutes and got a DNF, but she went back the next year and finished all 140.6 miles. It wasn't the IM story that was inspiring though. It was the story of her growing up, overcoming obstacles, that left a mark. Watch this. It's only a small chunk of what she covered during her presentation Wednesday night, but it was enough to leave you thinking and yes, I almost shed a tear.

2. And since we were at a running event, it only made sense for Peggy and I to sneak in a run. After all the event hoopla was done, we went out to our cars, grabbed our running bags and headed back inside the bar to change into running gear. Yes, people looked at us like we were crazy. But we couldn't pass up the opportunity to run together. And what better running back drop that in the neighborhoods surrounding Lambeau Field at night? Great run.

3. Except for that block when a snarling, barking, crazed eye dog came off the porch and charged at us. Yikes! He wasn't on a leash. I can only assume they had an invisible fence since he stopped at the edge of the grass. And did I mention he was kind of snarling, kind of growling and barking at us? And that he was a little ferocious looking - especially his eyes that were all demon-like possessed looking. Add in the fact that I'm leery when it comes to strange dogs I don't know since I was chased by a big dog when I was little and you have one of those heart-stopping moments. It felt like an eternity. Not cool dog owner. Not cool at all.