Rockin' at the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon

On June 1st, Christi and I boarded a plane from Phoenix, en route to San Diego for the 2007 Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. We spent the days before the race checking out the sites of the town, especially the beaches. Our favorite part of San Diego was the Gaslamp District in the downtown area. It reminded us quite a bit of Portland, with it's artsy shops and rustic, yet modern buildings. We strolled through many outdoor malls (some of which were three stories high).

The day before the race, we decided that it would be a good idea to drive the race course, just to get an idea of what to expect on race day. After many wrong turns, dead ends, and a Starbucks break, we completed the venture realizing one thing...man, that took a long time! We spent the afternoon hanging out on the boardwalk at the beach, then taking in a movie at the theatre close to our hotel. We ordered in pasta for dinner (for the final carbohydrate-load that I needed for the race), and got to bed early, knowing that we had to be up at 3:45 the following morning.

Marathon Day was upon us, and at an unusually early hour. We were up and on the road by 4:30am, only having to travel a few miles down Interstate 5 to the drop-off point, where I would take a shuttle to the starting line. What we didn't expect was for it to take over an hour to get to the drop-off area. By the time I arrived at the starting line at Balboa Park, I had a total of 30 minutes to 1) drop my bag at the UPS check-in station, 2) use the restroom, 3) get stretched out, and 4) get to my corral for the race. I got by bag checked in with no problems. From this point, matters only got worse. Every port-o-potty was backed up 100+ people deep. By the time I got in and out of the restroom, the race had been underway for three minutes. I was forced to jump into another corral, and from there I dodged, bobbed, weaved and anything else you can think (short of pulling a move from The Matrix) to get remotely close to where I needed to be. It took me 3 miles of maneuvering to get to my desired destination. In the process, I had four racing gels (energy gels) fall from my elastic race belt with only one remaining. Needless to say, things weren't going my way early on.


I was able to get settled into a good pace and really focus on just staying steady from that point on, when all of a sudden, my heart monitor shorted, causing my watch to stop and clear itself. This was a big hit because, since I had crossed the starting line three minutes after the official start, the posted times didn't match up with where I was on the course.

I stayed on my desired pace (needed to run a 3:10:00 in order to qualify for the Boston Marathon) up until mile 20. It was there that all of my extra exerted efforts in the beginning of the race had caught up with me. I had reached the point where I couldn't get my legs to move any faster, and I couldn't take any larger strides. By mile 21, I had come to the realization that I wasn't going to make my time. 5.1 miles later I came across the finish line with a time of 3:16:13, a few minutes off my pace.


Overall, with everything that had happened, I was quite pleased with my run. I was able to battle through adversity several times, staying focused...thanks to God's peace that He provided that day. I've left that experience hungry; motivated to reach my goal of Boston, come hell or high water. Tentatively, I plan on taking another crack at that on October 7th, in the Portland Marathon, in the presence of family and friends. Im currently chomping at the bit to get back to my training, but must allow my body (and mind) to fully recover from the long weekend.

Here's to 2007...Not!!!

We said goodbye to 2006 and hello to 2007...and all I got was a lousy t-shirt! Actually, so far, we're still waiting for that shirt in the mail.

2007 started off poorly at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, as the once-mighty Wolverines looked like "men among giants" as they got their rear ends handed to them. Oh well, 8 more months until the new season!

One of the few positive notes of this new year was my half-marathon. Dealing with an inflamed illiotibial band (typical, but painful runner's injury) I ran my half-marathon at 1:31:45 (a 7:00/mile pace). I was very pleased with the results.

Back to the bad news! Due to the recurring IT band injury, I haven't ran in over 4 weeks.

About two weeks ago, Christi left the apartment to go to work like any other morning. Only, 30 seconds later, I got a call from a frantic Christi saying that the car was gone. I ran down there and, sure enough, our 1998 Acura Integra (the one we paid $400 to have towed down here) was nowhere to be found. There was no sign of entry, no broken glass or anything of the sort. We're still waiting to hear the results of this situation.

As soon as the IT Band started to feel better, I all of a sudden started to feel these sharp, pressing pains in my abdominal region. By the third night I couldn't sleep and felt as if I was going to die. The only way to describe it is to constantly feel like you can't take a deep breathe.

Well, the pain in my abdminal muscles have dulled down considerably, down to the point where I can breathe normally. But, now, as of yesterday, I was feeling very sick and tired (not like the quote "I'm sick and tired of..." which for many things down here I am) and felt the need to buy a thermometer (just out of curiosity). As a had expected, I had a temperature of 101 degrees...and on Valentine's Day of all days! I stayed home today to recouperate in hopes of breaking the fever and going back to school tomorrow. Christi came home from work and made a very good dinner. She also bought me my favorite DVD, Big Daddy!!! I got her some nice flowers and a pair of pajamas from Victoria's Secret (yes, I went in there on my own). Needless to say, we still had fun together!

Through all of the garbage Christi and I have been dealing with these past two months we can't help but see how God is continuing to show us that He is big enough to provide for, and take care of us! In the midst of the storms of life, it's easy to lose focus of the big picture. We can feel God challening us to change our perspecive on life down here.

I promise, our next post won't be so negative!

What We've Been Up To

What have we been up to you ask? Actually, quite a bit of things! We celebrated my 25th birthday with my aunt Lois, going out to eat at the My Big Fat Greek Restaurant. Good company, good food, good wine...can't ask for more.

We went and saw Mat Kearney in concert a few weeks before that. I had just bought his first album a month before we moved down here, so I was extra-excited to hear, that we were invited to see him (this happened, literally, the night before). What was also funny was that the people we went with had no idea who he even was! What made it a sweet concert was that we were able to go with friends and stand right in the front row. He's a great performer!

One great asset to living in a large town, such as Phoenix, is that you have every professional sports team at your fingerprints. We've seen the Diamonbacks (baseball), the Arizona Fall League (baseball), the Suns (basketball), and most recently, also pictured, the Coyotes (hockey). And what I look forward to the most is Spring Training...man, am I in heaven or what?!? What has been extra cool about this has been that we've been on the receiving end of many "freebee" sporting events! We've gotten hockey tickets from my aunt's work, baseball tickets from my school district, and basketball tickets from some other friends...how sweet is that?

And toward the end of November, we got together with Lois and celebrated Thanksgiving. We had enough food for six people, but only having three meant that we scored a ton of left-overs! This Thanksgiving was quite a bit different for us in many ways. This was our first Thanksgiving away from home, and first as a couple. It was also our first Thanksgiving in 80 degree weather! We have a ton to be thankful for here in the desert!

During these last few months, here in Phoenix, we've been able to get out and really explore the surrounding area. We've been able to discover the many different aspects of the surrounding Phoenix area, including the ritzy shopping center of Scottsdale, and the classy, vintage, Old Downtown Glendale, where we enjoyed a fun outdoor Christmas carnival. We've also gotten to watch a cool nighttime, Christmas parade. Everything was lit up in lights, including the marching band (brings back cold memories!), one after another cactus, and even a giant Sponge Bob Square Pants!

In all the hustle and bustle down here, there's one thing that we make sure we never forget...

THERE'S ALWAYS TIME FOR A GREAT CUP OF STARBUCKS COFFEE!!!

The Different Faces of the Groves in Arizona

Haven't posted much in a while, so here's a fun little bit of stuff!

Christi Turns the "Big 25"

Last weekend, Christi, my Aunt Lois, and I celebrated Christi's 25th Birthday Weekend. The morning started off the best way any morning could start off...with a good breakfast. Christi and I met up with Lois and headed over to Mimi's, a local breakfast and bakery shop here in Phoenix. Christi and I hadn't sat down to a nice breakfast in weeks, so Christi's choice to go there for breakfast was a good one.

Now after breakfast, the original plan was for me to head back home to attend some school district training classes (optional, but have to be done by a certain date), and the girls would go shopping/hang out in Scottsdale. But, because I had/have a soft spot for some of the special women in my life, I was convinced by the two to join them in their "feminine endeavors."

My aunt took us to a cool mall (the size of Lloyd Center and the quality of Washington Square/Pioneer Place) where we (really they) were going to look for a couple of work outfits for Christi, my aunt's treat. Let me paint this picture for you: Here, in the front walking in the mall are Christi and Lois, with Matt pulling up the rear. We looked through so many stores, my head was left spinning. Not to mention, that we found Christi's work clothes in the very first store we went in to (Macys)! But you know what, I sucked it up like the good husband should. Not only did I visit every store in the mall, I had the misforture of missing my Wolverines (now 4-0!) game...which they won! During this "wandering through the desert" of this mall, Christi and I came up with the definition of what it means to be a good husband shopping with your wife. It's actually quite simple, here it is: To be a good husband while shopping with his wife, he must keep his mouth closed and smile in support. I heard this will take a husband far in life...I can't vouch for the results of that quite yet though.

After a brief break at Starbucks, where we sat outside under some misters (no, not a bunch of men, but lightly spraying water from above) that seemed to drip a solid stream of water on my head only, yet keeping the ladies cool and refreshed, we (the ladies) decided to tour some day resorts and some expensive homes around the Scottsdale area. This next two hours of my life was pretty blurry, so all I remember was walking around some resort with wild rabbits running around. From there I remember, vaguely, driving through many, many neighborhoods (none of which I will ever live in!). I also remember hearing a conversation involving the question of why Phoenix doesn't have a Street of Dreams...from that point on I fell into a deep sleep. The next thing I remember was discussing where we were going for dinner.

We ended up sitting down at a small Thai restaurant close to my aunts place. That might have been the best part of dinner.

All in all, it was a good day. Christi was satisfied with her first birthday weekend away from home, which meant that I was happy (kind of reciprocal, I know).

Crushing the Over-rated Irish

On Saturday, the Wolverines avenged last year's embarassing loss, by taking it to the Fighting (not-so-much) Irish, 47-21. Chad Henne threw for over 300 yards, with three touchdown passes. Mike Hart rushed for 124 yards (one touchdown), and Mario Manningham caught 4 passes (three for touchdowns)for 137 yards. Michigan shut Notre Dame to just 245 total yards and 5 turnovers. Heisman candidate, Brady Quinn threw, a season high, 3 interceptions. The previously #2 Irish dropped ten spots to #12, as the Wolverines (previously ranked #11)jumped to #6 in the AP Top 25 Poll.

Hey Suck-Eyes, hope you were taking notes, it's revenge year for the "Maise and Blue!"

Old Rivals Reunite

It's that time of year again. On Saturday, the Wolverines from Michigan will take on their arch rivals, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend, Indiana. The Wolverines look to avenge last season's 17-10 loss in front of their home fans at the "Big House."
Michigan enters the game ranked #2 in the AP Top 25. They've compiled a 2-0
record, winning games over Vanderbilt (27-7) and Central Michigan (41-17), both at home. The Wolverines are anchored by Junior quarterback Chad Henne. In two games, Henne has completed 21 of 41 pass, for 248 yards and 2 touchdowns. Also a big threat in the Wolverine offense is Junior tailback Mike Hart. In two games, Hart has rushed for 262 yards, averaging 5.2 yards per carry, scoring 3 touchdowns. Michigan's two deep threats on offense are Senior, Steve Breaston and Sophomore, Mario Manningham. The two wideouts have combined for 11 catches, with 164 yards, and 1 receiving touchdown.

Matt's Prediction:

Michigan: 35
Notre Dame: 24

New Apartment

We got moved into our new apartment in Glendale. By the end of our first day here, Jeff and I had the truck three-quarters unpacked. I knew it would be a long and tiring process, but with the heat, I didn't realize what I was getting myself into! The task was even tougher, considering that the "3" in Apartment, #3010 stood for the third floor! I don't know why I didn't realize that unloading a 16-foot truck with only two people would really suck (Christi was inside, the organizer/decorator of course!) We all slept well that night.

I'd have to say, the toughest challenge of unloading the truck was hauling, what normally took 4 guys, our giant, oddly-shaped entertainment center. We got it down the truck ramp (by the grace of God) and onto a grassy area at the bottom of our stairs. With it attached to the dolly, we started maneuvering it up the first set of stairs. No more than four steps up, we realized that it was too tall. So five minutes later,which included head-scratcing, pacing, and probably some not-so-nice words, we came up with the idea of taking that stupid thing apart (the man way of course). God must've sensed our pride rising through the roof, because no more than 10 minutes later, once we had the entertainment center from Hell in our desired room, we realized that we couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again (for lack of a better analogy). So Christi went out and did what we should have done from the first place...she went to Ikea and found us a cheap/small entertainment center (the woman way, aparently superior to the man way).

It took 3-4 more days to unpack, organize, decorate, and break down and get rid of boxes. Finally, as of now, our apartment is in full operation (thanks to the decorating expertise of Christi). Here are some basic pictures of what our place looks like.

Taking a Break in Shasta

One of the few fun parts of this trip was being able to stop, stretch, and have lunch in Shasta. What an amazing stretch of I-5! My good buddy Jeff, and I were able to toss around our bright yellow Ducks football we picked up in Roseburg - talk about quick therapy after many long hours of driving! I drove the moving truck (towing our Acura Integra) while Jeff drove our Isuzu Rodeo. I also had the best co-pilot, my other...better half, Christi.

My First Child

Upon agreement with a psychic I met on the street in Hillsdale, we've correctly predicted what the first picture (ultrasound) of my first child will look like.


Here's to the future 2007 NCAA National Champions, the Michigan Wolverines!!!

Just set up a blog page

I figured that with the big move and all that I should have some way to keep in touch with people, and to allow them a little closer into our new journey (since most of you will be in the far away state of Oregon). We'll try to keep you updated with news and photos of the newest happenings in our lives. With that said, we'll miss you all, and...go Diamonbacks???...no...it just doesn't sound right!