Ritchie County....Come On Down

So I started this blog on March 5^th….I was filtering through some of the entries and it really seems like all this just started…..We are now 30 days from the marathon….. I swear I was just running up the road thinking it was a solid 7-8 mile run and discovering it was MAYBE a little over 4 J

Train tickets have been confirmed…..hotel confirmed…..race confirmed…. Researching “to do’s”….   I discovered I’m off Monday (hello government holidays)…so I’ve already created my full day of things to do which is probably more then I would have done in a work day.  I need to get my orange shoes…orange running sleeves….you know necessities for the marathon to represent Team Fox.

I’m so excited earlier today we hit the $5,259 mark for fundraising!  I mailed out some additional donation request letters and flyers for the upcoming events.  I really think we can make this $10,000 mark happen!  There are over 200 runners for Team Fox….and just for those that may not know…. There are 42,000 runners in the NYC marathon….so yes…that’s pretty much the population of the 2^nd largest city in West Virginia (not to be confused with the MOST populated city of Morgantown given a game day….we discussed that fact with the governor’s wife Tuesday) J

Just to make a note of a Fun Friday story…..  Play this song…. It’s very catchy and I’m sure you’ve heard it before……

  (Price is Right Theme Song)

Now…. One of the funniest most random memories I have of dad coaching our XC team is cruising down the hill at the State Meet held in Elkins…..We had our CD of music selections (yes...they were rather random)…..dad cranks down the driver’s side window…. Turns up this song basically to full blast…..Slows the van down and starts Shouting… “Ritchie County Come On Down!!!!!”

Well….Ritchie County’s team is here (obviously)!  Dad was the biggest jokester….the biggest motivator….but don’t think he wasn’t direct, assertive, and competitive.  He had such a balance that his athletes wanted to do better…not for themselves…but for others…for him…for their teammates…, and I don't ever remember questioning anything he said.

I struggle today with so many excuses kids have.  Why they can’t do something..What happened to the  I’m going to do this…. there are coaches’ who dedicate so much of their time into making kids better….trust me coaches don’t do it for the money….if that is the case they make about a penny and hour, and being a business person…I reccomend I think they need to re-evaluate their investments.  Most do it for the kids….and I wish kids got that anymore, there is this sense of entitlement that has taken over where they should just ‘be good’ and that’s that.  If they aren’t it’s the coaches fault or someone else’s…….  I remember if there was ANYTHING I didn’t get….it wasn’t about an excuse…it was what are you going to do about it.  The answer 99% of the time….Work Harder.

Now sorry for the tangent….. BUT….  I reflect back on dad as a coach so much, and all these athletes that constantly check in on him, are concerned with him, and keep up with him….. What an amazing example he set…not just for me and my sisters, but from the people I get notes from regarding it. 

Now….after ranting and raving about that….I’m setting myself to not be allowed to complain about having a 3 hour run tomorrow, nor make up an excuse to shorten it or push it off a day J  Ugghhh these conscious thoughts I’ve had placed in my head over the years J  

Well…. I better get back to it…. I try to keep telling myself Rome wasn’t built in a day J

In-between the serious aspects of coaching....he of course had to get a picture with the Cow......

We Would Never Win a Spelling Bee......

I’ve decided dad and I possibly should have our own sit-com when it comes to us partnering together using his “Spell Chart” Sophie made for him.  For many of you that know, dad can’t actually “speak” anymore to where we can understand him (it is a condition over time with the loss of muscle control that is a side effects of some Parkinson’s patients), so…. there is a Letter chart Sophie made him for him to spell things to us.  Well….for those of you who know dad….spelling isn't one of his best traits (and I think I’ve touched on it before)….  Well if you’ve also picked up from my blog or communicated via Email much with me….spelling isn’t one of my best traits either J  I’m not even sure which words came first in our massive case of laughter during the day…but I fixed dad tomato soup…I was feeding it to him and towards the end of the bowl he kept trying to say something….I thought he was telling me he was sick and tired of it J…..I then got the letter chart…..he started to spell out letters…. C….R…..A…..C….K (well either I interrupted him or he kinda had a paused moment to get his fingers going again…another Parkinson’s effect)…but I kept saying DAD…I don’t have any Crack…what in the world… (laughing of course, knowing well enough I’m certain he didn’t actually mean CRACK) J….but my brain was stuck on CRACK…he was laughing to where he couldn’t spell anymore….then I finally realized he was trying to spell CRACK….ERS….  Oh of course…who doesn’t want crackers in their soup!?

This happened several times throughout the day……it tends to be dad and I’s biggest struggle when we are on schedule together J  I suppose it could always be worse…..you just never know how we may TRY to spell things between the 2 of us, but you’d think we’d be on the same level of bad spellers and it be easier…..  I’m just glad he doesn’t’ have to dictate what is capitalized or not….for those who have received notes/announcements from dad via him being a “coach to athletes” before where everything was in CAPS LOCK…… 

So after dad got his crack…..I mean his crackers…we did what 98% (that statistic is estimated…but probably suitable) of West Virginian’s were doing at Noon on Saturday…..watching the WVU/Baylor football game…our fist big game of the Big 12 conference…..  I will highlight the game in my blog…because we won J  See…. Let’s go back a few years…well…SEVERAL years J…… dad actually went and played his freshmen year at WVU….  He had gotten a scholarship graduating from Sherman High School in southern WV (which is a very small town)….and got noticed by WVU for his athletic talents.  I suppose he’s got some bragging rights…but let’s not get him started  J  Dad discovered though it just wasn’t “him” (And I think he missed playing multiple sports) and transferred later to play at Glenville State where he ended up taking over the record books...and of course the best thing…..he met my mom….therefore allowing me to be here today (and mom to help him with his homework) J  I’ve grown up answering the question MANY times… “Are you Terry Spangler’s Kid?”  When I answered with a “yeap”….it was usually responded very quickly “Ohhhh Man…I remember one time when he…….” (Sports related story)……   We use to tease dad we didn’t believe his stories, and now we have some random person justifying them to us…..   There are very few times we could top dad’s stories that started out...”When I was your age….”

The running continues to go well….I’m just lovin’ this time of year…. This past weekend’s long run was “only” 2 hours….it was funny how my approach to the run was feeling like it was such a short little thing compared to the 3 hours the weekend before….And it will be 3 hours this coming weekend.  Being out at the farm has helped a lot with the mental approach to a change of scenery and being further out where I have the road to myself most of the time.  I had some fun pictures I took to share (and of course have seemed to misplace my camera cord somewhere).  On Sunday I laced my shoes up and got my run in and had them pick me up on their way leaving the farm.    Last night’s run was nice…the sky was beautiful when I returned home, but the picture doesn’t seem to really do much justice. 

 

I’m booking our train tickets today….so NYC Watch out! J  We decided to make it a fun adventure up, driving to DC and visiting a few friends and then taking the train to the city. I’ve never taken a train in the US before (always Europe…but now feel bad not here)…so this will be a fun adventure all around J

We keep pushing towards our goal…..and I finished the flyer for our upcoming event on the 24^th of this Month….so if you’re interested…We’d LOVE to see you there…and make a little party before the trip to NYC.  Sponsorships for the event are available, tickets on sale….and we’ll see you there

AND....today marks the 30 days out.....AHHHHH :)