Indiana

Introducing Shaun: my guest blogging brother!

by Shauny Dubbz on May 11, 2010

What’s up? My name is Shaun. I’m 31 and I’m from South Bend, Indiana. Oh and I guess I should mention; I’m Courtney’s better looking (and more refined, oops!) older brother.

Since Courtney’s been bugging me to do a guest blog on my dating life, I figured I’d do one on the half marathon I just ran in Indianapolis! Because dude, I rather talk about that.

An out of shape, beer drinking 29-year old

All through high school I was an athlete. I played on two State Championship football teams and eventually went on to play college football.  After two years though, I decided I was done with football and transferred to Indiana University. Cue the beer drinking! And somewhere along the line, I lost my desire to work out and stay in shape. 

Fast forward a few years and I was an out of shape, beer drinking smoker at 29 years old.  Around this time, I was out at a bar one night and met an attractive girl who told me she was a marathon runner.  I thought; “Wow, I can’t imagine running that far.”  So one day in August, in an attempt to find more in common with this girl (and maybe impress her!), I went out for a run.  I can remember how hot it was and how bad it hurt.  I thought to myself; “Lord, I hope this girl is worth the pain.” I ended up running 1.2 miles and almost died!  A week later, I ran 1.3 miles.  I decided to set a New Year’s resolution and the goal was to run 3 miles by the end of February. And thankfully, I did it! 

In June, I ran the local Sunburst 5k, and amazingly, I finished in 26:57! At this point, I realized I was hooked. I went on to run a number of different 5Ks and even a 10K and then I decided I needed to run a half marathon!  I wanted to run the Indianapolis Mini because I knew a lot of people that ran it and I wanted a chance to run on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  I got the Hal Higdon 1/2 marathon training calendar and stuck to it for 12 weeks, and made a goal to run it in under 2 hours.

The moment of truth

On the morning of the race it was cold, but I was pumped – the atmosphere was electric!  I started the race out with a friend, but it quickly became obvy that she couldn’t keep up with me – so I had to leave her in my dust (sorry, Cid!). I was really going at a good clip! And then the worst thing happened – my calf started getting tighter and tighter until I couldn’t run anymore! I don’t know if it was the cold weather, but at mile two I stopped and stretched my calf out (and said a little prayer!).  This couldn’t be happening to me; I’ve trained too hard and put in too many miles! Of course, this happened two or three more times within the first 3 or 4 miles. GEEZ!  I powered through the pain for the next 8 miles though, and then I was back in business.  I had a good playlist in my iPod that gave me lots of inspiration and motivation.  I was feeling pretty great when I started seeing the downtown skyline.  This added some pep to my step because I knew the race was almost over, but it also made me a bit melancholy because I knew all of that hard work was coming to an end. 

Proof: I'm awesome!!

I quickly reached for my iPod and cued up a little Joe Esposito “You’re the Best” (from “Karate Kid”, HA!) and I watched as the 3/4 and 1/2 mile signs came and went.  As I was nearing the finish line, I looked up at the camera and smiled – or maybe it was a grimace, but I was happy.  I was DONE!  And then it hit me.  I got a little emotional thinking about just how far I’d come from the beer drinking, cigarette smoking, out of shape Shaun – to the 1/2 marathon running veteran in tip top shape! And get this – I finished 1:59:00 on the dot! 

The race proved to be one of the most enjoyable times of my life.  The twelve week training program really prepared me for the race and that preparation also helped me to overcome adversity when I hurt myself in the beginning.  The mental toughness I’ve gained as a runner is immeasurable.  I definitely plan to run this race again!

As for the girl, well, we’re just friends now. But I give her a lot of credit for helping me to turn my life around. It’s funny, because in the beginning this whole thing was about a girl. But in the end I realized, it’s about me. I didn’t just grow as an athlete with this experience – I grew as a person. And that’s the best feeling of all.

Now, someone get me a cold beer! 

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People, wake up! STOP SMOKING CIGARETTES!

by Courtney on March 30, 2010

I stood behind a man smoking at a crosswalk today, and it made me really mad. It’s not because the smell of cigarette smoke has become utterly foreign to me in the state of California and I’ve become accustomed to fresh air. No. It’s because today my dad’s best friend died of lung cancer, and this man in front of me was enjoying his cancer stick a little too much for my taste.

I just can’t understand it.  As much as we know about the dangers of cigarette smoking, why do people continue to puff away? I get it for generations passed, because they didn’t know then what we know now. But now we just know too much to ignore the plain facts: SMOKING CAN KILL YOU!

And the rebuttal; “Well if this doesn’t get me, something else will” is a total cop out. And it’s selfish. Because it’s not just about you; it affects everyone else around you, most importantly, your family. And your friends.

I know it must be the hardest thing ever for someone to kick the habit. It’s an addiction. And the condition wouldn’t have thousands of programs and reality TV shows dedicated to it if it wasn’t a serious problem. But the reality is; it’s possible to quit. In fact, thousands of people do it every day. So it’s about a choice.

My dad made the choice to quit in his ‘20s when he was a chain smoking soldier in Vietnam. He said he quit “cold turkey – the only way to do it”. My brother recently quit as he took up running and realized that running and being healthy doesn’t jive with sucking tar into his lungs 12 times a day. The list of success stories that I know of goes on and on.

But not everyone made the choice.  Or if they did, the damage had already been done. This is the unfortunate circumstance of Jon, my dad’s BFF and one of the nicest, sweetest men I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. I’ve known Jon most of my life and he’s one of those people that always had a smile on his face and a joke behind it. Let me emphasize; he was one hell of a jokester. If it wasn’t what he was saying, it was how he said it in that southern Indiana drawl that added the final effect to a well delivered punch line. I loved throwing back Bud Lights with Jon in the summertime, sitting on a picnic table behind his house in the southern town of Mitchell, Indiana, where most of my dad’s best high school buddies reside.  Sadly now, Mitchell will never be the same to me.  And it absolutely breaks my heart.

I wish everyone who curls that cigarette toward their mouth and takes a long euphoric drag could think about the very real scenario of leaving the party (of life) too early, while everyone you love is just getting their second wind. And you haven’t had a chance to do all that you wanted to do in life.

Don’t simply live in the here and now. You’ve got to make decisions that will impact your life in a positive way for the long haul. It’s never too late. I’m a firm believer that you can do anything you set your mind to. You never know what you’re capable of until you try. And try hard.

I just really needed to get that off my chest.

RIP Jon Allen. You will be forever missed.

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Dear twenties: so long

by Courtney on March 17, 2010

What can I say? We’ve known each other for ten years now and we’ve had some great times. It’s been with you that I’ve had my pivotal years of maturity and growth. As much as I’m trying to tout this new chapter in my life called the “dirty thirties” as an exciting new place to be, I can’t pretend that I’m not going to miss you just a little bit. So before I leave you, I thought I’d give a proper goodbye.

When we met, I was an unabashed college student in Indiana with hardly a care in the world. I made some of my best friends to this day in that first year, learned how to live with 100 girls, and realized that the attitude “my way is the right way and your way is the highway” no longer works in this new setting.

With you, I graduated college and embarked on a new chapter into the unknown…the chapter of responsibility. I had my first job and quickly realized it’s not the right job. Then I had a job that was way over my head, struggled with the learning curve, and finally found my way.

A little more than halfway through our time together, I got married to my long time boyfriend, Jeff, and within a year, we shipped off to sunny California. I spent a year and half working in corporate retail where I thought it was going to be all fashion and glamour and realized it’s nothing but stress and overtime. It was here that I grew a set of balls, walked into my boss’ office and told her where this job could go. Ok, I didn’t really say that. But I told her I didn’t love it. And if I’m going to spend half my life at a job, I need to love it. And now, I love my job.

I became a mom to a beautiful red puppy named Indy and he’s been my pride and joy, or what I like to call my “training wheels” for the real mommy job! And in my final year with you, I entered the blogosphere and found that I have an intense passion for writing and creating this little space that is whatever I want it to be.

On my 29th birthday I got a little freaked out at the prospect of leaving you, because I’ve always seen you as the definition of youth. When I was younger, my mom would apply her makeup in the mirror side by side with me, and she’d look at me and say; “Courtney, I used to have eyes like yours.” I’d of course roll my eyes and complain that she needs to just accept getting older and aging! Ew! What a brat I was! But now I understand. Because now I have laugh lines — and like five gray hairs!

Turning thirty represents a whole new set of unknown chapters which will likely trump any challenge I’ve had to date; such as (God willing) having a baby, raising a solid kid, being a steady and reasonable mom, and balancing a career, family, and home. I’m excited for this next phase of my life and downright jubilant at the possibilities.

I’ve accepted the passing of my twenties now and learned to embrace my thirties with confidence and humor. Some people might say they were ready to kiss their twenties goodbye, like I might say I was ready to kiss high school goodbye. But I’ll always have a soft spot for the carefree, career newbie, bride to be, Midwestern girl gone Cali that was my twenties.

So long twentysomething. Hi thirty, it’s nice to meet you.

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