World Champion Cardinals!!!

Ok, so this post isn't directly related to Alzheimer's or to running. The Cardinals are the 2011 World Series Champions! I am one happy Cardinals' fan!! I know that my grandpa is up in heaven and is also one happy Cardinals' fan. I'm happy to know that he is up there knowing that the Cardinals won and able to remember all the Cardinals WS victories!

My brother and I were able to go to a game this year...what an amazing opportunity. Unfortunately, it was down in Texas. Unfortunately, the Cardinals lost that game. Fortunately, the Rangers did not win the series!

We had so much fun. It's something we'll remember for a lifetime.

Here are a couple of pictures.

Rangers Stadium


This is my favorite picture. Albert and Yadi look like they are having so much fun!




We were surrounded by Rangers fans, obviously. There was a girl sitting in the row below us. She was around 10 years old and a die-hard Rangers' fan. She wasn't sure what to make of us. I don't think she'd ever seen Cardinals' fans before...I've never gotten so many dirty looks from one person before. When Yadi had the hit that put the Cardinals up 2-0, Steven and I were on cloud 9. That first Rangers homerun that was hit to the section next to us look a little wind out of our sails. Even after the Rangers tied it up, we were still optimistic. It was only after the bullpen phone fiasco and Lance Lynn coming in to intentionally walk someone that we thought we might be in for a Cardinals loss. We were right...but the never say die Cardinals won the next 2 in St. Louis.

Maintain Your Brain - Word Sequences.

There are four words in a row, each of which is related to the one previous to it in some way. You will be given two choices to complete the five word sequence. The goal is to figure out which of the two comes next in the sequence.


1. sun, bun, fun, run, ...
a. pan
b. pun


2. arrive, immortal, attire, bass, ...
a. connect
b. deem


3. four, nine, leaf, tree, ...
a. nice
b. branch


4. I, am, two, call, ...
a. build
b. appearance


5. boy, man, mister, gent, ...
a. gal
b. guy


6. the, girl, loves, watching, ...
a. movies
b. she


7. scientist, Italian, inventor, controversial, ...
a. musician
b. Galileo


8. wow, dad, tot, pop, ...
a. mom
b. lip


9. answer, bright, crewcut, daring, ...
a. afraid
b. engaged


10. at, par, span, latch, ...
a. crabby
b. creamy


This puzzle is from The Total Brain Workout by Marcel Danesi, Ph.D.

Running - After All, It is in the Blog Title

The 2011 Chicago Marathon was today. Tomorrow will mark 1 year since the 2010 Chicago Marathon. A lot of things were going through my mind this morning.

I can't believe it's been a year, and I have barely started running again. My original plan was to take a month or two off and then pick up where I left off. Boy, is that not the way it's gone.

I started running again semi-consistently...a least twice a week. I restarted about 3 weeks ago. My first run back was amazing. The other day I remembered how much I loved running. Working out in my living room is just not the same. It's not actual ME time. When I'm running it's just the road and me. I don't have to worry about the dogs, John, work, errands, etc. I just have to worry about putting one foot in front of the other. I was so rejuvenated...I began to think about running the Germantown Half Marathon in March.

All of those positive thoughts came to a screeching halt today. I decided to go running to celebrate all those running the marathon today. I made it about half a mile and began to question why I was even running. The word failure kept playing through my mind. I felt like a failure for only running 18 of the 26.2 miles last year. I felt like a failure for deciding not to try again at the St. Jude Marathon 2 months later. I felt like a failure for not starting back to my running. I felt like a failure by going out to run 3 miles while wearing my Chicago Marathon shire. I felt like a failure for making my friends and family spend their time and money to come to Chicago to not see me cross the finish line. I couldn't shake these thoughts...I walked the half mile back to my house crying the whole way.

I'm going to try to go for a run tomorrow before work. Let's hope these negative thoughts leave my head.

Maintain Your Brain - MLB Playoff Edition

To celebrate the MLB playoffs, today's puzzle is baseball themed. It's also short and sweet, so that you can watch the games. :)


Question:

In a 9 inning playoff game, what is the minimum number of pitches that a pitcher, who pitches the whole game, can throw?


That's the puzzle. Have fun watching baseball!