Politics and my job - Scene & Heard

Article and it's link about what's happening in my little world and how it may effect you all in Cuyahoga County...

http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2009/06/17/elsewhere-in-buyahoga-county

ELSEWHERE IN BUYAHOGA COUNTY …
Posted by Frank Lewis on Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 12:03 PM
When county Democrats chose Bedford city manager and ex-police chief Robert Reid to be the county’s new sheriff last month, they were clearly going with the shaker and not the mover. They passed over the candidate who so many on both sides of the vote believed was the more obvious candidate for a county with so much swindle at its oft-rotten core: Clayton Harris, a police academy chief and ex-Cleveland police commander from Collinwood who vowed to actually start enforcing all the laws for everyone, from county boss Jimmy Dimora on down. It was a perfect measure for how the county’s balance of political power clearly tilts toward the cozy ’burbs and away from the ailing city. But how often does the better candidate lose out to the better ass-kiss? Apparently, more often than not.

Last December, as part of a push to streamline costs and services, county commissioners voted to merge the Cuyahoga County Board of Mental Health and the Board of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services of Cuyahoga County. The new model gets unveiled July 1.

The two final candidates to lead the new monster came from dramatically different backgrounds: Dr. Russell Kaye holds a PhD in experimental psychology and is the head of the county’s alcohol and drug abuse services, working locally for nearly two decades. Bill Denihan (pictured) is a well-connected Dem party animal with no direct experience before taking his job at the helm of the county’s mental-health board five years ago. He’s a former Cleveland safety director who also worked, in recent years, as the appointed leader of the county’s Department of Children and Family Services and the claims director for the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation.

So what does the new board do? They give the job to Denihan, of course, and they don’t even offer Kaye a chair on the new board. Jim Joyner, another top former board member who worked first as a drug counselor and then as training manager for the county drug board, was also left out of the new planning. Both men tendered their resignations.

“Philosophically, across the nation, whenever the two [types of programs] have merged, it tends to submerge alcohol and other drug programs,” says Joyner.

Differing views on the nature of addiction now divide the new board, he added, and could affect future funding. He hopes the winner takes all … the advice he can: “Whatever Mr. Denihan may or may not have in terms of being qualified, it’s important for any leader to recognize what those limitations are and that they hire the right people with the right knowledge base. That’s what’s waiting to be seen in terms of formation.”

Kaye, who isn’t sure where he’ll work next, took Buddha’s path in recounting the last year: “The skill set he brings is what the new board of directors felt were more valuable at this time, and I respect that. Beyond staff and leadership, the most important thing in this are those in Cuyahoga County who need addiction and mental-health services. The true litmus test will be whether they benefit from this move. If services aren’t at least consistent or improved from where they’ve been, it doesn’t matter how much is saved.”

So experimental, his psychology.

Another county worker, who asked to remain anonymous to keep his mortgage paid, didn’t mince words: “I don’t understand why [Denihan] was picked. The only thing I could see was that it was political. When you match the qualifications of these two people, Dr. Kaye was head-and-shoulders above his competition. Denihan is one of the best at being a political animal. He knows how to play and maneuver, and he’s part of the Democratic machine here in the county, so people can make whatever conclusion they want.”

Maybe Kaye should have ponied up for some trips to Vegas. — Dan Harkins

Uncertainty

Somehow several weeks have passed with my updates, and yet the world continues to go on? That is odd....

So life has been flying by and yet creeping along at the same time. Summer is almost upon us and some mornings have been beautiful and some still a bit chilly...welcome to Cleveland! My running has been coming along, I haven't really been following my training schedule due to all the ups and downs going on around me but I have managed to keep on moving...and that is a good thing.

Week of May 18 - 24; I managed to get in just over 28 miles.
Week of May 25 - 31; 25 1/2 miles for the week.
Week of June 1 - 7; just over 31 miles for the week.
Week of June 8 - 14; just shy of 23 miles for the week.

So all-in-all the past four weeks haven't been bad. Last week and possibly the next couple weeks my miles will probably be in the low 20's or possibly below...but I am still keeping myself moving and that's where I need to keep my focus at right now. During this "down-time" of sorts though I am getting myself off the treadmill and am running outside. My heel is feeling it, but with continuing my stretching after 1 week of outside running it is actually feeling pretty good. This is a PLUS.

As for the rest of my life...I've mentioned my lay-off and we received the official paperwork and even though I knew it was coming, it still was enough to make you feel like you'd gotten punched in the gut. As of today there are 12 business days left and we are STILL waiting to find out who is and isn't going forward. As a quick recap - I work the government, the county government. They are closing two departments and opening one combined department supposedly with a mix of people from each of the previous two departments. They have hired the directors (all from the department I am not in) and have interviewed and selected a few of the manager positions. As for the rest of us "line-staff", we are waiting to be interviewed...and rumors are surfacing and drama is ensuing and tensions are rising. It's good times!

But as I get sucked into all that is going on I try to remind myself every so often that whatever is best for me, is what will happen and whatever happens I will make the most of the situation! It's like my running...just keep moving, in the end you always feel better than you did at the start! Sometimes you stumble and fall but you just pick yourself up, make sure your not exposing yourself, dust yourself off and keep right on moving...

oh and running blogger Steve is hosting a great contest to win free shoes!!!! SHOES, FOR FREE!!!! check him out to see how to get your name into the contest - http://iwannagetphysical.blogspot.com/

Moving Along

Not much going on, just more of the same. Still struggling with my left foot some from my vacation back at the beginning of the month. Decided to hold off on running the 10k at the Cleveland Marathon...there are plenty more races to come this summer and I really want to get things right with my foot again.

Week of May 4th - May 10th, even with the foot issues managed to get in about 18 miles. Was in Put-In-Bay over Mother's Day weekend and before heading home on Sunday I got out to run the 5k course for the race there the end of September.

Week of may 11th - 17th, got in just shy of 27 miles, so not too bad.

I'm a little bummed since it doesn't look like I'll be getting in a race this month although the Magnificat Run is really close to home, who knows it may be a Saturday night/Sunday morning decision. I'd like to try my hand at another race longer than a 5k, but again the summer has yet to begin and there are plenty of races left.

Re-Running

So...I ran my 10-miler, de-hydrated and beat down but as I mentioned in my last update (if you managed to make it alllllll the way through to the end), I got back up on the horse or well the treadmill and gave it a go again. It was tough and a little uncomfortable, but I ran a couple miles on Monday, then pushed it to five miles on both Tuesday and Wednesday, and then squeaked out 8 on Thursday knowing I'd be on vacation and not see the gym until Monday... I'm not going to lie, there were glimpses of the way I felt laying in bed Saturday after completing the race, I think there may have even been a few dry heaves in there...but I ran. I ran because it's what I've been working so hard towards being able to do. I ran because that's what I started doing after my brother and my Dad died -- if I quit running now, it might be like saying good-bye to them all over again. I ran because it is who I want to be. It was uncomfortable. But then again, don't we usually have to get through the uncertainty of things, the uncomfortable areas in our lives in order to get to the sweet sweet rewards in the end -- and oh how much sweeter they are when you've had to really work towards getting them. So, I ran.

Thursday evening a friend and I headed out to South Carolina for a couple of days. We drove straight through the night alternating drivers every 3 or so hours. The time went by amazingly quick and the hours were filled with laughter and good conversation. We finally stopped at a rest area just outside of Charleston and crashed for a couple of hours then headed off for breakfast and a few other stops before heading to the resort we were staying at on Isle of Palms. We got there and our bungalow was ready...it was beautiful. The beach was just a minute from our spot and we were practically pool-side. There were only a few other people in the surrounding bungalows in our little area, it was great!! I ran on the beach for the first time ever on Saturday. Not really sure how far I ran, but I ran for 60 minutes which is about 5 miles for me, so that's what I'm sticking with. It was tougher than I thought it would be and my hips tightened up after about the first 20 minutes -- but it was beautiful, the sounds of the ocean and people living and loving life on the beach. I had my music going but had it turned so far down I could barely hear it, I was loving just taking in the sounds of my surroundings. Time passed fairly quick, a whole lot quicker than the treadmill that is for sure! A few hours after running, my left heel was a little sore. Woke up early on Sunday to get in a run before leaving and my heel really hurt...so I ran. Ok, I'm not the brightest -- yes, and this has been well documented if you've read previous posts. Was windier on Sunday, so stopped and walked for a bit mid-way through the run but still put in my 60 minutes -- so since the effort was the same, I'm going with calling it another 5 miles.

Totals for the week somewhere around 34 miles. Worked out twice with Trainer-Steve, who is finally back from his vacation.

Injury update, I clearly caused the plantar fasciitis to flair up in my left foot with running on the beach so have taken both yesterday and today off from running. Most of Monday at the gym was spent with Trainer-Steve getting stretched out followed by a short workout. Scheduled to workout with him again on Wednesday and Friday morning (before heading out for another weekend away).

Trainer-Steve brought up the Cleveland Marathon and running the Half. However with the current soreness and being away this past weekend and this next weekend I just don't think I'm ready to try my hand at it. I was however, on the website this morning checking out fees and I noticed the 10k registration...I'd forgotten about them doing the 10k also...hmmm, what to do, what to do...

More of the normal stuff and a race report

Long Long post (although most of 'em are...I am rather wordy...)

Workouts for the week of the 20th were pretty status quo, this was my 2nd week of workouts without Trainer-Steve due to his vacation time in Florida.

4/20 - Monday - I started out the week with running another 13.1 miles. The miles went by easy enough but was really bored by time the first two hours had passed and was REALLY wishing I could run faster just to get it all over with, but I refused to give in to the temptation to increase my speed.

4/21 - Tuesday - scheduled rest day, that I actually took and actually did nothing other than a few stretches and some use of the foam roller on the legs.

4/22 - Wednesday - run 5 miles

4/23 - Thursday - weight training, lower body. Didn't do a killer session like I had last week, followed up with some walking on the treadmill to help stretch out the legs after the weights.

4/24 - Friday - weight training, upper body. Run for two miles.

4/25 - Saturday - Hermes 10 miler.

4/26 - Sunday - scheduled rest day.


Saturday I ran my first race longer than a 5k and for some crazy reason I decided a 10-miler would be appropriate...

Seriously don't know what I was thinking...

But anywho... Had a rough time falling asleep the night before, definitely a case of pre-race, "what were you thinking when you registered for 10 miles" jitters. Somewhere around 11:30'ish I finally fell asleep, only to wake up about 3 times during the night thinking I'd overslept! The alarm finally went off sometime around 6:15 or so and was shortly followed by a text from Trainer-Steve telling me to get my ass in gear cause he was sure I was laying in bed doubting myself and that it was a great day for a race, that I'd do great and he had confidence in me and reassured me that I'd trained correctly (scary how well he knows me sometimes, lol). I texted him back saying thanks and that I was just getting moving and I'd let him know how it went once it was over. Got up took a shower to help ease the nerves, got dressed and grabbed something to eat.

I got to Edgewater way early, especially since I'd picked up my race packet the day before but I wanted to be sure to get a good parking spot. I called my Mom's house to see if she and my **sister** were still there, but they'd already left. I walked up to the top of where the race was to start and it was crazy, the lines for the port-o's was nuts so I walked back down the hill where the lines were basically only two people deep, then walked back up the hill to the the starting area. The 5-K had already taken off and we had about 15 minutes before we'd start. Suddenly I heard my name and looked around and there was my sister and my Mom! (I was SO happy to see them before the race). They'd come prepared with their homemade cowbells (stones inside soda cans closed up with duct tape) - thanks to my niece Miranda for telling them about the noisemakers! So chatted with them for a few minutes and then got in line with the mass of people waiting to start, I could hear my family off to the side and it just made me smile...I was ready!, and then we were off.

**side note** - My sister Linda, from Michigan came in for the weekend JUST to bring my Mom to the race so that they could cheer for me. I'd mentioned it to her a couple weeks ago that I was really excited doing this race and how it was a really big deal to me. I hadn't really expected her to come down, but earlier in the week my Mom had mentioned that my sister was coming in for the race. Very Very Cool!

People were passing me alot on the little downhill out of the park, but I just kept repeating to myself to take it slow, run my race, don't start fast cause there is LOTS of miles ahead! Mile one came up, 10:31...hmmm, ok, not so bad, faster than I had really expected or wanted since I've only just started running at 11:30 on the treadmill. Before I knew it we'd crossed over into Lakewood and were coming up on the first water stop and runners were stopped everywhere so I moved to the left of the cones and just kept on moving...my new focus was to get to Lakewood Park and then the turn-around at Webb. My friend Esther would be at Webb...get to Lakewood Park, get to Webb, see Esther...my mantra began... Before the race I'd written down a few mantra's to help get me through the race, I'm used to running on the treadmill with my music and wasn't running the race with any so figured the repetition of mantra's would help get me through. As I approached the 3-mile marker I briefly wished I'd signed up for only the 5-k, lol (I realize now I had similar thoughts later in the race after passing the 5 and 6 mile posts - I mean seriously shouldn't I had tried a 5 miler or a 10-k before advancing to a 10-miler!!! - lol - just like me though to leap before looking).

As I approached Webb and the turn-around there was no sight of Esther. The turnaround was congested with the water stop right there and the road was actually slick from runners tossing their water, I actually slipped a little and ran into two other runners who'd decided to start walking suddenly. The turnaround wasn't exactly the halfway point and a few of the relay folks were a little confused. I continued to look for my friend but alas, she'd either not been able to make it or I had somehow missed her - bummer. The 5 mile mark was just before passing Lakewood Park on the way back and from there until the Cleveland line things were uneventful and not really sure what went through my mind. The temp was starting to rise and some folks had a sprinkler set up on their tree lawn that most of us took advantage of running through... It was nice to feel like a little kid again, apart of me wanted to turn around and go through again but figured I'd better just keep moving forward, lol.

Once we passed the entrance to Edgewater Park, we continued into Cleveland. Now this area I was a little less familiar with but was really happy I'd decided to drive it on Friday just so I knew what was to be expected. And I knew once I hit this section I was almost there...8 miles done! There was a water stop at 8, and I'd only grabbed one cup of water that immediately went down my back to help cool me down...I wished I'd grabbed a second to pour down the front of me. It's not that it was THAT hot, but between the temp rising and my internal temp increasing realizing that with each step I was ACTUALLY getting closer and closer to pulling this thing off!!!

Once we passed the mile 9 marker I knew I'd had this thing completed and actually wondering in one second if I could pull off running another 3 miles for a half-marathon distance and in the next thought thinking that I just needed to get to the finish line and I'd NEVER have to do this again, and in the next thought I laughed at myself -- "yeah, at least not until the next race"... As we came out from a little tunnel and a couple of turns I could hear it in the distance...not exactly a cowbell, but that wonderful sound of stones in a couple of cans!!! My Mom!! My Sister!! There they were shaking those cans like crazy and cheering for me and all the other runners!

Within the last quarter-mile of the race, there was a somber moment...an ambulance was off to the side and lots of folks were tending to a runner that was down. I then could hear the huffs and puffs of some runners breathing hard and passing me literally on my left and right. Now this is usually where I try to find that extra kick, but I knew I was tired and hot and I'd come way to far to fail now so I let them pass without giving chase. It was ok. This was my race to finish, on my terms, in my own comfort level. A couple of people who work out at the gym I do were near the finish and gave me a cheer (they also gave me a cheer during the race when we crossed paths, they were on their way back towards 5 miles, I was just getting to 3 or 4 -- again, thanks to them and to Trainer-Steve for texting them while on vaca to tell them I was running my first 10-miler).

Found my Mom and Sister after the race and walked a bit and sat a bit. They told me that after seeing me off at the start of the race they'd hopped into the car and tried tracking me down on the course. They ran into my friend Esther around Webb, but I was no where in sight... I was running faster than I'd anticipated so they'd just missed me. The family tried to catch me at a couple other points and finally decided to head back to the Park so as to not miss me at the end of the race.

The final results - well aside from the numbers, I was reminded that I have some VERY AWESOME people in my life!!

As for the numbers -

1st Leg - 49/59 AG; time - 52:13.84; pace - 10:27
2nd Leg - 45/59 AG; time - 54:23.50; pace - 10:53
Finish - 46/59 AG; 792 Overall; time - 1:46:37.34; pace - 10:40

My personal goals for this race
1) expect to finish in over 2 hours, 2 hours if lucky
2) finish the race
3) try to finish the race running

Goal 1, accomplished by more than 14 minutes. Goal 2, check. Goal 3, check - I ran the entire race, other than a very brief moment at a water stop when another runner and myself both reached for the same cup and I had to pause for a moment for the volunteer to grab another.

Just a few more brief comments...
I've questioned whether I'd ever run this distance or longer and then I questioned if I'd ever run again a few hours after this race. It was a very sad and confusing time. I was happy and I completely awful! I hadn't drank enough water leading into this race and apparently didn't keep hydrated enough during...I was apparently suffering some pretty intense heat exhaustion. I hadn't felt so lost or confused before. Within 4 hours of the race I wasn't able to keep anything down, my head was pounding and all I could do was sleep. I felt awful, my sister had come from Michigan and more family was over at my Mom's and I couldn't be there, I wanted to share my joy of completing this race and I could barely do anything but move between my bed and the bathroom. Trainer-Steve was back in town on Saturday evening and had called to see how my legs were doing and to congratulate me and instead was greeted with a sobby, disoriented person. Thankfully, he guided me through and even came by to check on me on Sunday and called several times to make sure I was doing better. Yesterday, Monday, I had a training session with Steve and after the thought of running made my stomach turn, but with some gentle guidance I got on the treadmill to just run a mile, which turned into 2 and I was suddenly feeling better about running in general. Today I managed to squeak out 5 and am already planning on 10 for Thursday, maybe...

Decisions made

My bank account is $35 less. On a whim while sitting at my Mom's watching the awesome Cavs and Indians games, I did it, I registered for the Hermes 10-miler next weekend. There's some mixed feelings towards this, but mostly amazement since just 4 months ago I was just barely starting to run again and now I'm looking at a 10-miler and have thoughts of running a half marathon possibly much sooner that my December goal.

The rest of my week following Mondays 13.1 mile run was good. I took my scheduled rest days and ran according to plan. Trainer-Steve is on vacation for two weeks so am on my own...

4/13 - run 13.1
4/14 - rest day
4/15 - run 5 miles
4/16 - lower body workout
4/17 - run 5 miles, legs sore from workout
4/18 - upper body workout
4/19 - rest day, stretching back and foam rolling legs - really over did that lower body workout on Thursday!

Decisions...

Well the countdown of "days left of employment" has begun in these here parts (55 business-days including today), and that is just sort of depressing. What once may have held a vague interest and excitement of changes has turned to basically political mud-slinging...and unfortunately we/I am on the receiving end. Some of us that are trying to remain light and up-beat (I mean you can either laugh or cry about this...and laughing is so much better for the soul) about the situation have envisioned an 'American Idol' sort of first day at the new job...as we file into the office we are separated into two groups and sent into two different conference rooms; suddenly the "man" walks in and says you are dismissed, while simultaneously the other group of staffers is being told they have been accepted. But there is always hope that our soon to be new "boss" will select me and/or a few others from these parts to move forward for at least a couple more months. I suppose only time will tell, in 55 business-days to be exact.

On to other stuff now -- I am continuing to follow the plan that trainer-Steve has laid out for me with my running (even though I still protest rest days). So my schedule for the past two weeks went something like this:

3/30 - scheduled rest day - walked for 15 minutes on treadmill, lots of stretching, little bit of ab work.
3/31 - run 5 miles
4/01 - training session with Steve, elliptical for 4.68 miles
4/02 - run 6 miles
4/03 - elliptical for 7.36 miles
4/04 - elliptical, bike, walking on treadmill for a combined half hour and 4.5 miles then training session with Steve followed up by walking 4.62 miles on the treadmill.
4/05 - run 10 miles

4/06 - scheduled rest day - walked for 1.5 miles on treadmill, stretching and ab work
4/07 - training session with Steve followed by 4.25 miles walking on treadmill
4/08 - run 5 miles
4/09 - training session with Steve followed by 3.47 miles walking on treadmill
4/10 - run 5 miles
4/11 - training session with Steve followed by 4.66 miles walking on treadmill
4/12 - scheduled day off -- and I actually stayed away from the gym and rested, I suppose being Easter helped!

With the upcoming work merger I have lots of time off coming that I need to take so am hoping to work in my days off work with scheduling my longer runs. I am basically taking off Monday's and Friday's from now until the end of June and then scheduling a bunch of other days off as well. Anyhow, I was off work yesterday, April 13th. I slept in some (not on purpose really) and headed off to the gym and got there about 9am. Did my normal stretching and assessing of how my back was feeling and then found a treadmill in the front row directly in front of the only tv now scheduled to show ESPN. I did a little more stretching, a little walking warm-up and then set the treadmill up for my slow 12 minute mile pace for 60 minutes...when that time was up, I stretched just a little bit, grabbed some water and some gum and re-set the machine for another 60 minutes...things were going well until about halfway through when ESPN was now repeating headlines and the gym was pretty empty so there was no one to really watch and my music was also repeating; for a brief moment I thought of giving up, I began to imagine that my legs and feet were hurting. I took my headphones off for a bit and tried to just focus on running. My thoughts turned to all I have come through in the past year to be in this moment right here and now! I wished trainer-Steve wasn't on vacation, I could use his butt-kicking right about now, but just thinking about him for a moment and I could hear his voice "U CAN DO IT...U WILL DO IT". Meanwhile while all this was going on in my head, the last 30 minutes had ticked by and it was time to re-set the treadmill one last time, and this time for 38 minutes. I was refreshed, I was re-energized, a new batch of people had come into the gym and this was it...I was just 3.1 miles away from completing my first 13.1 half-marathon distance run! With just a mile and a half to go I'd received a text from trainer-Steve asking how it was going, I responded saying I was almost done and that I'd text him when it was complete. 12:01pm - text message was sent - I had just completed by first half-marathon distance run *. Yeah Me!!

Now, comes the decision making time...the Hermes 10-Miler. It is just 11 days away, I need to decide if I should sign up and attempt it or not. I am still leery about running on pavement, even though my foot did not bother me after the 5k, I'm pretty sure the fear is all psychological... Ugh, a decision needs to be made...


*note, yes I did just say that it was my first, meaning there will be more to follow...