My son and daughter-in-law are both in THE U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own" stationed in Washington, DC Fort Myer, Virginia It's the same band I was in, and my son's mom. So, it's wasn't much of a shock when Terry joined up.

It looks like there's gonna be ANOTHER generation of Bingham's in the Band. The shot is of Siena, singing the National Anthem, with Hunter doing the "screech" trumpet part and RayRay cheering them on. If I can figure out how to load up the video, I will. It's too funny for words.

These few days are a bit of a break, but then it will be full steam ahead. I'll get back home just in time to head to the Chicagoland Speeday for the NASCAR event this weekend. I'll be helping out at the Victory Junction Gang Camp tent, if you happen to be at the race.

After that, we'll all be in non-stop Chicago Distance Classic mode. The numbers are WAY up this year, and we're trying to keep that a secret from the City. I don't REALLY want to shut down registration. I figure, the more the merrier. RIGHT?

I hope to see some of you at the CDC on August 10.

John

OK. I think I've been on the road too long.

This trip started last Saturday. I flew to Seattle, drove to Tacoma, spoke, spent the night, drove to Seattle, drove BACK to Tacoma because I forgot my hanging bag in the hotel room, drove BACK to Seattle, spent the night, drove to Bellingham, spent the night, drove BACK to Seattle - and stopped at a Wal-Mart to buy a garment bag-, spent the night, FLEW to Anchorage - which is where I am right now.

SO! I check in, pull mail, get caught up a little and then start thinking about a run. I look at my watch, it's nearly 3 PM. I want to run at 4. THEN I THINK. I hope it doesn't start getting dark while I'm out there.

WHAT A MAROON! It's June 20. I'm in Anchorage, Alaska. The sun sort of goes down at - oh - 11 PM. Too many miles in too many days.

A couple of good things, though. While in Seattle I caught up with Mark Conners - formerly of Spenco - now with BodyGlide. Mark supported me early on when I was trying to get this whole "penguin" thing going. Without his help I never could have toured in 2000 and 2001. It was great to see him again.

Of course, I am a HUGE fan of BodyGlide. My number one rule is that anything that CAN rub together WILL rub together. If they sold BodyGlide in 50 gallon drums I'd probably have one. I use it liberally on all those sensitive areas that tend to rub or blister. It's great stuff and should be in every runner's bag of tricks.

OH, yeah, I got in my run, am back at the computer, and guess what? THE SUN IS STILL OUT! Go figure.

Most of the TEAM will get in tomorrow and then it's off to the TnT Pasta Party and race.

Waddle on,

I am often asked what it's like to be a writer, author, and columnist. Now, for those of you who DON'T know, there IS a difference. And there's a big difference between writers, authors, columnists, and JOURNALISTS. I am NOT a journalist. At least I don't think I am.

What's funny is that there's probably a new category: blogger, or blogist. I guess I am one of those.

A writer "writes". If you look at Runner's World you'll see what I mean. They "write" articles about things that are interesting to them, or interesting to someone. Basically everyone in the back half of Runner's World is a writer.

An author writes books. So, yeah, I've done that.

But mostly I am a columnist. I write columns. And I'm not a journalist because I'm not writing ABOUT anything except what's going on inside my head. Make no mistake, I like being a columnist.

A column starts as an idea, a thought, or a concept. Sometimes they are based on something that is happening, like when I was stopped by a train in Portland, sometimes they're based on something that has just happened, like the Goofy Challenge, and sometimes they're based on something that happened a LONG time ago. And sometimes, they're not based on anything at all.

The white board in the photo is where I put column titles. That's always the first step. If I can get a title, I can write a column. Some titles turn into columns almost overnight. One title "Pacing the Cage" was on the board for over two years before I could make it work. I've got one up there now "The Butterfly Effect" that I'm sure will be a good column as soon as I figure out what it's going to be.

There's no way to grind out a column, or at least not for me. If it's there, it's there. I just sort of watch the words appear on the screen. And when it's working, it's more fun than I can describe.

So, if you've got a thought, an idea, a passion, an experience - write about it. Don't worry if anyone EVER reads it. Just get it down.

All the best.

John

What a day. 20,000 finishers experienced what was the best day for a Rock 'n' Roll marathon in San Diego that I can remember. The clouds were there early on and when they left, blown away by a strong breeze, that breeze kept all of us comfortable for the 8 hours and 24 minutes it took to get everyone across the finish line.

All the great coaches, mentors, and staff from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program stay to the end and form a Tunnel of Love for the final finishers. It's quite a sight. What was once a dreary and lonely walk to the finish line has been transformed into an emotional high point for the participant and for everyone who sees it.

I'm on my way home for the longest break I've had in quite a while. I'll sleep in my own bed for 11 days before I take off for Takoma and the Dead Runner's Society convention. Then, it's off to Anchorage for the Mayor's Midnight Sun marathon with the "Team" THEN it's off to the high seas on the Great Alaskan Maritime Marathon.

In the meantime, preparations are going hot and heavy for the 2008 Chicago Distance Classic. The registration numbers are VERY strong and we're looking forward to a fantastic event.

NOTES FROM THE HEART:

As I mentioned, I'm going to try to spend a little time each week chronicling the past year. It's been scary, frustrating, hopeful, confusing, and everything in between. For now, I'm back to being able to run for about 30 minutes, 5 days a week. That's a LOT of running compared to most of the last year.

I'm grateful to be back out there.

John

I spent a wonderful weekend in - of all places - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. I was there to speak at the pasta party the night before their Marathon, Half Marathon, and 10K. And, I have to say it was one of the most pleasant all around event experience I have had in a long, long time.

The total participants in the 3 events was about 2100. There were about 800 people at the pasta party. That means that 1/3 of the participants showed up for the pasta dinner! I'd like to think it's because I was speaking, but I don't believe that that was the ONLY reason.

It is, they are, there is, a running community is Saskatoon. An honest-to-goodness running community. And as if to prove the point, Teresa the race announcer was calling out MANY of the finishers WITHOUT looking at her computer for their names.

Don't misunderstand, I like the big - let's say MEGA - events. I'm on my way to San Diego this weekend for the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, the "mother" of the destination marathons. It's a great race, a great time, and one of the best for first timers.

But, there is a charm to the smaller, local events that sometimes gets lost in all the bright lights of the major events.

**Programming note**

As some of you know, I've spent the last year trying to sort out cholesterol, statin, and heart issues. I'm going to spend some time on this forum chronicling the sequence of events that led to last week's angiogram. Stay tuned.

John

Now I know how the other half lives.

I traveled with Jenny and her Chicago Endurance Sports training group to the Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon. Because of a special "package" deal we stayed at the Four Seasons - Biltmore. Oh MY! It's an beautiful hotel, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, with gorgeous grounds. No way I could afford to stay there if we hadn't gotten a HUGE break on the price. But, it was nice to pretend to be rich for a weekend.

Somehow, I keep forgetting that just because it's California that doesn't mean it's going to be hot. Maybe because here in the midwest we imagine that there's nothing but fun and sun out there, but it WASN'T there this weekend. I own - without exaggeration - 20 fleece jackets or vest and DID NOT take one of them with me. So, I had to by a hooded sweatshirt just to survive the weekend.

The event itself was a bit of a mixed bag. Because I'm at so often a BIG races I'm always a little surprised at what "real world" events look like. They're often pretty low key affairs where the fun seems to come mostly from the social aspects of the experience. Most of the folks there were from the local running community and it was a chance for them to get together for a fun time.

The big difference at THIS race was the opportunity to do some wine tasting after you finished. I'm sure that provided MORE than enough motivation for the participants to keep moving. The course itself was very scenic and the only glitch I saw was that - somehow - they forgot to put out the mile markers! Other than that, though, it was a nice event.

This is a short week at home. I off to Ohio on Thursday.

Waddle on,

John