Tizzel’s Christmas Countdown 2018 - Day Four

Perry Como, puppets, and Santa all at the same time.  Enjoy watching tv the old fashioned way - blurry.

Tizzel’s Christmas Countdown 2018 - Day Three

Sometimes your choice of decorations can go too far.

Tizzel’s Christmas Countdown 2018 - Day Two

Today’s short video shows the secret life of vegetables as carrot fights parsnip.   Thank you Aldi for the great animated ad.  

Tizzel’s Christmas Countdown 2018 - Day One

Ten days left until Christmas! Tizzel is ready to entertain you with this year's collection of holiday related videos. Each day he'll be posting something fun he found on YouTube.

Today we start with a fun little song that will likely be stuck in your head all day.  Enjoy Santa Shark.

State Number 50 Countdown: Best and Worst Race Medals

With the Maui Marathon almost a month away we wanted to look back on the experience of traveling to 49 states and the races Holly participated in.  Over the next few weeks we will post videos recapping the experience.  

Our first topic covers The Bling!  Race Medals come in all shapes and styles.  Some are great, creative designs.... others not so much!

Other videos: Race Swag, Breweries, Spaghetti and Meatballs, Destinations

2018 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon Race Report and Video - November 2018

Here is Holly’s report from the 2018 Monumental Marathon.  Following her report is a short video and comments by Dave.

This race was going to be my Fall marathon for 2018.   I wanted to do an actual road marathon in Indiana since my marathon for Indiana was that crazy indoor one.    If you are following along, you know I got talked into doing the Detroit Marathon two weeks before this one.   It did not go well and I was a little worried that this would be a slug fest as well.   The race weather looked similar, a bit chilly, but it did look like it would be sunny and it was supposed to get a bit warmer than Detroit.    I was bundled up at the start and this was another large race with big corrals.   Soon enough we were off and running.   

This was another relatively flat course and it took you through a bunch of nice neighborhoods and parks.   I was feeling good early on and was hoping it would continue.    Navigating this course was again a challenge for Dave but he did a good job and saw me a bunch of times.  I was doing this one solo and it was nice to see his smiling face several times.    

The sun did indeed come out and the weather was pretty much perfect for the entire race.    The race had some dead zones along a river trail and that was towards the end of the race where you are getting tired but the race tried it’s best to keep us entertained with trivia signs along the way.   

The spectators and volunteers were all great and I had fun interacting with them.   I remembered that this was supposed to be fun and fun is what I had!   I did have one issue at mile 7.  My hydration belt broke/malfunctioned.   I could not get it to clip back together.   I had to tie it in a knot around my waist, which was not comfortable at all and it kept sliding up towards my chest.   It was such a good look,  not!   I did start to get tired around mile 20 and had to walk a bit more but still kept a pretty good pace the rest of the way in.    

The finish line was fun, but I totally missed Dave, oops!   You got a medal and nice winter hat at the finish.    This time we slowly walked back to the hotel and took our time getting ready, because we were staying over.   We had a fun night bar hopping and then had a great steak dinner at the famous St. Elmo    It was a great day.   I’m glad I had a good race and now the big one is up next.   

Maui Oceanfront Marathon in January to get my 50th state.  I can’t wait!

 

Dave’s Comments

The day before the race and had to run out of a meeting to meet Holly in the parking lot so we could get to Indy before President Trump and the related traffic.  Fortunately it was only a little more than 3 hours from my office and we beat POTUS to town.  Unfortunately the best find I had near the hotel for pasta was Buca Di Beppo.  Yuck!  What made it even worse was the hostess stand was actually in the kitchen.  

The next morning I had to move the car out of the hotel so I wasn’t blocked in by the 5k.   The full course would have been manageable but the half and 5k ran on other downtown roads creating too many choke points for me.   After I saw Holly at Mile 2 I decided to take the long way to try to get to 5.5. It got a bit difficult navigating where I could cross the course and highway and I ran up to my planned point just as Holly showed up.   The rest of the course was not too hard to navigate and I got lucky with the ability to cross the course at several points.  I ended up at the finish line with enough time to have a beer at the well-placed finish line bar.  

Snacking was pretty good because I parked near a Whole Foods where I picked up coffee and baked goods.  I may have been a jerk at Mile ten and let the runners see me eating a darn good pecan tart. 

After the race we kept bar-hopping within walking distance to the hotel since dinner was only a few blocks away.   We ate lunch at The Tap - an extension of a brewery in Bloomington.  Even though nothing was brewed on-premise they had a great selection of their items and others on tap with some decent food. 

Afterwards we went to Rebar where they had self-serve beer taps, craft cocktails, and a nice whiskey collection.   After dinner at St. Elmo it was back to bed.  The next morning we left town and headed to get one of Holly’s favorite breakfasts:

Charity of the Month - Toys for Tots

Charity of the Month is a way Team Tizzel is helping to support some very worthy organizations. As part of this program, we will dedicate a post to a charity that we will sponsor through the month by donating Holly's training run money.

The last few months we supported Open Heart Magic and Cubs Care by donating money in honor of a young friend going through some heavy chemo treatments.

December's Charity:

Toys for Tots

Toys for Tots will always be our December charity for one simple reason: kids deserve presents at Christmas. The Marines do a great job organizing the massive task of collecting toys and funds, wrapping gifts, and distributing everything within a short window. Last weekend we enjoyed shopping for toys at a local big box store to drop into the donation box at our local brewery (win-win). We are also going to make a cash donation to help with the logistics.

For Marines who have stormed the beaches at Iwo Jima, liberated Kuwait, and recently served in Afghanistan, sorting toys and books may seem trivial by comparison. But with just three weeks left until Christmas, I assure you these Marines and volunteers face a tremendous challenge as they struggle to raise enough gifts for the 15 million children in this country living in poverty. Their mission is to make sure no child is forgotten this Christmas... ...especially since there are more children in need than donations coming in right now.

Please help if you have the means to do so! I have received numerous reports from our Marines and volunteers across the nation describing the situation: Some say: "The warehouse is nearly empty. We have many requests, but we can't fill them." Some say: "There are so many families that can barely put food on the table and won’t have a Christmas unless donations pick up..." And on the national level, I can report that we are unfortunately running behind the corporate donation level from where we were a year ago at this time. Every year, it's a massive effort to bring the joy and hope of Christmas to less fortunate boys and girls — and one we couldn't even attempt without the generosity of caring friends like you. This year is tougher than most — but we are the United States Marine Corps. We're used to taking on the toughest of challenges ... and winning! But time is running short and we need your support. Help us give ALL children a chance to believe in Santa and the goodness of this special season. Pease click the “Donate Now” button and make your contribution today.

If you'd like to help follow this link to donate.