13.1 Miles of Fun

Training For Your First Half

OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon

The 34th Running of the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon takes place on Saturday, May 8, 2010. The Mini has sold-out for the past seven years, with 35,000 registrants in 2009, and an additional 4,000 participants in the Finish Line 500 Festival 5K. The Mini-Marathon is the largest half-marathon in the U.S., and overall, the fifth largest running event in America. The 2009 event sold out on December 26, 2008.

YES......... Dan and Bob have officially signed up for the 13.1 miles of fun!!! Beth? Donna? David? Who else will join the fun? Will Dan be able to run the entire course? Will Bob beat his previous time? More to come.... Dan

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
1	Stretch & Strengthen	3 m run	2 m run or cross	3 m run + strength	Rest	30 min cross	4 m run
2	Stretch & Strengthen	3 m run	2 m run or cross	3 m run + strength	Rest	30 min cross	4 m run
3	Stretch & Strengthen	3.5 m run	2 m run or cross	3.5 m run + strength	Rest	40 min cross	5 m run
4	Stretch & Strengthen	3.5 m run	2 m run or cross	3.5 m run + strength	Rest	40 min cross	5 m run
5	Stretch & Strengthen	4 m run	2 m run or cross	4 m run + strength	Rest	40 min cross	6 m run
6	Stretch & Strengthen	4 m run	2 m run or cross	4 m run + strength	Rest or easy run	Rest	5-K Race
7	Stretch & Strengthen	4.5 m run	3 m run or cross	4.5 m run + strength	Rest	50 min cross	7 m run
8	Stretch & Strengthen	4.5 m run	3 m run or cross	4.5 m run + strength	Rest	50 min cross	8 m run
9	Stretch & Strengthen	5 m run	3 m run or cross	5 m run + strength	Rest or easy run	Rest	10-K Race
10	Stretch & Strengthen	5 m run	3 m run or cross	5 m run + strength	Rest	60 min cross	9 m run
11	Stretch & Strengthen	5 m run	3 m run or cross	5 m run + strength	Rest	60 min cross	10 m run
12	Stretch & Strengthen	4 m run	3 m run or cross	2 m run	Rest	Rest	Half Marathon

Amazing Dominos!

Will came by this Sunday afternoon and played with some dominos! We captured his table filling domino action and created a fun video. Will added some cool animations and effects to the video to make it even better! Cool!

Amazing Dominos from Dan Lund on Vimeo.

Will created this amazing video! Wow! That's Amazing!

Trebuchet

For Christmas, I received a table top trebuchet. A trebuchet is similiar to catapult but uses a counterweight instead of tension. During the summer, Fletcher was over at my house with his son, Will. While we talked, Will became excited by my little trebuchet. He busily launched nuts and rocks down the driveway into the street. Being an excited boy, he wanted to build a bigger one! Bingo! Now I had a reason to build a bigger trebuchet! Over the course of the summer, with the help of Will and his cousin, the trebuchet slowly took form in my garage. As the weather began to cool and pumpkins began to show up in the stores, we had a sudden rush to finish our project. Last Saturday, the trebuchet emerged from the garage and was placed on the sidewalk for its first launch! We carefully loaded it with weight and placed a football in the sling. We watched as the weight dropped, the sling moved, and the football sailed ten feet in the wrong direction! AHH! After some fine tuning, our fifth attempted sailed 90 feet in the correct direction! A Success! The video below shows the launch and the outcome. Unfortunately, the video was focused on the trebuchet (so we could watch and see what was going wrong!) so I'll post an updated video in a few days with a wider angle!

We are so excited for the new Mr. and Mrs. Lund!

Wedding Bells!

Wedding bells will soon be ringing for Dave and Christa! We are excited for our trip out to Ft. Collins. It should be a fun packed weekend! Dan is trying to find a creative costume for the Tour de Fat. I am looking forward to see Dan ride a bike, while drinking some great Fat Tire; should prove to be entertaining. The wedding will be Sunday and I am sure we will be posting pictures quickly. I'm looking forward to seeing all of the Lund's, seems like it's been awhile since we were all together.

On the other side of the family, lots of prayers and good thoughts are heading to Melissa, Shaun and Bryce. We found out a week ago that Shaun has colon cancer. He returned home today after a week's stay at the hospital to recuperate from his surgery and prepare to fight like crazy. Shaun is young, healthy and very motivated to be a survivor for a very very long time. LOVE YOU SHAUN!

Caryn's Bridal Shower

Baby Jack Will Hate Me When He's Older

I think the title says it all! Enjoy this special moment!

Future Cub?

Some random footage taken of Sarah catching and throwing a ball during Baby Jack's party in July. - Dan

Dr. Thal's Presentation - Original

This is the original footage of Melissa Thal's public defense at the University of Alabama Birmingham. Please Enjoy.

-Dan

Dr. Thal's presentation

Dr Thal Public Defense from Dan Lund on Vimeo.

Melissa Thal's final presentation of her work at University of Alabama Birmingham.

Dr. Thal

Dan and I were lucky to witness my sister, Melissa complete her PhD process with her public defense. She was incredible, talking for 45 minutes on b-cell development. We all had our points where we said "Huh?", but are very proud of her!

We also were able to meet our nephew, Bryce. He is so cute and adorable! It was great to see everyone, had been way too long!

Our God Son!

Dan and I are very lucky to be named Godparents to baby Jack. He is so adorable and sweet, just like his big sister Sarah. Thanks to my dad for taking some pictures!

Photos of OJ's Visit

Here are a few photos from OJ's visit to Chatham to see her Uncle Dan and Aunt Amy! Enjoy!

Olivia Jane Lund Going Swimming!

We have had a great week with Olivia staying with us. She worked really hard during her swim lessons and is now jumping into the deep end and swimming to the side all by herself! Her lesson instructor, Jenny, was a great teacher. Olivia's favorite part of swim lessons was jumping off of the diving board. She can't wait to show her mom and dad her new swimming skills!

Olivia's Swim Lessons from Dan Lund on Vimeo.

Olivia can swim and jump off the diving board!

More Sad News...

On Wednesday of this week, Amy went to the Emergency Room to verify that her water broke - again. Being at 16 weeks, this will bring a sad ending to her pregnancy. This leaves Amy and I are waiting for the contractions and the official end to come.

It's sad to realize that we were doing the same thing almost six months earlier. At that time, we were overcome by this - thinking that it was just an unfortunate event. Now we're left asking all the questions and wanting even more answers.

So, Amy and I thank everyone for there quiet support. We appreciate all the kindness and love as we look forward to better times.

Dan and Amy

Backyard Update!

The spring and summer has been filled with rain and more rain. The farmers down here are rushing to plant and in some cases replant crops due to the rain. For my little backyard, I was finally able to find some free time between rains to finish the backyard. A big thank you to my friend John and his truck! Both were a huge help getting this project done. I hope these few pictures show you the changes my backyard went through over the past few weeks.

Before - The backyard had two silver maples in the corners of the yard. My neighbors behind and to the side of me had put up four foot fences the previous summer. Running the lenght of my yard is a cement drainage ditch. The ditch never bothered me until the fences went up and it stood out even more. (The flower pots sitting in the yard are there trying to help me visualize the location of the future plants.)

A Little Progress: I was lucky to find someone digging out a basement close to my house. For a few bucks, we (John, his truck, and me) were able to get four truck loads of dirt to raise the beds and level the ground. As we picked up the first truckload of dirt, I thought one or two loads would have been enough, but I think I could have easily used close to ten truck loads of dirt to give the beds more dimension. - Oh well.

I created five small beds in the backyard. The corners are filled with arborvitaes, ninebarks, grasses, and liriope. I might squeeze a rosebush in the middle for an early season boost of color.

A Little More Progress: The three beds in the middle of the yard have a mixture of trees and plants. The tree to the left is a Eastern Rosebud. The tree to the right is a Althea Rose of Sharon Tree. Both are flowering trees that should be amazing throughout the summer. In front of each tree is a small rose bush. The center area has a Ninebark and grasses along with some yellow flowers (I forget the name.)

Finally Done Photos - I finished adding the watering system throughout the five beds. Jim had given me the system for my garden a few years ago. I extended the system straight across the backyard so that I won't have to water all the grasses and plants throughout the summer. I added over forty bags of mulch to finish the job.

I will post some more pictures later in the summer once the trees bloom. - Dan

Kiss - A - Pig!

Sometimes there are contests that you just don't want to win - Needless to say, that happened to me!  

A few weeks ago, my school held a fundraiser for the American Diabetes Association.  The premise is simple - the teacher that raises the most money has to kiss a pig.  Thanks to my former good friend and fellow teacher, Mr. Fletcher, I won the contest!  You see, Mr. Fletcher greets all of our students as they get off their buses and just before they pass the collection cans for the fundraiser.  As the kids got off the buses, he hand them chanting that I should kiss the pig!  Of course, the energized kids entered the school and deposited their money into my can!  

At the school wide assembly, it was announced that I not only won the contest, but I was able to collect over a third of the monies collected by the whole school!  

I just got a picture of the big event - thanks Kim Cobb!  Enjoy!

(In case you're wondering, the baby pig was freaking as he was removed from his cage to the screamming voices of our entire student body - most of which was chanting - Mr. Lund! Kiss That Pig!)

Mom in Colorado on Bike

Howdy Lund Family,

Mom just finished her first tour in Colorado. Activities for the visit included stopping at four quilt stores, visiting Rocky Mtn National Park, eating good food and taking a ten mile bike ride! (and you all thought it wasn't possible!!) The picture below is of Mom on her bike during the Rolling Spokes Bike Tour-The Edible Garden Tour. During the tour we visited four backyard gardens that were taking full advantage of their garden space-one home even had 6 chickens. Talk to y'all later.

Weekend at Mom's

Mom's backyard BEFORE

Mom's Backyard AFTER 

Dan spent his Memorial Day weekend working to beautify her surroundings!

Needless to say, I remain Mom's favorite son!

End of the School Year Nears!

One of the joys of teaching is summer - you know - teachers get this great three month break!

As for us, Amy is again working at the pool. She starts the summer this weekend with a marathon of hours during the Memorial Day Holiday weekend. Her school year ends in about two long weeks.

I'm a little luckier, my school year has only two and half days left before my relaxing summer of work begins. I'll be teaching summer school in June, presenting a few technology workshops, and finishing my Master's degree.

As for our relaxation - David gets married at the end of the summer in Colorado so we'll fly out for that organic fest! The backyard needs some landscaping and the house needs a few to-dos done.

Here is my drawing of the backyard - a quick sketch showing the general layout and idea.

Lund Sings!

I'm not sure how or when I agreed to play a role in the health play, but I did. I agreed to SING in a duet with Sonny - I'm Cher!

The health play is written by a former P.E. from our school. He creates amazing plays - this one was called, Cinderella's Magical Mystery Tour to American Idol. In our scene, we fail to impress the American Idol judges! - Dan

Baby News

Most know, and some have noticed the blog's new widget. Dan and I are expecting again and are so excited. I had my first doctor appointment today and things look great so far. Heart beat was pounding at 170 bpm. My doctor filled out the paper work and referral form for the High Risk specialists; now we just have to wait and see if they take me in. As of right now, no restrictions or concerns, but we will know more if we see the High Risk specialists. 

Thanks for the prayers and happy thoughts!

ATV Riding

Check out the video of the Mexican coastline! I loved passing the "fire fighters" sitting on the roadside with their "truck!"


ATV Riding in Costa Mesa, Mexico from Dan Lund on Vimeo.

Zipline in Belize Video!

Here's a quick video I made while traveling from tree to tree during our zipline adventure!

(This is a large file, so you might want to click play and then pause it for a few moments.)

Cruise 2009

Western Caribbean Cruise - Mexico, Guatemala, & Belize

On our spring break, Dan and I took an incredible cruise! An early morning drive to St. Louis had us on a plane by 7:30am headed towards the Big Easy.  Once we arrived, we headed straight for Bourbon Street.  Nasty!  By 5:30pm, we were on the Norwegian Spirit as it sailed out of New Orleans. 

Our first stop was to Costa Maya, Mexico where we enjoyed riding ATV's down a coastal road. The trip had us traveling 15km along an oceanside road through some small villages! The view was incredible and the adventure was fun! 

In Santo Tomas, Guatemala, we were hoping to enjoy a sunny beach day but had overcast instead. The resort we went to was beautiful and fun anyways; who doesn't love a hammock and a nap on the beach?

The Aerial Trek and Cave Tubing in Belize City, Belize was so amazing. After a short drive to the rainforest outside of Belize City, we arrived at the national park where we would be enjoying this adventure.  We sailed from station to station high up in the trees.Dan was even able to take a flip movie of our trip down the lines!  The workers commented that Dan was only the third person to "bounce" off the ground as he traveled down one of the lines!  The tubing through the caves was relaxing and stunning!

Our last stop was to Cozumel, Mexico where we took a tender to the main land and explored some ancient ruins of Tulum. 

We ended our trip with some extra time in New Orleans.  After disembarking the cruise ship, we enjoyed a nice Easter brunch at Emeril's resturant.  Although we didn't see Emeril, we had a great meal!  From there we went to the National World War II museum.  The museum is filled with personal narratives from soldiers, short videos on the key aspects of the war, and large displays of newspapers, artifacts, and information. 

 

We had a great time; can't wait for our next trip!

Lunds Visit Baby Jack & Big Sister Sarah

Over the weekend, we got a chance to visit Baby Jack and Big Sister Sarah. Amy loved holding Baby Jack. She kept him close, trying to help him feel comfortable even though he kept hiccuping!

Sarah was fun and delightful as usual!

Amy was busy with the baby so she didn't take many photos, so I used my Flip to grab a few moments.

-Dan




Lunds Visit Sarah and Baby Jack from Dan Lund on Vimeo.

Amy's Presentation!

I have to take a moment and brag about Amy!

She's presenting at the Illinois Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired conference. Amy has the unique honor of being one of a few teachers of the visually impaired to be National Board Certified in the entire nation!

Way to go!

-Dan

P90x - Bob's Buff Body Mission

Before Christmas, everyone sent out their Christmas lists. Topping Bob's list was P90x - an extreme home training program. In the typical Lund fashion, comments followed from far and near. David said, "Please say no!" Beth quickly replied, "Say it was a mistake. Say it was a joke. Please just say no!" Even Bob's wife had some quick wit for Bob when Donna said, "Heaven help us all!"

Well, Christmas came and Bob got his "lean mean, fighting machine" fitness program. Here is a before picture of Bob taken few days after the holidays....



I'm interested to hear about Bob's progress.

Dan

Jan 10th News

While it is no longer Jan. 10, I thought I would update everyone on what happened. 

On Friday, Jan. 9, I started to go into labor. Dan took me to the hospital at 8pm. I was admitted quickly and we were faced with lots of decisions to make. At 2:47 am, we had a beautiful, little, boy. He was 13 oz and 10.5 inches long. He had the cutest, and largest hands and feet. We were able to hold him and take pictures of him while he stayed with us for almost two hours. He didn't like his feet tickled and would kick back at me. I was able to see his cute little tongue and he liked to grab onto our fingers.  We decided not to name him and just enjoy our time. There will be a shared service with the other babies like him sometime in the future. 

Thank you to everyone for their messages, prayers and support.

The Latest

I tried to call most people but it is really hard to talk. The doctor appointment was not so positive today. The baby's heart beat is still good, 168 bpm, but there was still no fluid. The doctor said we are waiting to miscarry. The hard part is that it can happen anytime from now up to 6 weeks or so. They won't induce if there is still a heart beat this early, and it looks like I will have to actually deliver when the time comes. Thanks for the prayers.

Caribbean Cove Water Park!

On January 1, Uncle Dan and Aunt Amy went to Indianapolis to see Ethan and Olivia. After a few hours at the Lund's house, we took the kids to the hotel! Olivia was very excited when she saw the water slides sticking out of the hotel! I don't think she really understood what she was seeing, but the colorful tubes were impressing her.

We quickly checked into the the hotel and went straight to the pool. Ethan and Olivia loved the kiddie area with a jungle gym structure set into a shallow pool. Ethan liked to control the water by turning the values on the gym set. Olivia quickly found the lazy river and traveled many laps around and around.

Ethan and Olivia ventured onto the slides once or twice each. They went down the "yellow, tube slide" with Uncle Dan. Poor Olivia was the first one down the slide with Uncle Dan. Unfortunately for her, halfway down the slide, we rolled off of our inner tube and had to scoot down the rest of the way. Poor Ethan had a faster trip down the slide, but we bounced off our inner tube and plunged into the pool at the end. Needless to say, they liked it enough to go down it again the NEXT day!

Enjoy the videos! I've posted it on Vimeo and Youtube just to compare the quality of the videos. The Vimeo video should be in full high def quality.

Dan

VIMEO.COM VIDEO -High Def!


Untitled from D. Lund on Vimeo.



YOUTUBE VIDEO!

New News

I am not sure everyone has heard but I have been put on bed rest until further notice. Unfortunately, my water broke and there is very little fluid left around the baby. This is really bad because the baby cannot develop without the fluid and there is a higher risk of infection for the baby and myself. In very rare cases, the tear in the membrane can self heal and it may refill with fluid. Dan and I are trying to stay optimistic but it is hard. Thanks for all the prayers and phone calls. I will try to keep you updated.