Coldplay.

This past summer Micah, Julie, Amanda, and I had tickets to see Coldplay in Cleveland, OH.  Out of nowhere they decided to cancel their summer tour and we were all pretty bummed that we were going to miss out.  A couple months later Micah and Julie got to see them in Toronto and said the performance was phenomenal.  Toward the end of August I was talking to Micah on the phone and he mentioned they were touring again and were planning on coming to a couple cities near me.  I decided to get tickets for the Philly show on November 1 knowing that we'd most likely be in the area for Halloween.  We have been looking forward to the show for a couple months now and knew that it was going to be an awesome round 2 the night after a great halloween Friday (by the way, don't miss that blog when you get to the end of this one). 

Somehow I ended up with some pretty cool tickets and we got to sit in a club box.  We had our own little "private" area (with about 30 other people in our section) with a waitresses, a bar, and our own bathrooms.  So our seats were pretty cool, but the evening was all about Coldplay.

All I can say is WOW.  This was easily one of the greatest concerts I have ever been to.  I didn't really know what to expect out of the performance, but I didn't necessarily anticipate that Chris Martin would have as much energy on stage as he did.  He jumped, danced, played guitar, piano, and harmonica, and sang his heart out on just about every song.  He is certainly one talented dude.  It's actually kind of difficult to put into words how great this show was.  The combination of the incredible music, the light show, and the crowd's energy amounted to a truly amazing experience.  During "Fix You," my favorite Coldplay song, I literally had goosebumps from beginning to end.  

As I said, it's kind of tough to describe how great the show was, so let's go to the pics...   

They released like a billion pounds of confetti at the end, it was unreal

Viva la Vida

Fix You (clip #1) - Absolute Perfection

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Fix You (clip #2) - Chris Martin in the zone

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So the concert was everything I hoped for and more.  We had an amazing time and I highly recommend seeing Coldplay if you get a chance! 

Mario Bros.

In 2004 Nick and I dressed up as Mario and Luigi for halloween and went out in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.  We had a seriously wild night and since then halloween has been my favorite holiday.  Our costumes were a huge hit that night, so much so that we actually won a contest at one the bars we went to.  We have had some pretty awesome costumes since then, and I have to say we usually end up being a pretty big hit at whatever bar we decide to go to.  This year the crew included Nick, Paul, Amanda, and me.  We decided to resurrect Mario and Luigi, but we added a couple other recognizable characters - Princess Peach and Wario.

I spent the entire week leading up to this weekend searching for a creating pieces to just about everyone's costume.  I put in a lot of time, but it was well worth it when they all turned out pretty great.  We headed up to NJ on Friday afternoon and got to Nick and Paul's place with a couple hours to chill, catch up, drink some brews, and perfect our Mario Bros. routine.  We headed into Philly around 10pm and the rest of the night ended up turning into a classic halloween night.  We saw some great costumes, got tons of compliments on ours, and had a killer time.  The night ended with our awesome cabbie Ronnie taking us to Geno's in South Philly for some cheesesteaks.  

There were so many great pictures from the night, here are just a few...

I couldn't smile with that first mustache on

The Mario Bros. kicking Wario's ass

Paul as Wario is priceless

My favorite photo of the night

Good thing we have those pockets!

The ump called me out, but I swear I was safe

Princess Wario

Geno's - so good

The cab ride home - too much food and too much fun

By the way, if you ever go to Geno's at 3am with Paul, don't let him try and tell you how to order.  In Philly they are really particular about how you order your steak.  He was certain that I was supposed to order mine as a "pepper steak with." The ass behind the counter though made it clear that I wanted a "pepper cheese with." Apparently there is a a huge difference.  All I know is that I ended up getting what I wanted and it was damn good.

So 2008 will go down as yet another awesome halloween.  It remains my favorite holiday, and for good reason!

The Marathon.

The weekend of the big race had finally arrived.  We headed into Arlington to Chris and Sarah's place on Saturday afternoon in the midst of a torrential downpour.  As Amanda and I always say, it wouldn't be a car ride if it weren't pouring rain.  For some reason we just have that kind of luck whenever we're traveling.  Maybe not always, but sometimes it seems like that.  Alas, we made it safely and Chris and Sarah headed into the city with us to pick up our race packets for the next morning. 

I had been asked all week by people if I was nervous for the race.  And quite honestly, I was never really nervous.  I felt strong and prepared.  I knew that I had spent the last 6 months busting my butt for a reason and there was no point being nervous.  The long runs had been slowly building the past few months and I was looking at Sunday as just another long run.  To put it in perspective, I was much, much more nervous before my first half marathon than I was Sunday morning.  

Sunday morning started at 5:45am with our traditional race-day breakfast of peanut butter bagels, bananas, and power bars.  A quick trip to the starting line by car, metro, and foot got us there with about 45 minutes before the race was to begin.  The weather was chilly but we could tell that once the sun came up it was going to be a beautiful day.  As we lined up with 30,000 other runners I started to become a little overwhelmed with emotion.  I had been so looking forward to this moment for so long and it had finally arrived.  The last 6 months of sore muscles, early morning runs, late evening runs, sacrifices, sweat, and accomplishments was finally coming to a conclusion at this very moment.  I knew I was physically and mentally prepared and I couldn't wait to start running.

And then the gun sounded and we were off.  There were so many people that it was really difficult so hit any kind of stride for the first couple miles.  The pack was so condensed that it took an immense amount of concentration to try and keep good form and not trip over or bump into other runner.  That was part of the experience though I guess.  Once we got going we started hitting some hills.  Miles 2 through 7 were pretty hilly.  We were told by several people that the course was pretty flat except for the beginning and they were exactly right.  We stayed strong through the first 7 miles and kept a good pace around 9:30/mile which was my goal for the majority of the race.  I knew that keeping up a 9:30 pace for the entire 26 miles would be tough, but I was really hoping we could do it for at least the first 20 miles.  Unfortunately Amanda's foot injury that she's been battling the last couple months flared up around mile 7 and it put a damper on our pace.  She was in some pretty serious pain but knew there was no way she was going to give up.  There were several times that she told me to go ahead and run my own race because she knew her foot wasn't going to allow her to keep up with what we had hoped to do. 

Cue the internal struggle.  I was so incredibly torn and admittedly unfairly frustrated with the situation.  I knew I had trained too long and too hard to finish in the 5 hour time range that it looked like were going to finish in.  I had a goal of finishing strong and not walking and knew that if we ran the way we were capable of we could finish between 4 and 4.5 hours.  As we began to slow because of Amanda's injury I saw that slipping away rapidly.  I weighed so many things in my mind as we cruised along at speeds less than I anticipated.  Ultimately I knew that crossing the finish line with Amanda was so much more important than some silly time.  So we stuck together through her pain and ran every inch of the race together.  

In the end we crossed the finish line hand in hand and it was an incredible experience.  Regardless of our finishing time we ran 26.2 miles, exactly what we set out to do.  We ran through Washington D.C. past some incredible sights, beautiful monuments, and thousands of supporters lining the streets.  Running a race of any distance is a great experience, but running a marathon is something entirely different.  

Chris has some pre-race pics on his camera that I'll get sometime this week, and believe it or not we actually didn't take many post-race shots.  Here are a few though:

We did it together, 26.2 - wow

Our traditional "victory tastes good" photo 

(Washington Monument in the background)

The proof - my finishing medal!

So the race was incredible.  It certainly won't be my last marathon but it is an unbelievable sense of accomplishment to have this first one under my belt.  I know I have a 4 hour, 10 minute finish in me and I'm going to prove to myself that I can do it.  

In closing, I'd like to dedicate this post to a couple awesome people.  Chris and Sarah, our biggest running fans, this one's for you.  They are awesome hosts and for the second time in two years have offered us a place to stay before race night.  Not only that, but they get up at the butt crack of dawn with us, travel to the starting line, take pictures, cheer us on, and meet us at the finish.  It's hard to express how much that means to us, but we really appreciate the support.  Thank you SO much, you guys rock!

The Vault.

So I started this post a week or so ago and it's been sitting in the vault since then.  Here are a few updates for my loyal followers...

So a couple weekends ago in NY it wasn't all about garbage plates.  Saturday night Amanda and I went over to Micah and Julie's house to watch game 3 of the Dodgers/Cubs series with my dad, Ben, Tim, and his girlfriend Kristen.  We had an awesome time, and not just because the Dodgers ended up winning the game and sweeping the Cubs in round 1.  It was great hanging for a few hours, catching up with everyone, and talking some baseball.  Here's a pic from after the game:

On Sunday morning Amanda and I wanted to get an early start so we could get back to Virginia and get our long run done for the week.  Our plan was to tackle 20 miles which would be our longest run yet and our last really long run before the race.  Well, we were about an hour from Rochester when we started to see signs for Elmira, where I went to college.  It was a seriously beautiful day outside and I have really been looking forward to showing Amanda where I spent "the best four years of my life."  So spontaneity took over and our long run was put on hold temporarily.  About a half hour later we were in Elmira and I was walking around a campus that I hadn't seen in 3 years.  It was fairly surreal, and I was a little less nostalgic than I thought I would be, but it was really great to see all of the purple and gold again.  A quick 20 minute tour ended at The Branch where I spent many, many happy hours and happy nights drinking cheap beer.  Luckily Amanda was into having a lunch-time drink at The Branch and I bellied up yet again.  Here are a couple pics from around campus:

 

"Simeon Benjamin was the name that began Elmira's fame..."

I can tell you more facts about that fountain than you could possibly imagine

Mark Twain - many connections to Elmira, NY and the college

Local waterin' hole

I took Amanda to Ithaca, NY after our stop in Elmira.  Robert Treman State Park, one of my favorite places in the world, was a must see since we were so close and we had already decided to ditch our run.  Once in Ithaca we stopped for lunch in the commons, and without getting into too much detail, we ate at a little restaurant owned by a cult.  Of course we didn't realize we were eating cult-prepared food until shortly after we began our meal, but it was interesting to say the least.  Check Amanda's recent post (right after the picture of Mark Twain's study) for more info on this one.  Here are a few photos from Robert Treman.  Despite the incredibly low water levels, it was still great to see the falls again: 

It was a great weekend and we're really glad we decided to take the day long detour.  I probably could have written more if I finished this up last week when I started, but I'm going to have to end this post here for now!

Garbage Plate.

So I fell off the wagon momentarily. Anyone that knows me knows I don't eat fried food. It's been over 2 years since I decided to give up french fries, chicken fingers, potato chips, onion rings, and anything else deep fried. I have accidently slipped a few times here and there. I think I've eaten 2 donuts, I ate an eggroll a couple months into my new dietary decision by mistake, and I haven't been able to give up tortilla chips just yet, but that's really it. A french fry hasn't touched my lips... until today.

A garbage plate can come in many forms, but the basic idea is this: 2 hotdogs or 2 cheeseburgers (your choice) piled on top of a mountain of macaroni salad, french fries, home fries, baked beans, or several other delicious choices. When you order your plate you get to pick 2 of those things that your meat is piled on top of. I go with french fries and homefries. On top of this greasy mountain of yumminess is a big scoop of unbelievable meat hot sauce, a handfull of onions, and a splat of mustard. It all comes together once you add ketchup and Frank's Red Hot to the equation. The summation is one of the most delicious, and downright awful for you, concoctions you could possibly imagine.

Nick Tahous (ta-hoes) is the home of the garbage plate in Rochester, NY. When I was in high school Tahous was open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, save for a week at Christmas time when they locked the doors and literally hosed the place down. It has since come under new ownership (although still in the Tahou family) and I'm not sure if the same hours and policies apply. What I do know is that there was nothing better at midnight, or 2am, or even 4 in the morning than a plate with your buddies.

I came home for the weekend and after 2 years of shunning fried foods I couldn't help myself. I went for it. I fell off the wagon momentarily, but it was the most delicious fall you could conceive. A picture tells 1,000 words...

In its purest form

My routine: flip the burgers, cut them into sixths, add kethcup and red hot, mix

Done

And now my stomach doesn't feel too good, but it was well worth it!

On to the Post Season!

They did it!

Must have been the power of the 'staches

The Little Things.

As you've probably noticed I've been limited to fairly short posts about once per week lately.  I've been way busier than I imagined I would be now that I'm finished with grad school, but apparently when you're a part of every committee, team, and meeting one year it's pretty difficult to bail out of all that responsibility.  I've tried, but it seems like in education today every issue is resolved with a meeting.  Throughout the course of a week I am expected to meet as a team, a content twice, for 504s, IEPs, as part of the child study committee, and with administration for lead teacher responsibilities.  At various times throughout each month I am also expected to meet with the school improvement team, as the head of the math task force, with my grade level, as the leader of school-wide vertical math meetings, and of course the ever-popular "faculty meeting."  Now any number of other meetings can pop up without warning.  For example, I am usually asked to help organize professional development (which is incredibly time consuming), lead teachers are expected to drop everything and run to meetings at the drop of hat, and you never know when a parent will call with a concern that trumps everything else in your life.  When it gets to the point that your meeting about meeting, you know there is something fundamentally wrong.  Also, when you're in my position it's impossible to ignore the time it takes to prepare for, and then follow up with all of the items discussed in these meetings.  Oh, did I mention that I need to perform the duties of a teacher too?  I need to squeeze teaching, planning, grading, and general upkeep of my classroom somewhere in there.  Anyone that knows me professionally knows that I strive for positivity at work and I do everything in my power to shy away from the "complaining bug," so I write these things not to complain, but to illustrate the difficulties I face in trying to do my job well.  When the hectic schedules become way too much I need to take a step back and think about the little things in life that keep me going.  It's these little things that I'd like to dedicate the rest of this post to.

The Dodgers are currently winning 4-3 and there magic number stands at 2 because of a D-Backs loss tonight.  They are on the verge of a playoff birth and you can barely even imagine how excited that makes me.

The Office, How I Met Your Mother, and Entourage are back.  I go though major cycles with my TV watching diet but these 3 are all staples.  I'm pretty pumped they're all back!

31 days remain until the marathon and I'm starting to get really excited.  I'm ripping off 6 and 8 mile runs during the week like it ain't no thang, and the long runs on the weekend are increasing my confidence that I can finish with some gusto.  

The weather is getting cooler outside which is signaling the onset of fall, my favorite of all 5 seasons.

Amanda and I are finally almost settled in our new place and it's a great feeling.

Manny just hit his 17th home run as a Dodger and we're now leading 6-3!

AND last... in just 40 days I get to cast my vote for Obama.  

I've got lots to look forward to over the next six weeks as long as I can keep my head above water at work.  It's the little things that keep me going and I know I'm fortunate that I can find solace in these seemingly minor things.  As I mentioned last week, stay tuned for my political series, I promise it's coming up.  

I leave you with a quote that my boy Sean claims he is going to live the rest of his by:

"Stop bitching and start organizing!"

Amen Sean, Amen...

 

This Weekend's Magic Numbers.

18 and 10 were this weekend's magic numbers.  18 was the number of miles Amanda and I ran on Sunday morning, and 10 literally is the magic number for the Dodgers with 13 games left to play in the regular season.

This was a great running week for both Amanda and I.  We ran separately during the week but we both had some really good 6 and 8 mile runs.  They were all in preparation for the longest run either of us had ever tackled.  We knew the temperature was supposed to reach the mid-90's today with a heat index hitting at least 100 so we were up at the butt-crack of dawn.  We had been mentally preparing ourselves for a few days and we knew that we were physically ready; no ailments this weekend like there were last weekend.  We hit the road around 7am and clocked in at about 2 hours, 50 minutes for the 18 mile run.  Finishing today without any battle wounds to speak of gives me a lot of confidence in our ability to push through 26.2 in about 6 weeks.

As for the Dodgers, we took 2 of 3 games from the Rockies this weekend, making it 12 wins out of our last 14 games.  Our magic number is now 10, which means any combination of 10 wins by us and losses by the Diamondbacks clinches the division for us.  I think things are clicking at just the right time for LA and I'm really looking forward to the playoffs.  I don't want to get ahead of myself here, but we certainly have a better chance of at least winning a couple games in October this year than we have in a long, long time.  In fact, Peter Gammons even wrote about it on ESPN today (the link may not work without an insider subscription on espn.com).  If things ended today we would be playing against the Brewers in a 5-game set, however the Phillies are creeping up on them in the wild card which would result in a 5-game series against the Mets instead.  Either way, I'm excited.

Keep an eye out for my upcoming blogs.  I'm going to put together a multi-part political blog over the next couple weeks dealing with a lot of issues that have been on my mind.  I'm sure you can't wait ;o)

Have a great week!

A Deep, Cleansing Breath.

This weekend was exactly what I needed to re-charge my batteries. I finally got a few days to simply relax. No rushing around, no long car rides, no moving. Just relaxing. I watched all 3 Dodger games. All 3 were wins. We now have a 1.5 game lead in the West which a pretty great feeling. I got to see the Eagles dominate the Rams. I won both fantasy football leagues I'm in. Watched a movie. Layed on the couch all weekend with Amanda. Drank mimosas on Saturday morning. Life was very good.

The only thing that was a slight bummer was my run on Sunday morning. Amanda and I had planned on 18 miles. My longest so far has been 16 and I've done that twice. I know I'm ready both physically and mentally for 18 but my left quad wouldn't let me finish. It felt fine last weekend after the race but I tweaked in during Tuesday night's 6 mile run. It felt sore all week, including my 6 mile run on Friday night. I had a feeling it wouldn't let me finish 18 miles and I was right. After about 8 I knew that if I pushed myself any further I could potentially put myself out for longer than necessary. I'm glad I decided to call it quits because I'm feeling better today and I think after another day or two I'll be back to 100%.

And now it's back to reality. Another busy week, but another empty weekend to look forward to in just a few days!

A Whirlwind Week.

Get ready for a long one, because the past 9 nine days have been pretty eventful for me, and I'm finally getting some time to sit down and relax with a beer and the Dodger game.  Well, I guess this is kind of the 2nd time this week I've been able to do that, but lets begin with last Saturday.

After 4 years in good ol' Pemberton Village my time had come to finally move on.  My little 2 bedroom apartment was the very first place I looked at way back in 2004 when I came to Winchester to interview for what would be my first real job.  I lived in 1980 #12 for about 6 months or so until Jeff decided to move in.  The next 2 and a half years were pretty damn awesome.  It's tough to recount all of the great times we had in that place, but I promise you, we had some pretty great times.  The final year was mainly just Amanda and I because Jeff was basically moved out and living with Michele.  It was weird at first because him and I had spent so much time together, but life happens and "the two greatest guys in Winchester" are now living with the loves of their lives ;o)  

Now that Pemberton has come and gone, 206 Stratford Drive is here.  It's a nice 3 bedroom townhouse with a tiny backyard, a nice little deck, much more space than I'm used to, and my favorite part... my very own washer and dryer!  My mom has been telling me for 4 years now, since I left college, that I won't be a real adult until I come home to visit without bringing laundry.  Well guess what MOM, you can call me a REAL adult now!

An incredibly long and tiring day was made much more bearable by my boys Sean and Jeff.  Sean was such a huge help, showing up early in the morning and helping all damn day.  Jeff made his appearance in the afternoon and kicked our asses back into gear when we started to slack.  Here are a few pics of the new place... 

No neighbors to our right

Backyard with our deck

Standing in the empty family room

As if moving wasn't enough, Saturday was actually much more meaningful than that.  Amanda and I have agreed, we couldn't have picked a more fitting day to move in together considering it was our 2 year anniversary.  That's right, on the day that officially marked 2 years of dating Amanda and I took huge step.  I don't think I could have picked a more perfect way to celebrate.  Although it wasn't typical, romantic, Matt Court style, it was perfect nonetheless.  The romantic part would come several days later.   

After a physically exhausting day I somehow found the strength to wake up at 7:30am Sunday morning and tackle a 16 mile run.  Let's just say the rest of my Sunday was consumed with naps and lounging around!

Wednesday was day #1 of year #5 in my teaching career.  I met all 115 of my new students and things went as smoothly as one could expect.  I keep telling people it's difficult to get a real read on the kids the first few days of school.  It takes another week or so for them to show their true colors, but so far so good.  I'm really looking forward to another exciting year!

Thursday was finally a chance to relax and have some fun for Amanda and I.  Our friend Bob gave us Nationals/Dodgers tickets way back in December for Christmas and I've been looking forward to the game ever since.  Of course it poured rain all day and I was nervous the game wouldn't be played.  DC hadn't had a drop of measurable rain in 13 days until the day we were supposed to go to the game.  Luckily, the weather held out for us!  We hit the road as soon as Amanda got out of work and made it to the game in the bottom of the first inning.  No big deal, we only missed the first half inning of the game right?  Wrong!  We missed Manny's 2-run homerun and the only Dodger runs of the game!  Our boys got smoked 11-2 but we still had a great time.  Beers, italian sausage, Amanda's first veggie dog, nachos, peanuts... we definitely made the most of the game!  Thanks to Bob-O for the tickets!  Here are a few shots from the game...

Love the new stadium

I always watch in amazement

The biggest fans in the stadium

Manny at the plate with Ethier on 1st

After a long week Friday finally came.  I had made reservations at a highly recommended restaurant in Front Royal, VA called Apartment 2g to celebrate our 2 year anniversary in traditional Matt Court style.  The restaurant was great, the food was incredible, and Amanda and I finally had a chance to celebrate for real.  Here are a few photos from dinner...  

So beautiful

Us with our delicious dinners!

Saturday morning we woke up early once again and headed down to Virginia Beach for the Rock and Roll half marathon.  We ran this race together last year and followed it up last October with another half marathon in Baltimore.  This was my 3rd half and Amanda's 4th.  You probably know that we're training for a full marathon, so I didn't have too much trouble with Sunday's run except for the brutal heat and humidity at the start of the race.  It may have been 7:30am when we finally started but boy was it hot.  Everyone was drenched in sweat by the end of the first mile.  Amanda fought through the pain to pull out a great finish and I was really proud of her.  I know it's difficult for her to run in extreme temperatures and there is no doubt in my mind she gave it everything she had.  Here are some pictures from race day...

Mile 1.5

Mile 13.1

Mmmmm, tastes like victory

Phelps aint got nothin' on us

So that was an incredibly brief, yes I said brief, overview of the whirlwind week.  This week should be much lower-key.  Next weekend we're going camping which should be fun!  If anyone wants to volunteer to come help us unpack boxes, we'd graciously accept your offer.