A Broken Face

How do I start this one? Well, I had a SERIOUS accident this last weekend!!! I am still going through the recovery process and it's been painful. Lindsey tells me the pain will pay off, but what does she know. She hasn't had the kind of pain that I am going through right now. Anyway, we had some friends over for a barbecue and games. After a good meal of burnt chicken (what can I say... I enjoy talking not paying attention to our dinner). As all our friends know when you play games at our house there is always a consequence for the loser. Well, I lost the first game and had to drink a shot glass of Vinegar. Which is actually quite tasty, if you have an iron stomach, no taste buds and sense of smell. After a while we decided to play another popular game at our house, "5 Hunting Hounds." This is were you turn off all the lights in the house and everyone hides from the person who is it. When someone is touched by the person hunting they have to follow him/her while the other people who are free try to free the caught persons by touching them without the hunter knowing. I know it may sound confusing but the rules are not the important things. Anyway, I was hiding until I felt it to be a good time to free some prisoners. Before taking off I had envisioned in my mind a stealthy, fast, and good looking hero (myself) coming out of hiding to free those desperately in need. I felt like the best way to do that would be to crawl, since I was so good at it up until age 16 when I learned to walk. So I took off on all fours with lightning speed. See, Lindsey and I are the quickest at this game because we know the house so well. We know how long the hall is, how big a room is, the number of stairs, etc. So as I took off at lightning speed in my mind I knew exactly where to turn to go through the door. But just as I was about to turn the corner the corner of door frame hit me so hard in the forehead I stopped dead in my tracks. I felt like it was a cheap shot by the door frame, but I was in too much pain to fight back. As the frame stood and laughed at me all I could do was cry and curse the whole Wood race. After a little while I could feel my left eyebrow crying with me. I was just about to thank him for his support until I realized it was blood not tears. My pride started to hurt even more, my eye was swollen shut, and I was swimming in blood. I staggered over to the light switch so I could get a better look at the gash that had ruined this beautiful face. As I looked into the mirror I almost fainted. As I gained back my composure all I could do was scream for I knew the modeling agency I work for would drop me faster than Ricky Martin changing into leather pants. I was broken, done! So as you can imagine, the night was over along with my life. I didn't want anyone to see the pictures we took of my face, but Lindsey said it's important for the healing process. So I included one for you. I just ask that you please delete the pictures after you have looked at them. Till We Meet Again, Mark "The Wood Won" Anderson

All-American

It's been a little while since I have last updated our blog so here goes. As most of you know Lindsey took 7th in Indoor Track Nationals which was 5th in the Nation and that earned her All-American honors in the 5,000m. Her goals for Nationals were to become an All-American and break 16:00. Her time was 16:00.77 so we are very excited about that. That time ends the Indoor Season being ranked 18th in the World. She had a great Indoor season and I know she'll continue that on into Outdoor. Here's what the WSU paper had to say about Lindsey on the upcoming Outdoor season; "Standout: Lindsey Anderson has breezed through the cross country and indoor track season with phenomenal performances in different events. She is expected to have a stellar finale to her WSU career in the outdoor track and field season." She runs at Stanford March 30-31 next weekend. So I have an 11 hour drive ahead of me. It gives me time to prepare for my upcoming season in work and school.

Nationals a Stones Throw Away

Nationals is just around the corner for us. Lindsey leaves Wednesday morning at 5am and I will be flying out Friday morning. It will be fun to have so many people there to watch her. We are both very excited about that. Her Dad, grandparents, and my sister along with her family are all flying out to watch. I have to fly into Tulsa (as does Lindsey) and then drive 2 hrs. into Fayetteville where she races. It won't be bad though. I'm excited to see something new and have an enjoyable drive. I really enjoy driving and am thankful for the opportunity I have to drive so much to watch Lindsey race. She feels ready and excited. We found out that the meet will be on ESPN2 March 13th at 12:30pm. Even tough most of you will have already heard how she did, it will still be fun to watch her race. Every professional meet Lindsey and I watch on ESPN they always show the 5,000 and 3,000 meters races, but usually go to break because of the length of the race, but you are usually able to watch 1/3 of it. Maybe after she wins ESPN will beg to be able to interview me. I was down in Monticello this last weekend with my brother to do the triathlon. It was fun to be down there with him, but the triathlon itself was the worst thing I've ever been a part of. It's still a sore spot to me. Maybe I'll get over it and will tell the story. But one thing is for sure. I hate to road bike. It is unnatural for a body to be in such a position on a bike. For those of you that have ridden a road bike you'll know that it's MUCH different than riding a mountain bike. It's not a comfortable position. On another note... my brother-in-law Jared broke his wrist and just had surgery on it in the MTC. He had broken it while home snowboarding, but just thought he had sprained it. Hopefully he'll get over it quickly and get back to what's important.