Sunday, April 03, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Monday, December 06, 2010
The heart wants what the heart wants
The frontal lobe that governs our higher, more rational, social behavior is younger and (most of the time) weaker than the older, lizard brain. It developed later than the rest of the brain systems and has only been at least nominally running the show for a short time. Even now, there are a bunch of situations where the frontal lobe checks out for a while and we let the lizard brain take over it's old job. All the flight or fight stuff applies, but also when we're under any kind of stress. It's why we get snappy when we are tired or hungry or stressed out. Loneliness or horniness or emotional pain triggers the lizard brain too. When the lizard brain is in charge, we don't think about others. We are 'me' people. The lizard brain goes for what it wants.
This is more or less what we mean when we say that the heart wants what it wants. When we have those primal desires (pleasure, sleep, power, food), we can act in ways that tend to hurt others and we can do it without really thinking. Romantic love is one of those primal needs. When in the thrall of romantic love (or even some combo of loneliness, addiction, or some other stress), people can make decisions they wouldn't normally make. They'll do things that hurt others. They'll even do things that hurt themselves.
Look at Brett Favre for instance. That man has lived in a storm of adulation, pleasure, and power for decades. He's clearly addicted to it. It takes a lot for him to give that up, and look at all the pain to his family and himself during this last year of his career. I think if there was any way to keep playing at the level he was, he'd do it and damn anyone that stood in his way.
I've been thinking about this a lot as I am going through the divorce process and figuring out my new relationship to my ex. Understanding this hasn't lessened the hurt of some of the things she has done and continues to do, but it helps me understand a little better what's going on and not lose my empathy. It helps me 'keep it classy' and keep my frontal lobe in the driver's seat (can't claim total success on that front but we are grading on a curve here).
The point? Take care of yourself. Get your rest. Eat well. You'll be better to the people around you. But also, understand this aspect of the human condition when judging the behavior of another. Wanting something desperately can make us do some funny things.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
hello again
GoDaddy, which is my domain registrar, sent me an email letting me know that my domain, 'irunwiththebigdogs.com' was about to run out. This in turn reminded me that there's this blog sitting here that I haven't posted to in forever.
Well, I'm going to renew the domain and will post at least one more post. So much has happened since my last post that its hard to think how to describe it. I'll try though...
I worked for Versata (the company that bought Alterpoint) through the Summer of 2009. It paid the bills and there were some positive aspects to the job, but it wasn't what I wanted. So, I jumped at an opportunity to work with a few old colleagues at Convio. I worked at Convio for about a year. I learned a lot, but unfortunately it wasn't a good fit for me culture-wise and my tenure there ended in September. Also, in September, my 11-year marriage to Cassie ended. She moved into a house down the street and we're working through the details of a divorce. On the fortunate side, I began working at iControl in September (actually called uControl at the time, but we merged with iControl who was our main competitor) and this job has been a much better fit for me and a lot of fun. I've been travelling a good bit (tough since I really miss my kids), but the technology is very cool and I feel very excited about iControl's prospects.
That's all I have for now. I may take this blog in a different direction (thoughts on divorce with kids, dating as a newly single grownup, etc) in addition to talking about running. We'll have to see where this thing goes.
Well, I'm going to renew the domain and will post at least one more post. So much has happened since my last post that its hard to think how to describe it. I'll try though...
I worked for Versata (the company that bought Alterpoint) through the Summer of 2009. It paid the bills and there were some positive aspects to the job, but it wasn't what I wanted. So, I jumped at an opportunity to work with a few old colleagues at Convio. I worked at Convio for about a year. I learned a lot, but unfortunately it wasn't a good fit for me culture-wise and my tenure there ended in September. Also, in September, my 11-year marriage to Cassie ended. She moved into a house down the street and we're working through the details of a divorce. On the fortunate side, I began working at iControl in September (actually called uControl at the time, but we merged with iControl who was our main competitor) and this job has been a much better fit for me and a lot of fun. I've been travelling a good bit (tough since I really miss my kids), but the technology is very cool and I feel very excited about iControl's prospects.
That's all I have for now. I may take this blog in a different direction (thoughts on divorce with kids, dating as a newly single grownup, etc) in addition to talking about running. We'll have to see where this thing goes.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Reflections on the week
I started out the week reading Stephen Covey's "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", which talks about planning one's week in advance according to one's driving principles, roles, and goals. So far, so good.
Monday - cleaned the house, did most of the laundry, worked with the kids to make birthday presents, and prepared a birthday dinner for Cassie. After all that, the kitchen was clean.
Tuesday - Took an 'office' day which means the boys went to daycare. I did some unemployment sundries, post-door64 contact processing, and finished up the laundry. I also took the kids to soccer practice, ney coached the dang soccer practice. I was tired.
Wednesday - man, I got a lot of stuff done today. errands, lunch with a buddy, fixed the commode and applied 4 coats of sealant on the kitchen table (way past due). I also got started on Mint for our finances and I baked an apple pie! It was delish by the way. Ate some after I got back from choir practice.
Who says being unemployed is restful? Besides, I start back at Alterpoint as a consultant tomorrow, working Thursdays and Fridays. Should be good.
The point, is that the seven habits book is coming in pretty handy. I like the ideas a lot. I like the positive psychology. I'm going to keep reading.
Monday - cleaned the house, did most of the laundry, worked with the kids to make birthday presents, and prepared a birthday dinner for Cassie. After all that, the kitchen was clean.
Tuesday - Took an 'office' day which means the boys went to daycare. I did some unemployment sundries, post-door64 contact processing, and finished up the laundry. I also took the kids to soccer practice, ney coached the dang soccer practice. I was tired.
Wednesday - man, I got a lot of stuff done today. errands, lunch with a buddy, fixed the commode and applied 4 coats of sealant on the kitchen table (way past due). I also got started on Mint for our finances and I baked an apple pie! It was delish by the way. Ate some after I got back from choir practice.
Who says being unemployed is restful? Besides, I start back at Alterpoint as a consultant tomorrow, working Thursdays and Fridays. Should be good.
The point, is that the seven habits book is coming in pretty handy. I like the ideas a lot. I like the positive psychology. I'm going to keep reading.
Friday, March 06, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Mutant chip
More of a pod really. In my bag of chips at Thundercloud. Maybe I'll set it next to my bed and fall asleep and we'll see what happens.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
3M Race Report
Well, it turned out pretty well, despite my attempts to sabotage it.
I ran it in 2:01:19 with negative splits 9:24 pace for first 10K and 9:08 for the second.
The leadup:
Training without a group is hard. Training during the holidays is hard. I've probably been averaging about 15 miles a week and probably totaled 15 miles for the two weeks leading up the race. I went out the night before the race and had three glasses of champagne and a scotch (don't ask me why). I got home and didn't even do my night-before ritual of laying out my stuff, pinning my bib, etc.
Pre-race:
I woke up at 5 wanting to scrap it. However, Stephanie was meeting me to run the race and chat along the way and I didn't feel right about flaking out on her. As it turned out, running with her made all the difference, even beyond actually getting me to the race. I rushed through getting my stuff together (no pins in the goodie bag! grrrr), scarfed a bowl of raisin bran, and headed out.
It was cold. I met up with Stephanie at 6:15 and we went through our warmup. We both had to hit the port-o-lets after that and they were super busy. No big deal if we started late however. We ended up scrunching in on the wrong side of the chute fence but still passing the start line within a minute or two of the gun.
During the race:
We took the first hill at a nice comfortable 9:30 pace. I was actually a little worried that I'd be ok at this pace and then die at mile 10 (kinda like the San Antonio half). We pretty much settled in. It was nice running and talking. It had been a while since I'd talked with Stephanie and so there was a lot to catch up on. A couple times, I looked at the watch and realized we were running a little faster than my 9:30 suggestion. However, Stephanie was egging me on a little bit and I felt ok, so no big deal. That's also when the goal time (originally 2:15) began to inch downward. At some point Stephanie said she'd be "happy" with 2:05. Who am I to deny someone their happiness?
We went on that way pretty much the whole time. Thankfully, we saw a whole bunch of folks we knew. Running with Stephanie was like being with a running celebrity as everyone was yelling at her. I created a contest out of it and she beat me about 12 folks to my 5.
The turn down Burnet was really the only stretch that almost wasn't pleasant. Burnet is kind of long, straight, and boring. I was pointing out a lot of good restaurants though (Phil's Ice House, Frisco, etc). That probably helped me at least. The final uphill section from Burnet to Duval was a little longer than I remembered, but I felt really surprisingly good. The weather was just perfect.
On the Duval leg, I felt like turning it up a bit. It was obvious we were going to be able to hit the 2:05 goal and I wanted to see how far under we could get. We caught up to Foho with about 2 miles to go. She had passed us earlier and was now struggling a little bit. I felt like turning on the burners and Stephanie stayed back to yell at... I mean encourage Foho. I passed a bunch of folks in the last mile and sprinted the end. Foho did great, PRing and beating my chip time.
Conclusions:
I ran it in 2:01:19 with negative splits 9:24 pace for first 10K and 9:08 for the second.
The leadup:
Training without a group is hard. Training during the holidays is hard. I've probably been averaging about 15 miles a week and probably totaled 15 miles for the two weeks leading up the race. I went out the night before the race and had three glasses of champagne and a scotch (don't ask me why). I got home and didn't even do my night-before ritual of laying out my stuff, pinning my bib, etc.
Pre-race:
I woke up at 5 wanting to scrap it. However, Stephanie was meeting me to run the race and chat along the way and I didn't feel right about flaking out on her. As it turned out, running with her made all the difference, even beyond actually getting me to the race. I rushed through getting my stuff together (no pins in the goodie bag! grrrr), scarfed a bowl of raisin bran, and headed out.
It was cold. I met up with Stephanie at 6:15 and we went through our warmup. We both had to hit the port-o-lets after that and they were super busy. No big deal if we started late however. We ended up scrunching in on the wrong side of the chute fence but still passing the start line within a minute or two of the gun.
During the race:
We took the first hill at a nice comfortable 9:30 pace. I was actually a little worried that I'd be ok at this pace and then die at mile 10 (kinda like the San Antonio half). We pretty much settled in. It was nice running and talking. It had been a while since I'd talked with Stephanie and so there was a lot to catch up on. A couple times, I looked at the watch and realized we were running a little faster than my 9:30 suggestion. However, Stephanie was egging me on a little bit and I felt ok, so no big deal. That's also when the goal time (originally 2:15) began to inch downward. At some point Stephanie said she'd be "happy" with 2:05. Who am I to deny someone their happiness?
We went on that way pretty much the whole time. Thankfully, we saw a whole bunch of folks we knew. Running with Stephanie was like being with a running celebrity as everyone was yelling at her. I created a contest out of it and she beat me about 12 folks to my 5.
The turn down Burnet was really the only stretch that almost wasn't pleasant. Burnet is kind of long, straight, and boring. I was pointing out a lot of good restaurants though (Phil's Ice House, Frisco, etc). That probably helped me at least. The final uphill section from Burnet to Duval was a little longer than I remembered, but I felt really surprisingly good. The weather was just perfect.
On the Duval leg, I felt like turning it up a bit. It was obvious we were going to be able to hit the 2:05 goal and I wanted to see how far under we could get. We caught up to Foho with about 2 miles to go. She had passed us earlier and was now struggling a little bit. I felt like turning on the burners and Stephanie stayed back to yell at... I mean encourage Foho. I passed a bunch of folks in the last mile and sprinted the end. Foho did great, PRing and beating my chip time.
Conclusions:
- 3M is a fun, well run race, and the downhill course is awesome. (compare my 2:01 with the 2:15 in San Antonio a couple of months ago)
- Running with a buddy is the way to go
- I'm actually inspired to rededicate myself to diet and training. 2:01 was only 4 minutes off my PR for that course. Imagine what I could do if I trained and dieted harder and didn't drink a bunch the night before!
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Playing for Change
I was turned on to this by some friends of mine. Neat idea and the song turned out fanstastic.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
5 Things I've Learned About Running
An old friend of mine just started training for her first half marathon. I was trying to think up some advice and came up with the following. Maybe it'll help you too.
- Nice soft socks are the awesome. I like wigwams personally.
- Recovery after a long run is important. Ice baths are too painful for me, so I go for either a soak in Barton Springs (free before 9AM) or just lying on the floor with my legs up in the air against a wall.
- Massages are also the awesome. I try to get one in every couple of weeks. You don't have to spend a lot of $$. Massage Harmony here in Austin is good. Massage Envy is ok too.
- You can find good deals on shoes on ebay...like really good deals.
- Run with friends. Seriously...its worth it.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Capitol Tree Lighting - Dec 2008 006
I'm pretty cool because there's a picture of my grandma (actually I called her Nanny) in the Capitol building. Ruby Hawk was in the first chapter of the Texas Silver Haired Legislature.
Stop what you're doing and check this out
I can honestly (and without too much shame) say I'd be looking forward to this movie if it were real. Pure genius.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
superwife
Today, Cassie..
-took the boys and her Grandma to church to watch my choir sing Christmas music
-took the same group grocery shopping
-took them home and did laundry and cooked Tortilla soup
-decorated her Grandma's house with lights
-came home and finished up our christmas decorations, of which she's done all (they look nice, eh?)
-took the boys and her Grandma to church to watch my choir sing Christmas music
-took the same group grocery shopping
-took them home and did laundry and cooked Tortilla soup
-decorated her Grandma's house with lights
-came home and finished up our christmas decorations, of which she's done all (they look nice, eh?)
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Ho Ho Ho!
Took Jilliebean to her school's holiday fair, made some craft ornaments, sang christmas karaoke, and did some shopping. Got a pic with Santa too.
Friday, December 05, 2008
I actually can run in my neighborhood
A perfect 3 and 1/3 mile route that doesn't cross any major roads. Yay, me.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Sunset from the PJordans
Did some more hiking today with the kids before heading home. Did a little bit of work helping Paul load destructed decking into the trailer before catching a glorious sunset from what's left of Paul's patio. Nice.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
McKinney Falls state park
Purty cute.
I took the kiddos camping. Its been fun, but when you go to sleep at 8:15, you tend to wake up at 3. So here I am. We did a lot of walking yesterday and saw some cool stuff, including McKinney's (one of Stephen F Austin's original 200) summer homestead. We had venison sausage and beans for dinner, which was very yummy and cooked on my new Coleman stove. Gonna be scrambling eggs before too long.
I took the kiddos camping. Its been fun, but when you go to sleep at 8:15, you tend to wake up at 3. So here I am. We did a lot of walking yesterday and saw some cool stuff, including McKinney's (one of Stephen F Austin's original 200) summer homestead. We had venison sausage and beans for dinner, which was very yummy and cooked on my new Coleman stove. Gonna be scrambling eggs before too long.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Been a good Turkey Day
Ran the Turkey Trot this morning, albeit slowly (44:10) and Jillian ran the kid's K. Had a spectacular meal out at the Farm and even caught a nap watching the Cowboy game (snoozer). Now, I'm at the last Horns home game of the season listening to them introduce the seniors. Life is good.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Our trip to Walnet Creek Park
I love fall. We may not have leaf peepers coming down to the hill country to see the leaves change, but we've got some mighty pretty country all the same.
Rather than go on a long run this Saturday (just finished the SA Half Marathon last weekend), I took the kiddos and the dog to Walnut Creek Park. We ended up walking around for about an hour and a half, chasing Myles the dog around the trails. It was quite fun. We did have a little adventure though, when Myles took off after a squirrel down a cliff and ended up at the bottom of the creek when we were on a ledge far above. We had to backtrack about an eighth of a mile to where the trail gets down to the creek bed to reunite with him. Then, on the way out of the park, Myles did it again and we lost him for a good 15 minutes, to find him again at the bottom of the creek. Needless to say, we kept a close eye on him the rest of the time there.
Pics below. I was especially perplexed at the dude on the unicycle. Its weird enough to be riding one, but then to ride one in the mountain biking park. Odd indeed.
Rather than go on a long run this Saturday (just finished the SA Half Marathon last weekend), I took the kiddos and the dog to Walnut Creek Park. We ended up walking around for about an hour and a half, chasing Myles the dog around the trails. It was quite fun. We did have a little adventure though, when Myles took off after a squirrel down a cliff and ended up at the bottom of the creek when we were on a ledge far above. We had to backtrack about an eighth of a mile to where the trail gets down to the creek bed to reunite with him. Then, on the way out of the park, Myles did it again and we lost him for a good 15 minutes, to find him again at the bottom of the creek. Needless to say, we kept a close eye on him the rest of the time there.
Pics below. I was especially perplexed at the dude on the unicycle. Its weird enough to be riding one, but then to ride one in the mountain biking park. Odd indeed.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Jillian's Thanksgiving Play
Too fun. Afterward, we repaired to her classroom for a cafeteria tday feast. Got some good footage with the mino as well, if it will ever finish transcoding.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Devil Doggy
Here's Myles taken with my new phone (this one's got a flash!) the room was completely dark.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Foundation Repair Week Upon Us
Foundation repair started on my house on Monday. Very exciting times! At least, when you're paying thousands of dollars for something, it helps to get a little excited about it. Thought I'd share a few pics...
Here's the view from where I park the car. Lot's of dirt dug out of the holes around the house.
They had to move the bushes to continue the holes around the front of the house.
Here's what's inside the holes. As you can see, they've sunk a pier and added an end cap.
Next step (tomorrow, I'm thinking) is to jack up the foundation and then put spacers in between the end caps and the foundation to hold everything up good and level. Really looking forward to my doors working again and of course not feeling like the house is sinking around me.
Here's the view from where I park the car. Lot's of dirt dug out of the holes around the house.
They had to move the bushes to continue the holes around the front of the house.
Here's what's inside the holes. As you can see, they've sunk a pier and added an end cap.
Next step (tomorrow, I'm thinking) is to jack up the foundation and then put spacers in between the end caps and the foundation to hold everything up good and level. Really looking forward to my doors working again and of course not feeling like the house is sinking around me.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Got a new toy
I got a flip mino and took the initial video (below). I'm looking forward to easily recording all kinds of stuff and sharing it. Yay.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
hot out there
this is me after running to austin high, doing straight and curves, then running back. its been as high as 97 today. blech!
Friday, June 06, 2008
Why running marathons is like having a baby
- You tend to forget how miserable it was after a while and start wanting to do it again
- Practicing is the really fun part
So, I signed up the Rogue SA/NY/Chicago Marathon training group. It's a month into it but I haven't exactly been stuck to my couch since Big Sur. 12 miles tomorrow, hopefully followed by a quick dip in ye olde springs of barton. Good times.
chain chain chain
I've been experimenting with one of the suggestions in here . Specifically the one about making a visual progress calendar with flickr. Here it is . I think it's cool. I'm going to put a picture in on the days when I do "good" and by that I mean do my workout and not eat like a pig. It already helped me today on the third day. I very well might have gone to Mike's pub for a burger for lunch instead of going to yoga. Yay me.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Big Sur Analysis - Mission Accomplished
The goal was to run faster for the last 10K than the first 20 miles. The first 20 took 4:03:20, about a 12:10 split. The last 6 splits starting after were 12:18, 12:25, 13:32 (last water stop), 11:53, 11:13, and 11:19. And I was able to run strong for the last .6 miles or so. that puts the average of the last 10K somewhere in the 12:05 range.
Now if I could just do something about being SO F%&$ING SLOOOOOOOOOOW, life would be great. :-)
Now if I could just do something about being SO F%&$ING SLOOOOOOOOOOW, life would be great. :-)
Monday, April 28, 2008
Big Sur is done
On the plane headed home. Took me 5:23 to finish. What an ass kicker of a course! Never experienced elevation change like that except maybe that trail race at Camp Eagle. Still, I felt I ran a smarter race than either of the first two marathons. I was conservative at the beginning and it allowed me to finish strong. I was pretty much passing people the whole race and a LOT of people at the end. It was an amazing experience. Think I'll do it again when I'm 50 pounds lighter.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Almost go time
Met the bus at 4:15am and rode an hour down to the staging area. Forgot my food, but they had plenty down here. Jeff Galloway is up on the podium talking through race strategy. Pretty stoked!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
FW: Good luck
Me in front of Dad's temporary place while he rebuilds his house. Big Sur is tomorrow.
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Saturday, April 05, 2008
More shots from Camp Eagle
Actually, now that I think about it, I still haven't written anything about my trip. Needless to say, it was awesome. I brought home a bronze medal! Although I was guaranteed one as one of only three male registrants, I felt it was well deserved as I ran a strong race and came in 4th overall...out of 8. Anyhoo...
Camp Eagle
Camp Eagle
Eatin tacos in the sun
Missed my window to run this morning so Myles, the kids, and I walked to Taco Shack. Brandon spilled his chocolate milk all over the patio but we did allright otherwise.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
View from my hotel room in Vegas
Not sure if its showing up in my phone photo, but my balcony looks down on the pool and out towards the strip. Swank!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
OK, not about running, but this makes me happy
One of my favorite shows is coming back on the air. Yes, I'm a big dork.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Feelin thirsty
Thursday morning at the butt-early hour of 4:30 AM I ran the HEB loop with Dino and Stephanie. Man, its a lot more fun to run with friends than to run alone!
Saturday AM, I ran the runtex2rogue 20 miler. It was a good run and I think I learned something. I noticed that the pace I could keep at a given pulse gradually eroded. I think it comes down to hydration.
Today, I ran 7 miles, weighing myself before and after. I lost about 2 lbs in the 70 minutes I ran. Since a gallon of water weighs about 8 lbs, I figure I lost a quart of water in about an hour! I'm definitely not drinking enough during my runs to compensate. That's even on a relatively cool morning. Imagine what I need to do on a hot day!
New plan is to try drinking a lot more water, even carrying my water with me in bottles to help measure my intake. I'm going to start with the 20K trail run I'm doing this Saturday. Since it will take me about 2 hours, I'll run with two quart bottles of water and make sure I'm on pace to drink one per hour. A good measurement of success will be if I'm able to maintain a more consistent pace for a given pulse rate. I'll try the same thing one week from Saturday which will be my last long long run before Big Sur.
Saturday AM, I ran the runtex2rogue 20 miler. It was a good run and I think I learned something. I noticed that the pace I could keep at a given pulse gradually eroded. I think it comes down to hydration.
Today, I ran 7 miles, weighing myself before and after. I lost about 2 lbs in the 70 minutes I ran. Since a gallon of water weighs about 8 lbs, I figure I lost a quart of water in about an hour! I'm definitely not drinking enough during my runs to compensate. That's even on a relatively cool morning. Imagine what I need to do on a hot day!
New plan is to try drinking a lot more water, even carrying my water with me in bottles to help measure my intake. I'm going to start with the 20K trail run I'm doing this Saturday. Since it will take me about 2 hours, I'll run with two quart bottles of water and make sure I'm on pace to drink one per hour. A good measurement of success will be if I'm able to maintain a more consistent pace for a given pulse rate. I'll try the same thing one week from Saturday which will be my last long long run before Big Sur.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Meet Myles, my new running buddy
He just arrived tonight, so no running for a while. Working on some basic training tips like no chewing the towels. He's doing good so far.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Important (to me) Idea of the Day
Broken lines, broken strings, Broken threads, broken springs,
Broken idols, broken heads, People sleeping in broken beds.
Ain't no use jiving Ain't no use joking
Everything is broken.
from 'Everything is Broken' by Bob Dylan
Brokenness is everywhere. That's a fact. I should know, I fix things for a living. On top of that, I own a house and I am married with 3 kids. There's a lot of stuff in my life that can and does need fixing from time to time including physical objects as well as moods, emotions, and relationships. Hell, there's a lot of my stuff that's broken right this second. I look around and it feels like there's enough broken crap around that I could spend the rest of my life fixing it.
Here's the big idea though. It's ok that a bunch of stuff is broken, well the fixable stuff anyway. Broken things are blessings in disguise. To wit:
That's all I got for now. Getting late. Happy fixing!
Broken idols, broken heads, People sleeping in broken beds.
Ain't no use jiving Ain't no use joking
Everything is broken.
from 'Everything is Broken' by Bob Dylan
Brokenness is everywhere. That's a fact. I should know, I fix things for a living. On top of that, I own a house and I am married with 3 kids. There's a lot of stuff in my life that can and does need fixing from time to time including physical objects as well as moods, emotions, and relationships. Hell, there's a lot of my stuff that's broken right this second. I look around and it feels like there's enough broken crap around that I could spend the rest of my life fixing it.
Here's the big idea though. It's ok that a bunch of stuff is broken, well the fixable stuff anyway. Broken things are blessings in disguise. To wit:
- Have you ever let something that was broken get on the corner of your nerve and gnaw away until you're really irritated and discouraged and don't even know why? Let me turn it around: have you ever finally fixed something after that period and it turned out to be much easier than you ever thought it would be to fix, to the point where you're a little exasperated that you didn't just fix the damn thing when it first broke? Fixing stuff sets you free from the insidious nature of broken stuff in your life.
- There was until recently a problem with my front door. The latch wouldn't pop out and catch the door for what seems now like forever. You could only keep the door closed by locking it. Irritated everybody in the house. I finally fixed it by replacing the mechanism and it makes me happy every time I close the door and the latch keeps the door closed. Fixed stuff (that you fixed, anyway) is more satisfying than stuff that never broke.
- You do more to help overall by fixing stuff, because you help foster a culture of fixing stuff. In my case, I'm showing my kids how to fix simple problems by example. This is a skill I hope they will always have in life. Fixing small things can create big changes.
- Accept brokenness as an opportunity and maybe even a blessing
- If something is broken and its irritating you, FIX IT or at least start working on fixing it.
- Even small fixes can be greatly satisfying and so are a great start
- The very process of fixing things will fix you in ways you didn't imagine
That's all I got for now. Getting late. Happy fixing!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
spooky run
Went on a 9-mile ramble around my neighborhood yesterday morning. This was a new kind of craziness for me as I got up at 4, was out the door by 4:30 and back at 6:30 before anyone else in the house was awake. It was also the first time I've gone on a serious run in my neighborhood. The plan was to run down to Walnut Creek Park and do some trail running for the bulk of the run, then head back for about 10 miles. I even broke out my headlamp for the first time since it those trails were going to be so dark.
Here's the thing... running in an empty park (well, there were some moths) at 5 in the morning is friggin spooky! I did just under a mile, eventually getting to an empty swimming pool that must be closed for the winter. Something about the look of the pool contributed to the overall sense of being in a scary movie, so I booked out of the park and did the rest of my run on the road.
I still plan on doing that kind of run again, although hopefully not alone. It's looking like we're getting a family dog this weekend. I'm going to lobby for a running buddy.... a big one, preferably with big pointy teeth.
Here's the thing... running in an empty park (well, there were some moths) at 5 in the morning is friggin spooky! I did just under a mile, eventually getting to an empty swimming pool that must be closed for the winter. Something about the look of the pool contributed to the overall sense of being in a scary movie, so I booked out of the park and did the rest of my run on the road.
I still plan on doing that kind of run again, although hopefully not alone. It's looking like we're getting a family dog this weekend. I'm going to lobby for a running buddy.... a big one, preferably with big pointy teeth.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
I am shamed....a little at least
So Cassie and I argue every once in a while about the footprint my running has on her life. I tend to feel like my watching the kids every Friday night pays for my Saturday morning run. Then again, I also sometimes stay late after work for a running workout. Perhaps she has a point. :-) At any rate, I follow this guy's blog . In the article, he talks about his philosophy that runs must be completed before 7:15AM on weekdays and 9AM on weekend days to ensure he still has family time, doesn't impune too much on the spouse, etc. We're a lot alike in that we both have small children, a full time job, and both are runners.
Here's the critical difference: he has the philosophy while training for the Western States 100! I'm training for a race that's a quarter of that. I am shamed. I better brake out my head lamp and get ready for some early runs. :-)
Here's the critical difference: he has the philosophy while training for the Western States 100! I'm training for a race that's a quarter of that. I am shamed. I better brake out my head lamp and get ready for some early runs. :-)
Saturday, March 08, 2008
First Long Run Since ATT Marathon
Technical details are here
My first workout with the Spring Marathon group. The group is much much smaller than ATT, but there's about the same mix of faster and slower (my speed) runners. Some folks are training for Marathons in the beginning of April (London, Paris) and so were doing 20-22 while the late April marathoners were doing 16-18. Although I'm less than 3 weeks out from ATT, I elected to run 18.
I did see a few familiar faces. Mary and Dee from the Brew Runners were there this morning to run about 6 miles easy. We ran together for a bit and it was good to catch up.
This was the first long run where I've tried to keep my pulse down in the 130-140 range. Man, it was annoyingly slow and I was almost the last person in behind even the 22 milers. Took me 4 hours to run 18 miles. I guess that's ok. If nothing else, I'll get used to being on my feet for a longer period of time. My pace was somewhere in the 11's whereas my ATT Marathon pace was in the high 10's. That's actually good, since long run pace is supposed to be slower.
Other nuggets:
I decided to use the mp3 player, but it had no juice when I first tried to turn it on several miles in. Thankfully, I had some money in my shoe pocket and was able to get a battery at the Walgreen's on 45th and Guadalupe. The woman in front of me in line at Walgreen's was taking forever buying stuff for herself for the Heart of Texas Regatta. Her daughter's team is racing. Brought back old times.
Evidently, Saturday morning at the intramural fields is when the Chinese folks in Austin play softball. Part of the run involved a loop around the inside of the fence of the fields and I ran past at least 4 games/8 teams of all-Chinese softball teams. They could have all been students I guess.
I ran the Mt Bonnell hill about 11 miles into the run! These spring marathoners aren't playing around. The Mac Special is a challenging run. I'm feeling pretty beat as I write this. Gonna make it an early night.
My first workout with the Spring Marathon group. The group is much much smaller than ATT, but there's about the same mix of faster and slower (my speed) runners. Some folks are training for Marathons in the beginning of April (London, Paris) and so were doing 20-22 while the late April marathoners were doing 16-18. Although I'm less than 3 weeks out from ATT, I elected to run 18.
I did see a few familiar faces. Mary and Dee from the Brew Runners were there this morning to run about 6 miles easy. We ran together for a bit and it was good to catch up.
This was the first long run where I've tried to keep my pulse down in the 130-140 range. Man, it was annoyingly slow and I was almost the last person in behind even the 22 milers. Took me 4 hours to run 18 miles. I guess that's ok. If nothing else, I'll get used to being on my feet for a longer period of time. My pace was somewhere in the 11's whereas my ATT Marathon pace was in the high 10's. That's actually good, since long run pace is supposed to be slower.
Other nuggets:
I decided to use the mp3 player, but it had no juice when I first tried to turn it on several miles in. Thankfully, I had some money in my shoe pocket and was able to get a battery at the Walgreen's on 45th and Guadalupe. The woman in front of me in line at Walgreen's was taking forever buying stuff for herself for the Heart of Texas Regatta. Her daughter's team is racing. Brought back old times.
Evidently, Saturday morning at the intramural fields is when the Chinese folks in Austin play softball. Part of the run involved a loop around the inside of the fence of the fields and I ran past at least 4 games/8 teams of all-Chinese softball teams. They could have all been students I guess.
I ran the Mt Bonnell hill about 11 miles into the run! These spring marathoners aren't playing around. The Mac Special is a challenging run. I'm feeling pretty beat as I write this. Gonna make it an early night.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Sunday, March 02, 2008
big weekend
Friday - Picked my sister and her friend from the airport, lunch at Veggie Heaven, and explored the UT Art department. Then, picked up the the kiddos for a trip to Whole Foods for Shopping and then to Chick Fil-A for kid food.
Saturday - up at 6:30 for Jillian's first soccer game. She did awesome! I'm so proud of my little athlete! After soccer, we went and saw the Sea Monsters 3d IMAX movie with the kids, then to Freddie's for lunch. Then home, personnel change, and we took Jillian to run the 1K Hawk Hustle. She was pretty tired. Then, out on the town with my sis and her friend for beers, sushi, sake, and more beers.
Sunday - Trail run. Went and explored Walnut Creek park for the first time. Couldn't believe how convenient it is and that I haven't been there until now. Probably didn't do more than 3 miles or so, tho. My run was interrupted painfully by.....erm.....digestive issues. Got back home and it was time to feast again. Met mom at Trudy's for breakfast buffet. Then home for various activities with sis, friend, and kids. Then an airport dropoff followed by a disastrous visit to Veggie Heavan with the boys (you may be wondering why twice in one weekend. I'm hooked on coconut bubble tea...its the sh!t). Then home. I did a 10K erg piece, which I feel got my cardio work in just fine, and then dinner with Cassie's grandma, brother, sister-in-la, and two nieces.
Whew, can't believe I made it through all of that. What's more, I just read my marathon training regimen for Big Sur and there are a LOT of miles in it. In fact, I'm supposed to run 5 tomorrow. I got my stuff together to do a treadmill run tomorrow morning, but now I'm thinking better of it. Better do some yoga instead.
Sleepy time.
Saturday - up at 6:30 for Jillian's first soccer game. She did awesome! I'm so proud of my little athlete! After soccer, we went and saw the Sea Monsters 3d IMAX movie with the kids, then to Freddie's for lunch. Then home, personnel change, and we took Jillian to run the 1K Hawk Hustle. She was pretty tired. Then, out on the town with my sis and her friend for beers, sushi, sake, and more beers.
Sunday - Trail run. Went and explored Walnut Creek park for the first time. Couldn't believe how convenient it is and that I haven't been there until now. Probably didn't do more than 3 miles or so, tho. My run was interrupted painfully by.....erm.....digestive issues. Got back home and it was time to feast again. Met mom at Trudy's for breakfast buffet. Then home for various activities with sis, friend, and kids. Then an airport dropoff followed by a disastrous visit to Veggie Heavan with the boys (you may be wondering why twice in one weekend. I'm hooked on coconut bubble tea...its the sh!t). Then home. I did a 10K erg piece, which I feel got my cardio work in just fine, and then dinner with Cassie's grandma, brother, sister-in-la, and two nieces.
Whew, can't believe I made it through all of that. What's more, I just read my marathon training regimen for Big Sur and there are a LOT of miles in it. In fact, I'm supposed to run 5 tomorrow. I got my stuff together to do a treadmill run tomorrow morning, but now I'm thinking better of it. Better do some yoga instead.
Sleepy time.
Friday, February 29, 2008
First 30 minute erg piece in years
My buddy Jon let me borrow his ergometer for the next 2 months for Big Sur cross training. Did 30 minutes at zone 1. Feels good.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
at least my photos are getting better
like this one of me and Jillian after the marathon. Looking a little better than the picture of Jillian and me after last year's. Gotta find the bright spots. :-)
Other news.... Just signed up for the 20K trail run at Camp Eagle on March 30th. I'm going to take the kiddos and will meet my father-in-law, brother-in-law, and my two nieces for some camping and general outdoorsiness. The kids have never been camping before. I'm really stoked!
In other other news, in addition to her soccer game (Go Pink Storm!), I signed Jillian up for the 4th annual Hawk Hustle (the kids k) . Thinking about getting some custom "Team Hawk" t-shirts for the extended day of cheering. We'll see.
Other news.... Just signed up for the 20K trail run at Camp Eagle on March 30th. I'm going to take the kiddos and will meet my father-in-law, brother-in-law, and my two nieces for some camping and general outdoorsiness. The kids have never been camping before. I'm really stoked!
In other other news, in addition to her soccer game (Go Pink Storm!), I signed Jillian up for the 4th annual Hawk Hustle (the kids k) . Thinking about getting some custom "Team Hawk" t-shirts for the extended day of cheering. We'll see.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Damn Fine Day in Austin
Man, the weather was nice today! Ran about 6 and half miles on the trail ...
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=16172&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5040395
Just beautiful! Per my new training principal, kept my pulse between 130 and 140 bpm, which means I was running sloooooooooow. That's ok though, I fet great, had great form, and took in the scenery... flora and fauna ;-) . The hope is that keeping the long runs slow means I'll be able to increase the overall weekly miles and feel less beat up at the same time. I also hope to be able to increase the speed at which I can run and still maintain an optimum heart rate.
Got home and weighed 142. Woo hoo! Now, hopefully I didn't ruin that with my lunch trip to Phil's Ice House where I had beer, cheeseburger, and ice cream. Oh well.
I was thinking on the way down to the trail that I can't wait to get back in to a group training environment. Brew runners rock. Will need to consider my options over the summer to run with those guys if I can swing it.
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=16172&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5040395
Just beautiful! Per my new training principal, kept my pulse between 130 and 140 bpm, which means I was running sloooooooooow. That's ok though, I fet great, had great form, and took in the scenery... flora and fauna ;-) . The hope is that keeping the long runs slow means I'll be able to increase the overall weekly miles and feel less beat up at the same time. I also hope to be able to increase the speed at which I can run and still maintain an optimum heart rate.
Got home and weighed 142. Woo hoo! Now, hopefully I didn't ruin that with my lunch trip to Phil's Ice House where I had beer, cheeseburger, and ice cream. Oh well.
I was thinking on the way down to the trail that I can't wait to get back in to a group training environment. Brew runners rock. Will need to consider my options over the summer to run with those guys if I can swing it.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
AT&T race report
Good:
Goals for Big Sur
- Parking at my building for free, warming up in my gym, and popping out of my building 5 minutes before the gun went off
- Finding friends at the start and running the first few miles with them
- Meeting Lindy for miles 14-20
- Chad's tailgate at mile 18 or so - next year, I'm definitely stopping for a mimosa
- Running the last couple of blocks with Jillian
- Post race canneloni - Cassie made it from scratch
- I feel better after this marathon than I did after last year's
- after getting home and having eaten, the scale said 243. Haven't seen 243 in over 5 years.
- 7 minutes slower than last year. This sucks the big one because I trained way harder this year.
- slow death over time....started out great, but got slower and slower and slower
- headache starting at mile 15
- survival shuffle from mile 20 on
- seeing the 4:15 group pass by, then the 4:30 group....shit, almost got passed by 4:45
- Eat more the last two weeks before the race. Don't try to lose weight.
- Get real about what pace you can actually hold for 26 miles. I don't think its in the 9's even on a good day.
- It was a tough day for a lot of folks.
Goals for Big Sur
- Run the last 10K faster than the previous 20 miles
Friday, February 01, 2008
3M recap and diet discovery
Wanted to quickly recap the 3M Marathon. In short, it went really well. We came in at 1:56:03 (Lindy and I) and put together a strong, disciplined race that was a PR by about a minute. I think I probably could have run it faster, but I'm glad I didn't as my real focus is the marathon.
I've been reading this book called Body, Mind and Sport - by John Douillard and one of the suggestions in the book is to eat your largest mean mid-day and de-emphasize breakfast and dinner. I decided to try it this week. I've been eating a pretty light breakfast except when I'm hungry after a run and need a breakfast taco. I eat huge lunches (Hoovers one day and Roaring Fork another day..mmmmmm) and then just a protein shake for lunch. I'm also trying to get to bed by 9, which helps because I start to get hungry :-) . I feel pretty good this week, but the crazy thing is how the pounds are dropping off. I was 244.9 on the scale this morning. I haven't seen that side of 245 in a LONG time. I didn't start this to lose weight, but its definitely having that effect. The weird thing is that its not accompanied by a lot of effort. I'm more going with the natural flow of what my body wants. That this would be so effective flies in the face of a lot of modern 'wisdom' on diet (like 6 meals a day for instance), but that conventional wisdom has never brought me much in the way of results. It has me thinking about next year's marathon and being 30-40 pounds lighter. Can you say eight-minute miles?
The one down side is that I'm a little worried that the weight loss might be killing my glycogen reserves. I'm not hungry during the day and I feel good. I guess we'll see how tomorrow's long run goes. That's usually when you can really tell if you screwed up your diet.
I've been reading this book called Body, Mind and Sport - by John Douillard and one of the suggestions in the book is to eat your largest mean mid-day and de-emphasize breakfast and dinner. I decided to try it this week. I've been eating a pretty light breakfast except when I'm hungry after a run and need a breakfast taco. I eat huge lunches (Hoovers one day and Roaring Fork another day..mmmmmm) and then just a protein shake for lunch. I'm also trying to get to bed by 9, which helps because I start to get hungry :-) . I feel pretty good this week, but the crazy thing is how the pounds are dropping off. I was 244.9 on the scale this morning. I haven't seen that side of 245 in a LONG time. I didn't start this to lose weight, but its definitely having that effect. The weird thing is that its not accompanied by a lot of effort. I'm more going with the natural flow of what my body wants. That this would be so effective flies in the face of a lot of modern 'wisdom' on diet (like 6 meals a day for instance), but that conventional wisdom has never brought me much in the way of results. It has me thinking about next year's marathon and being 30-40 pounds lighter. Can you say eight-minute miles?
The one down side is that I'm a little worried that the weight loss might be killing my glycogen reserves. I'm not hungry during the day and I feel good. I guess we'll see how tomorrow's long run goes. That's usually when you can really tell if you screwed up your diet.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
The night before the 3M half
Everything's pretty much ready to go. Kids are in bed, my gear is all laid out or already in the car. I've read my coach's race advice/plan. Coach Karen always writes up a good plan for us. It really helped me for this race last year. About 6 hours from now, I'll wake up and fix myself some coffee and some malt o' meal (really works well for a pre race meal....for me anyway). I'll probably watch a little sportscenter as I eat and dress, then I'll load some really sleepy kids in the car and drive to my mom's place, stopping at Taco Cabana on the way for their breakfast. After the kids are safely ensconced with their Grandma, I'll head over to pick up Lindy (it's her first ever half....awesome!) and we'll get to the race starting area in time to join my Rogue peeps for a warmup. Weather should be in the 40's. Easily gonna be shorts and long sleeve shirt weather by the time its all said and done.
Running is a good time. Well, actually, there are times during a run that are at least temporarily miserable. But overall, I'm pretty much addicted. I'm going to run until my body won't let me any more. It's not just the running, but its the whole ritual of getting ready the night before, feeling a little nervous, getting up early when the rest of the world is asleep, and then going to battle. The modern world doesn't have a lot of physical challenges. Most of us are sheltered, warm, and well fed. We lack for no physical comforts. We also lose out on a lot of beauty of the world when you're exposed to the elements and your own lack of invincibility. Running gives you a little taste of that back.
Another reason I run is the community. There's nothing like it. No community out there is both so stratified (you are constantly reminded who is faster or slower and how much) yet so collegiate. As a runner, you feel just as much a part of the day as the fastest person out there. Runners delight in sharing the love of running with other runners no matter what their relative speed and skill level are. It's enough to be doing it.
I have some pretty specific goals for tomorrow and I feel like my training and preparation is going to get me there. But, regardless of my race time, I'm going to have a really fun time tomorrow sharing the joy of running a half marathon with Lindy and everyone else out there. I look forward to what the day will bring, even those rollers on Burnet road.
Running is a good time. Well, actually, there are times during a run that are at least temporarily miserable. But overall, I'm pretty much addicted. I'm going to run until my body won't let me any more. It's not just the running, but its the whole ritual of getting ready the night before, feeling a little nervous, getting up early when the rest of the world is asleep, and then going to battle. The modern world doesn't have a lot of physical challenges. Most of us are sheltered, warm, and well fed. We lack for no physical comforts. We also lose out on a lot of beauty of the world when you're exposed to the elements and your own lack of invincibility. Running gives you a little taste of that back.
Another reason I run is the community. There's nothing like it. No community out there is both so stratified (you are constantly reminded who is faster or slower and how much) yet so collegiate. As a runner, you feel just as much a part of the day as the fastest person out there. Runners delight in sharing the love of running with other runners no matter what their relative speed and skill level are. It's enough to be doing it.
I have some pretty specific goals for tomorrow and I feel like my training and preparation is going to get me there. But, regardless of my race time, I'm going to have a really fun time tomorrow sharing the joy of running a half marathon with Lindy and everyone else out there. I look forward to what the day will bring, even those rollers on Burnet road.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Longest training run of the season....check
Just got it uploaded.
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.do?episodePk.pkValue=4822890
Was a really good run. I got a late start and so didn't see anyone I normally run with for a good while. Starting at the corner of LAB and Enfield, I got going on MGP. Finally caught up with Brian at about the 8 mile mark and we ran the rest of the way together. I was happy to be able to consistently keep a 9:20 pace all the way to campus, about the 18 mile mark. Oddly enough, although it was the longest run of the season so far, it wasn't the worst. It was nice, especially after the sun came up. I feel a lot more confident now about the Marathon.
Next week is 3M. I'm going to have to run pretty fast to beat my last year's time of 1:57:09. But, I'm confident that I can do it.
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.do?episodePk.pkValue=4822890
Was a really good run. I got a late start and so didn't see anyone I normally run with for a good while. Starting at the corner of LAB and Enfield, I got going on MGP. Finally caught up with Brian at about the 8 mile mark and we ran the rest of the way together. I was happy to be able to consistently keep a 9:20 pace all the way to campus, about the 18 mile mark. Oddly enough, although it was the longest run of the season so far, it wasn't the worst. It was nice, especially after the sun came up. I feel a lot more confident now about the Marathon.
Next week is 3M. I'm going to have to run pretty fast to beat my last year's time of 1:57:09. But, I'm confident that I can do it.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
craziness....pure craziness
was going back and reading some of my first posts on this thing. I was really impressed with a 6 mile run at a 12-minute pace. This morning, I did 6.5 at pretty close to a 9-minute pace. That was actually a really easy Thursday workout. Saturday will be the last long training run for the Austin Marathon. It will be 24 miles, which will only be the second time I've run that far, ever. I've done three 20 mile runs and one Marathon before.
One could say things have changed quite a bit since late 2005. I've changed jobs twice, the kids have gotten a lot older, and I've run a Marathon and am about to run another one.
Not only that, but it doesn't seem to be changing, rather increasing. I've just registered for the Big Sur Marathon on April 27th. I'm really looking forward to that one. Should be a fun time with my Dad, and also (it appears) my sister and her boyfriend.
One could say things have changed quite a bit since late 2005. I've changed jobs twice, the kids have gotten a lot older, and I've run a Marathon and am about to run another one.
Not only that, but it doesn't seem to be changing, rather increasing. I've just registered for the Big Sur Marathon on April 27th. I'm really looking forward to that one. Should be a fun time with my Dad, and also (it appears) my sister and her boyfriend.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Jillian gets a spin from Dad
Yeah, I know. Not a lot of running stuff lately. I promise that I am running....a lot. 10 miles tomorrow AM and then 16 on Saturday in fact. This was just worth sharing.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Went a little crazy on the tree this year
Not sure what we were thinking. My usual flter wasn't in place. It is magnificent though and a steal at $24!
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Friday, October 12, 2007
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Adopting a Running Lifestyle
I read recently that to do really well in running, one needs to adopt a runner's lifestyle. Duh, but bear with me. One needs to get enough sleep, do quality recovery, have the right diet, in addition to putting in quality training. Up until now, I really haven't been doing that. I've increased my training, but my diet stayed the same and I didn't pay enough attention to sleep. Well, I'm working on changing that. This season, I'm going to make a conscious effort to get more sleep. My diet needs some changes too, and I'm going to work on slowly bringing my diet around to where it needs to be. Less to no booze. Much better pre-run and post run meals, in addition to trying to generally upgrade my diet so I'll lose some weight. The good news is that there's a lot of room for improvement and all of it will make me faster. Will provide updates on how it goes.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
New pics on flickr
There was a block party on my street on Tuesday to kick off the neighborhood watch. Some firefighters came by in the truck and let the kiddos climb up inside. More pics here
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Bath time
Sure, you get bags under your eyes, your body, free time, and disposable income go to pot.....but they're pretty cute sometimes.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Moonlight Margarita Madness
Fun race! 5K, started right at 8:24 when the sun was setting. Good crowd. Ran from the north end of the Mopac foot bridge up Stephen F Austin drive, around by the Pound, before turning around right before Lavaca. It was muggy but not too hot. Ran about a 25:20, definitely not a PR. Still, it was a good one. These two guys wearing Zen (the restaurant) shirts pulled a third in a rickshaw. I *barely* beat them. They were in good shape.
After the run, there was a party with Maudie's fajitas and margaritas. Folks in front of Travis and me gave us their drink tickets. Score! I had an awesome time, but I'm dragging ass today. Gonna have to get my sleep because tomorrow morning is the 'Run from Hell'. That's literally what they call it.
After the run, there was a party with Maudie's fajitas and margaritas. Folks in front of Travis and me gave us their drink tickets. Score! I had an awesome time, but I'm dragging ass today. Gonna have to get my sleep because tomorrow morning is the 'Run from Hell'. That's literally what they call it.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Cute pic
Testing out some new flickr->blogger functionality. Wish it would just post straight to the blog. Will have to work on that one....
Long silence
Well, its not like I haven't been busy. I didn't stop running. In fact, I've become a runner. I finished the marathon in February per plan (4:37 was my time...not bad for the first time, but I'm going to get a lot faster). I then took a 10K PR class where I did exactly that. I took three weeks off but could already feel myself gaining weight, so I got back on the horse and am in the middle of the summer long run again. Just signed up for Marathon training again, but this time, I'm upping the ante and doing a performance project. It has three coached sessions per week instead of two. The idea is more gains, more focus, harder work. We'll see if it can get me to my goal of a sub 4-hour marathon.
Gosh, what else has happened? I've got a new job as of four weeks ago. Its going great and is downtown. I actually ran during lunch today. Hot as hell but still cool that I could make it work. Trying to upload the data to Motionbased now so I can show off. :-)
That's all for now.
Gosh, what else has happened? I've got a new job as of four weeks ago. Its going great and is downtown. I actually ran during lunch today. Hot as hell but still cool that I could make it work. Trying to upload the data to Motionbased now so I can show off. :-)
That's all for now.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Motive Half Marathon...Check!
Completed the Motive Half Marathon yesterday with a time of 2:04:53, which is a 9:32 pace. It felt pretty good, considering the serious hills involved in that race. This was my second half marathon. In February, I ran the Freescale half marathon in 2:21:02, which is a 10:45 pace. That race was pretty consistently down hill. So, overall, we're talking about a vast improvement.
Here's the Motionbased link to the race data.
Another big difference is how I felt after the races. I was totally beat up after the first half marathon, and about to freeze my butt off. I was an invalid all day and couldn't walk without limping for several weeks. Now, after all my training, running the half marathon yesterday really wasn't too bad. I took an ice bath when I got home, and felt just fine after that. In fact, I did housework all day. Training is a good thing.
Here's the Motionbased link to the race data.
Another big difference is how I felt after the races. I was totally beat up after the first half marathon, and about to freeze my butt off. I was an invalid all day and couldn't walk without limping for several weeks. Now, after all my training, running the half marathon yesterday really wasn't too bad. I took an ice bath when I got home, and felt just fine after that. In fact, I did housework all day. Training is a good thing.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
News
This marathon class is going to be challenging but a lot of fun. Yesterday's quality workout was a 2-mile time trial to guage your current fitness level. I ran the first mile in 7:30 and finished in 15:19. My goal was to run it in 15 minutes, so I feel pretty good about it. Not sure where I got 15 minutes from, actually, but glad I'm about where I think I am, speed wise. Also, we can take our current 2-mile time and feed it into a running calculator to get a calculated marathon time and pace, which is pretty cool. My goal in my head has been to finish the marathon at a 10min/mile pace, but based on the calculator, I think that's too slow. I should be pushing for something closer to a 9 minute mile pace (given that my speed will improve by February). Very cool!
On another note, I've just signed up for the Austin Distance Challenge and am excited about the first race, the IBM Uptown Classic in two weeks. Last year's classic was the first 10K I ever ran on my journey out of couch potato land. I went back and looked up the results for last year's race and compared them to my projected time (based on the mcmillan calculator) for this year's race. Pretty dramatic difference a year makes...
Date Overall Time Mile Pace
10/2/2005 1:13:36 11:51
10/1/2006 51:43 8:18
Additionally, I was wiped out after last year's run, needing several weeks to recover. This year, I expect to take only a couple days off from my training, maybe starting back up on Tuesday or Wednesday. Well, we'll see about this last part.
On another note, I've just signed up for the Austin Distance Challenge and am excited about the first race, the IBM Uptown Classic in two weeks. Last year's classic was the first 10K I ever ran on my journey out of couch potato land. I went back and looked up the results for last year's race and compared them to my projected time (based on the mcmillan calculator) for this year's race. Pretty dramatic difference a year makes...
Date Overall Time Mile Pace
10/2/2005 1:13:36 11:51
10/1/2006 51:43 8:18
Additionally, I was wiped out after last year's run, needing several weeks to recover. This year, I expect to take only a couple days off from my training, maybe starting back up on Tuesday or Wednesday. Well, we'll see about this last part.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Marathon Season is here
I started my new marathon class. The first run was last Saturday and it was super crowded on the trail. Everyone and their dog just started training for something. Anyway, the group I am running with in the class is called the Brew Runners, how cool is that? Karen, my coach sent us all some questions to answer about our running history. Thought I would post the answers...
1. How many marathons have you run? - The Austin Marathon will be my first
2. What is your PR (for marathon if you have run one before) and when did you run that - See above
3. What is your goal for this marathon- eg… time, % improvement, BQ, achievement, feeling …? - I guess I "should" just be trying to finish. However, I'd really like to get it done at a 10 minute mile pace
4. Why are you training for this marathon? (What is your commitment to..) - I feel driven to run the Austin Marathon and other marathons after that. Some day, I'd like to run ultras. Not sure why. Maybe because I'm turning 30 this coming January and I'm tired of being out of shape. Plus, running is cheaper than therapy!
5. Are you planning on doing all of the Distance challenge races? - Yes
6. When you get tired, frustrated or bummed out- is there anything that you do that helps you get out of the rut? - Long runs with the MP3 player on loud. A Grande Vanilla Latte and Cranberry Orange Scone work pretty well in some cases, too.
7. Do you have any current or past injuries that you are concerned with? - Not that I'm concerned with. When I first got back into running (August 05), I tried to do too much too fast and my knees weren't ready. In fact, I had to stop for a little while and start back more slowly. But, I've been running without the knee braces for the past 6 months or so and feeling pretty good. I've been doing the foot drills, core workouts, stretching, getting sleep, etc and it seems to make a difference.
8. Do you belong to a gym or have acess to alternative workout equipment? - I'm a member of the YMCA (try to do one spin class a week) and I have a stability ball at home for core workouts.
9. What do you do for a living, and do you travel for work? - I'm a software person. No travel.
10. What life issues do you think are going to cause you the most time conflict with training? - the biggest issue is that I have 3 kids under 6 and a wife that works full time too. My schedule is pretty tight. Thankfully, we've worked out our schedules to the degree that I'll be able to make all the workouts.
After my first aborted attempt to start running again, I started back slower and ran the last year's Turkey Trot and several more races before doing the Austin Half Marathon this February. My running buddy at the time was also a large person. I started up a running blog called irunwiththebigdogs.com which I still maintain. My buddy kinda dropped out while I signed up for the Summer Long Run course, which I really enjoyed, and which helped me feel better while running longer than I thought I would be at this point.
1. How many marathons have you run? - The Austin Marathon will be my first
2. What is your PR (for marathon if you have run one before) and when did you run that - See above
3. What is your goal for this marathon- eg… time, % improvement, BQ, achievement, feeling …? - I guess I "should" just be trying to finish. However, I'd really like to get it done at a 10 minute mile pace
4. Why are you training for this marathon? (What is your commitment to..) - I feel driven to run the Austin Marathon and other marathons after that. Some day, I'd like to run ultras. Not sure why. Maybe because I'm turning 30 this coming January and I'm tired of being out of shape. Plus, running is cheaper than therapy!
5. Are you planning on doing all of the Distance challenge races? - Yes
6. When you get tired, frustrated or bummed out- is there anything that you do that helps you get out of the rut? - Long runs with the MP3 player on loud. A Grande Vanilla Latte and Cranberry Orange Scone work pretty well in some cases, too.
7. Do you have any current or past injuries that you are concerned with? - Not that I'm concerned with. When I first got back into running (August 05), I tried to do too much too fast and my knees weren't ready. In fact, I had to stop for a little while and start back more slowly. But, I've been running without the knee braces for the past 6 months or so and feeling pretty good. I've been doing the foot drills, core workouts, stretching, getting sleep, etc and it seems to make a difference.
8. Do you belong to a gym or have acess to alternative workout equipment? - I'm a member of the YMCA (try to do one spin class a week) and I have a stability ball at home for core workouts.
9. What do you do for a living, and do you travel for work? - I'm a software person. No travel.
10. What life issues do you think are going to cause you the most time conflict with training? - the biggest issue is that I have 3 kids under 6 and a wife that works full time too. My schedule is pretty tight. Thankfully, we've worked out our schedules to the degree that I'll be able to make all the workouts.
After my first aborted attempt to start running again, I started back slower and ran the last year's Turkey Trot and several more races before doing the Austin Half Marathon this February. My running buddy at the time was also a large person. I started up a running blog called irunwiththebigdogs.com which I still maintain. My buddy kinda dropped out while I signed up for the Summer Long Run course, which I really enjoyed, and which helped me feel better while running longer than I thought I would be at this point.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Ran a Summer Sunstroke 5K
Went up North Yesterday to Brushy Creek for the 11th of this summer's Sunstroke 5K's . Its a pretty nice way to have a race, I thought. Small group of folks running on a well groomed trail. Only 10 bucks to enter, but you're chip-timed on a certified course. Worked out well for my training too, since I'm counting this as my mid-week quality workout. I think I'll do it again next week, since they alternate locations and its on the hike and bike.
As far as results go, I did ok for me. I'm still waiting on the chip results, but my overall time was right around 26:30, which would put the pace at about 8:30/mile. The goal was 9 minute miles, so I'm happy about that. I still think I could do better as I didn't really get into a kick because I didn't have a good feel for how much farther there was to go in the race. If I do these again next year, I'll definitely run a lot more of the races so that I can get more familiar with the course.
As far as results go, I did ok for me. I'm still waiting on the chip results, but my overall time was right around 26:30, which would put the pace at about 8:30/mile. The goal was 9 minute miles, so I'm happy about that. I still think I could do better as I didn't really get into a kick because I didn't have a good feel for how much farther there was to go in the race. If I do these again next year, I'll definitely run a lot more of the races so that I can get more familiar with the course.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Speed Breakthrough
Justin couldn't make it the other morning so I decided to go ahead and run balls out to see how fast I could go. Well, I went pretty fast. 4 miles in a little under 36 minutes. 8:51 minute miles.
The training is working. I'm getting faster. You'll see that if you look in my motionbased digest. I'm knocking significant time off of my pace, even over long distances.
On the 4th, I'm going to run a 12K as part of the marathon relay. I'm going to skip the Saturday long run, so that I'll have plenty of energy for the Tuesday race. My goal will be a 10-minute mile pace for the 7.4 miles, although maybe I'm being too easy on myself. After all, I just kept that pace on a 9.5-mile run. We'll see how it goes.
The training is working. I'm getting faster. You'll see that if you look in my motionbased digest. I'm knocking significant time off of my pace, even over long distances.
On the 4th, I'm going to run a 12K as part of the marathon relay. I'm going to skip the Saturday long run, so that I'll have plenty of energy for the Tuesday race. My goal will be a 10-minute mile pace for the 7.4 miles, although maybe I'm being too easy on myself. After all, I just kept that pace on a 9.5-mile run. We'll see how it goes.
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