Taken at Moonies Burger House
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Friday, April 08, 2011
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
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.
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