Or perhaps kitty win?
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
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