An Aside About The Astros

A good bit of the media skills that I possess come from two men -- my father, Will F. Walk, III and my grandfather, Wilbur F. Walk, Jr.

My Dad will turn 60 in January after I turn 40 and my grandfather is 83.

My Dad is a very early riser, which goes back to his days in the Marine Corps. So it was of little surprise that I had been copied on an e-mail early this morning. The e-mail was about his favorite subject, the Astros. (Which, of course, guarantees a comment from Ms. Graybeal.)

So here was this morning's "Letter to the Editor" in the Chronicle's e-mail box with the title, "GM Doing OK":

I totally disagree with yesterday's Daily Letter suggesting Astros GM Tim Pupura hasn't been doing his job. On the contrary I think Pupura is doing a good job and (gulp) so is Drayton McLane.

The Astros have the players to get the job done but it is the responsibility of the field manager to put the right players in the lineup and use his roster wisely. Now there is the problem.

While always playing for the wild card is getting frustrating, the Astros can still get there by putting Scott, Taveras and Lane in the outfield, left to right, respectively. Go with Ensberg, Everett, Biggio, Berkman and Ausmus on the infield.

Tell them they are there to the end. There are enough hitters in that lineup that if they know they are in the lineup day in and day out and have the confidence of their manager that they will hit and hit enough for another wild card win. Garner must stop tinkering and let the guys play and being a former player surprises me how he fools with the lineup the way he does.

If you can package Wilson, Burke, Bruntlet and Lidge to get anything reasonable go ahead and make the deal.

That lineup mentioned above can get the job done but you better do it now as next year there is no Clemens and Pettitte for sure, Ausmus won't be needed with those pitchers gone, then the team can get a catcher who will hit more than . 240, Biggio will get 3,000 and then be gone and Jeff Bagwell is not coming back.

Wilson, Huff, Lamb, Palmeiro are not the future of this team. The others are good enough for five to seven years together and then you go into the offseason knowing that your need is pitching.

Oh, and leave Richard Justice alone as he is my favorite.

I had a chuckle this morning. Sometimes he's so far off the mark (but in a humorous way); however, this time I have to agree that he's right -- including the point about Richard Justice.

Sunday Night: 4.1 Miles

It wasn't fast. It was steady. And no, I didn't walk at all.

4.1 miles, 45:47.42. Yes, a pace of 11:10 per mile. Not pretty, but I'm not beating myself up over it. I had no intentions of going out and burning up the concrete. I did the front 1.7 miles in 18:56.24 (11:08/mile) and the back 2.4 miles in 26:51.18 (11:13/mile).

Well, I got this in before midnight. So this one counted for July 30th.

Have you ever been shamed into doing something? Tonight's run came courtesy of Alex Galbraith of the Terlingua Track Club. See Alex has run every day since December 22, 1971. I knew this already, but at about 11 p.m. Sunday evening, I stumbled across an interview of Alex that was done by HARRA's first vice president of communications, Jerry Smith, and was archived on the Internet from an April 1999 issue of Footprints.

This question and answer made me go put my shoes and socks on and head out the door:

"Any minimum requirements for each daily run?: After I had been running every day for about eleven years I read an article in Runner's World which suggested that one should run at least 30 minutes a day to really benefit from running so I increased my minimum to four miles. I have always enjoyed running so much that this has generally been an easy habit to keep."

The other thing is that because I'm in leadership positions in the running community, even though I'm a media person first and foremost, there is a general - and fair - expectation that I should be doing more and doing it consistently.

Does that mean that I'm always going to do what others think? Heck, no.
But can I be positively persuaded while not allowing myself to be used? Sure.

I need to be consistent in a number of areas and while it is a challenge with my current job assignment, it isn't impossible to do.

Besides, I've seen what the mileage has done for fellow HRB member Keith Kelleher.

I still have my sights set on a 4:30 marathon. I just haven't committed to the plan to accomplish it and I haven't asked the right coach to put it together for me. (I know who it will be, but they don't know yet.) I don't know that it will be Houston. I should be able to run the full as I don't think Waverly will do the half again. If she decides to before the Marathon Kickoff Party, then I may implement the plan for Austin (even though they're going to tinker with the course.)

The other thing that I read yesterday or today came from the lastest edition of Runner's World - the 40th anniversary edition (September 2006). It is on page 78 from Benji Durden, who made the 1980 Olympics team that didn't compete because the U.S. boycotted the Moscow Games, and it says, "You can run more than one marathon per year. "If you do marathons too infrequently, you have to learn how to run them all over again every time." "

That, my friends, is exactly where I fear that I am at and I don't want to be here.

101 Miles, 8 Running Stores

Once Sarah Graybeal yesterday finished putting together the flyer for HARRA's Party In The Park, coming up on Saturday, August 26th at Memorial Park, it was my job today to distribute flyers to the various running stores around the greater Houston area.

The only two I wasn't able to get to because I didn't hit the first store at 12 noon was On The Run in Clear Lake and Finish Line Sports in Sugar Land. (Maybe tomorrow!)

Here was the rundown (for fun):

+ Luke's Locker in The Woodlands (8.9 miles)
+ Fleet Feet Sports in Champions (18.5 miles)
+ Finish Strong Sports (24.3 miles and a couple of bucks on the toll road)
+ Fleet Feet Sports on Woodway (7.9 miles)
+ Tri On The Run on Memorial Drive (5.3 miles)
+ Luke's Locker on West Gray (1.5 miles)
+ RunSport on Richmond (1.5 miles)
+ Fleet Feet Sports in Rice Village (1.8 miles)

And another 19.4 miles home made it 101.1 miles - in my car!

This kind of looks like Rick Cook's plan in early October to conquer the Arkansas Traveller 100.

+ Talked to Andrew Perry at Luke's Locker in The Woodlands. The Caney Creek '06 graduate who competed at the 4A state cross country meet this year will be going to school in Hobbs, New Mexico at College of the Southwest (NAIA) to run for former San Antonio Antonian head coach Devlyn Lovell.
+ Saw Dave Gentry, a good friend from Run The Woodlands 5K, running the shop at the Champions location.
+ Store owner Raymond Cooper was in working at Finish Strong Sports. (Saw flyers there from Rocky Raccoon 50k/25k and the Huntsville Half Marathon.)
+ Met store owner Kevin Landry at Tri On The Run and got a chance to see and say Hi! to Sean Wade there as well. (Never know who you are going to run into.)
+ Had a good visit with store manager Rick Wood at Luke's on West Gray.
+ Met and talked to Bart Hornberger at Fleet Feet Sports' store in the Rice Village.

Finish Strong Sports and RunSport have vehicles with custom paint jobs to promote their store while Sean tools around in a jeep that prominently displays his Kenyan Way program.

In and From Vancouver

Thursday morning early (like from 12 am to 1 am), I put in an hour on the stationery bike and repeated the effort Friday evening (from 8 to 9 pm) before catching a cab to the airport. So I wasn't completely dormant during the week, as I have in the past!

While waiting at the gate to catch my Continental Airlines flight home from Vancouver last night, I saw this guy wearing a Callaway golf hat and shorts.

He looked familiar. Why couldn't I place him?

I thought to myself, "That sure looks like John Kruk!" Kruk, now 45 and originally from Charleston, West Virginia, spent 10 seasons in the big leagues with San Diego, Philadelphia and one final season with the Chicago White Sox. However, the "Krukker" made a name for himself though with the Phillies and is now a baseball analyst for ESPN.

Kruk was forced to retire because of bad knees and that was evident as he made his way down the jetway to the plane. I'm not sure "brisk walking" is in his vocabulary these days.

I finally had recognized him before we boarded and told him that I didn't recognize him without the suit that he wears on the TV set. It makes him look about 350 pounds. He's very muscular, but isn't as big as TV makes him appear.

He said he was flying back home, through Houston, to Philadelphia. I ended up sitting next to him in first class, but it was late, everybody was tired and slept and I didn't say anything else to him. I sensed that he was one of those guys that was more comfortable of not being bothered. Not so much as to the fact that he was rude, but more that it was just his nature.

1st annual Run For Life 5K Race Report

Yikes! 33:42 for a 5K and then some! (I estimated the course to be 3.31 miles in length, according to this map on the HARRA site.)

Yes, everybody ran a little bit long this morning at the 1st annual Run For Life 5K in Pasadena, but nobody really seemed to mind too much -- even me!

Having put together the race in just under seven (7) weeks, Donna Barnhart and Kay Mallet, two ladies who were raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, pulled off a winner of an event. (There were some that were disappointed about not having any age group awards, but not anything that I would have sensed would keep somebody from doing it again.)

I landed at Intercontinental Airport from Vancouver before 6 a.m., was through Customs by 6:05 a.m. (I was the first one there after being in first class) and after Gena had brought Waverly to IAH, the two of us were off. The race started at 7:30 a.m. and we found ourselves with plenty of time to make it to 3900 Spencer Highway - just outside the Fitness Connection gym.

As I registered ($20 online, $25 day of race), I received a head massage from "Junction Jack" of the Astros. (I should have asked why Jeff Bagwell wasn't out helping him and earning that $17 million he has coming this year.) I also received a donation receipt for my entry fee.

I saw Raymond Cruz of the On The Run Racing team before the start and a fellow team member came up to indicate to him that the course had a lot of turns. I told him and Tim Bowler of the Houston Striders that that wouldn't effect me at all (i.e. "not going fast enough for it to bother me").

After an excellent rendition of the National Anthem and prayer, I gave Waverly a kiss and was off. I have no mile splits to report as there were none, but again everybody involved in the event, including the Pasadena police department, were extremely friendly - and the lack of these (mile splits) didn't seem to matter. One of the women at the registration table was at the very last turnaround thanking people for their participation. Call it corny, but it was appreciated and, obviously, noted. :)

Not sure what the temperature was when we started, but it was close to 85 degrees as we finished with the oppressive humidity to boot.

On the course, I saw fellow HARRA Board member Bruce Mansur and former HARRA president John Phillips. After the race, I talked to Bruce at length about a couple of items we were working on as part of the HARRA Board. He then introduced me to Laura Allen and Bayou City Road Runners at-large board member Kathy Mahon. Raymond had commented that we hadn't bumped into each other since last November in Missouri City when I ran a really good 10k at Elkins HS. (I think Raymond won it that day.)

I had a chance to talk to Donna and Kay after the event. They reached out for some publicity help a little late (explained the lead time of the This Week section of the Chronicle), but their event was 1.) able to go out on the Jerry Smith's HARRA e-mail and 2.) posted to the main page of the HARRA website by webmaster Sarah Graybeal. The ladies indicated that they had reached their goal of 100 runners -- and they noted that 38 were day of race registration.

I shared with them a couple of things from my experiences that they might be able to do to add a couple of nice touches to it and I picked up a few kernels of information that were very informative. Oh, and yes, Kay knew our friend, Bill Dwyer! (That, of course, made the day complete.)

Rocky Raccoon 50K / 25K Online Registration Available

Race director Paul Stone indicated that online registration is now available for the 16th annual Rocky Raccoon 50K/25K Trail Runs set for Saturday, Oct. 28 at Huntsville State Park, which is approximately 60 miles north of Houston.

For online registration, please click here. Entry forms can be downloaded at the web sites of Hill Country Trail Runners and the North Texas Trail Runners.

Beautiful T-shirts and distinctive awards are guaranteed to all runners registering by the first deadline of Oct. 14. Late registration will be available at the Park on both Friday, Oct. 27 and race day Saturday, Oct. 28.

What's Going On?

Tonight in Vancouver, there is the big HSBC Celebration of Light fireworks!

It starts at 10 p.m. in what is known as English Bay. Fireworks from Italy are featured tonight and supposedly the Italians are the gold medalists in pyrotechnics. China is on Saturday night followed by the Czech Republic and Mexico next Wednesday and Sunday. (We'll be back up here on vacation so Waverly will get to see these!)

1.) Dr. Christopher Rampacek DNF'd at Badwater yesterday. I hope to get details from him via e-mail tomorrow. Chris was trying to become only the second Texan to complete four or more Badwater Ultramarathons. (Steven Silver of El Paso is the leading Texan with 6 Badwater finishes. Rampacek remains tied at 3 with Palestine Herald Press editor Paul Stone.)

As long as Chris is available, I've tentatively got him an opportunity to be a guest on Charlie Pallilo's sports talk show on 790 AM The Sports Animal next Monday afternoon. Richard Justice of The Chronicle may consider doing a column as well.

2.) Yes, I actually got back to trying to run outside of a race. Monday night (actually Tuesday morning) after a late dinner, I decided that I would walk some until I could run and it not upset my stomach. The times weren't sterling, but I ended up running some. I covered the 8.58-mile downtown route around Stanley Park. Just over 4.1 miles to the Lions Gate Bridge brisk walking in 1:04:01 and then 4.48 miles running from there in 51:15.44. I ran steady the entire time and only walked when I couldn't see where my feet were going to end up in the dark.

I'm working on my September Runner Triathlete News "Talking The Talk" column on the South Texas Walking Club. Their strength is youth race walking. (I think it's a very interesting story.) So I tried to give it a try! Now I'm sure with training it would be different, but I could never get my footstrike count over 128 in a minute.

3.) A long shot for the weekend? The Prude Ranch Races in Fort Davis, Texas on Sunday. It's a half marathon at 5,050 feet elevation. Vincent Attanucci of The Woodlands and his son, Michael, were considering doing this. They did so back in 2003. If you have a wild hair and are interested in going, let me know! (What makes this more odd? I land in Houston Saturday morning at about 6 a.m. off of a red-eye flight.)

4.) The September issue of HARRA's Footprints will feature 13 club reports! I'm in editing mode now and our own Edwin Quarles has delivered the lead story. (And we're already considering content for October! This is a lot of work, but fun! And my predecessor, Doug Spence, continues to be an excellent sounding board.)

5.) I'm trying to work out an opportunity the week of the 14th of August that I can do the following:

a.) Work from central Pennsylvania and visit my grandparents from Monday to Friday morning,
b.) Drive west and visit my good friend, Shane Brown, his wife and kids in this interesting town called Parkersburg, West Virginia where he has taken the head women's basketball coach's position at Ohio Valley College. (He was the former head women's coach at Westbury Christian HS, an assistant at Rice under Christy McKinney and the head coach at Houston Baptist for five years.) and then,
c.) Run the News and Sentinel Half Marathon in Parkersburg on Saturday with fellow HRBer Cassie Cowan.

6.) Mr. Dwyer, if you're seriously considering a slow 50k at Sunmart, I just may join you. It has been a goal of mine to cross into the ultramarathon threshold. Rick Cook tried to talk me into doing the 50-miler at Rocky Raccoon in February, but I decided against that and settled for the eventual marathon PR in Austin!

That's it for the moment!

Bill Dwyer and Tom Sherwood

We've waited long enough for our good friend from the great area of town known as Spring, but it is here -- Bill Dwyer's blog, "Coach Bill". (Bill had sent me the note on Saturday; however, I wanted to wait until Monday, given my family circumstances, before I posted it.)

You all think I know a lot of people. Bill Dwyer does as well and I can't wait for him to share his experiences and stories from, as he says, his better running days! (All of mine are my "better running days!") BUT, Bill is constantly inspired by the people that he has a chance to coach and be involved with today. So you'll see the best of both worlds from Bill, blasts from his past as well as the encouraging stories of adult-onset athletes who are inspiring others.

A gentleman that I've gotten to know over the last two years is Tom Sherwood. I met Tom - and his good friend and training partner, Wayne Rutledge - at Run The Woodlands 5K (and I still haven't published where he likes to hide his keys.) Fortunately, it isn't the same place as those individuals in Memorial Park who have been having things stolen out of their cars because they leave the keys sit on the tires!

Perhaps the biggest influence to Tom's running career is the winner of the first Houston Marathon back in 1972, The Woodlands High School's boys cross country and track coach, Danny Green. Coach Green was Tom's head coach at Clear Lake HS before Danny moved on to take a job in the Conroe ISD at what TWHS used to be known as -- McCullough High School.

Tom has a profile set up on http://www.runbud.com/ and on his page, there is a place for blog entries. His profile page is listed here.

As I've related earlier, the last time I saw Tom in person was as he came up on me from behind at the Carrabba's Classic Half Marathon in San Antonio last month.

Both Bill and Tom are friends of mine and are great encouragers to and for the efforts - athletically and publicity-wise - that I've been fortunate enough to be allowed to make.

Rampacek attempts 4th Badwater

Houston's Dr. Christopher Rampacek, 54, began his quest to complete his 4th Badwater 135 ultramarathon this morning at 8 a.m. Pacific time.

According to the event's webcast page, Rampacek made it to Furnace Creek, 17.4 miles into the race, in 4 hours and one (1) minute. The course description can be found here.

Rampacek can be seen running here with Somerset, Pennsylvania's Mary Kashurba.

In addition to his Badwater finish, Rampacek, in October, will compete in the Furnace Creek 508-mile bike race through Death Valley to become the first Texan ever to complete the Death Valley Cup.

Although some of the top female runners such as Lisa Smith-Batchen and Pam Reed didn't start until the 10 a.m. Pacific wave, legendary North Carolina trail runner Dave Horner leads through the Furnace Creek checkpoint in a time of 2 hours, 34 minutes. Scott Jurek passed through in 2:45 while Dean Karnazes was three (3) minutes behind in 2:48.

Off to Tennessee

These subjects are probably not the best to talk about in a running blog, but it's life and it isn't always roses.

I will be bypassing the Webster Bicycle Duathlon #3 in the morning to attend the funeral in Tullahoma, Tennessee of my wife's grandmother, Lillian Aleene Darden, who was 89 years of age.

My wife, Gena, and Waverly began making plans to drive on Thursday as they knew that there were some issues that weren't getting better. They were going to fly. While having some mixed signals during the day on Thursday, they thought that they might be able to get there, see her and with driving, not be encumbered by an airline schedule to get back.

But before they were able to leave Friday morning however, they received a phone call that she had passed on. The two of them got to Tullahoma Friday evening and I wasn't sure that I was even going to be able to go because all of my clothes that one would wear at a funeral are in Vancouver (when I left the apartment I hadn't received the news yet) -and- I didn't see any Sunday evening flights home available.

However, I found a suit that hadn't come out of the cleaning bag since the summer of 2004 that fit and I was able to work the flights out OK. My biggest concern is that I have no idea how Waverly is going to handle things. She's been to a viewing before, but it wasn't anybody she was too close to. But the funeral service is something that is going to be new for her as well.

Please keep all of them in your prayers and thanks for allowing me to share.

Below is my wife's grandmother's obituary notice:

Mrs. Lillian Aleene Darden
April 24, 1917 - July 21, 2006

Funeral services for Lillian Aleene Darden, age 89 of Normandy will be conducted Sunday, July 23, 2006 at 2:00 PM from the Chapel of Tullahoma Funeral Home with Brother Jack Hice officiating. Burial will follow at Rose Hill Memorial Gardens.
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Mrs. Darden died Friday, July 21, 2006 at Harton Regional Medical Center after a brief illness. She was born April 24, 1917 in Bedford County, TN the daughter of the late Clinton Daniel and Madie Lee Porsser Daniel. She was a homemaker and a member of the protestant faith. In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her husband, Woodrow Darden, a granddaughter, Renae Darden and brothers and sisters, Ralph, Junior, Louise and Pauline.
---

Survivors include six children, Jerry (Gail) Darden of Tullahoma, Martha (Bob) Brasier of also of Tullahoma, Robert (Juanita) Darden of Normandy, Patsy (Leonard) Broadrick of Houston, TX, Benny Darden of Normandy and Myra Watson of Lynchburg, TN; seven grandchildren, Julie, Janie, Gena, Jason, Daniel, Robin, and Amy; a great-granddaughter, Waverly and many nieces, nephews and loving friends. Also surviving is a sister, Christine Hunt of Tullahoma, TN.

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The family will receive friends Saturday from 5:00-9:00 PM at the funeral home.

Run The Woodlands 5K #158 Race Report

I think it kind of says where I am at with things when I said to somebody this morning, "I could just as easily watch the finish of this one instead of running it." So I went out and ran this fairly easy, despite the low 80's and high humidity, and turned in a time of 30:16.51.

My splits were as follows: 9:23.76, 9:53.73, 10:04.97 and 54.05 (last .1)

Actually, I was pleased. It's a drop of 42 seconds from two weeks ago without souped-up mileage. This is the third straight race, other than the hills in last weekend's races (10k and 10.3-miler), that I didn't walk at all. And I didn't ever put myself into a place where I felt completely spent.

Plus this came after an hour and a half on the bike last night at the gym -- the longest I've ever done.

As I approached the 2.3-mile mark (the turn back on to Crownridge), I finally caught up to Tommy King's 12-year-old daughter, Syndey, and told her "just .8 of a mile to go."

Maybe about as far out as what Bret Ramsey did two weeks ago, Tommy came out to run Sydney in. I quickened my turnover a little bit and got ahead of her before we made the turn into the parking lot at Barbara Bush Elementary, but I knew that she had a better kick. She passed me just before the 3-mile marker (blue dot) and beat me by five (5) seconds.

And Tommy came out to run her in after picking up his first overall win at Run The Woodlands in a time of 17:21 denying Ramsey his fourth consecutive win. His last appearance at RTW was during RTW #139 (October 8, 2005) when his Houston Striders running partner Brett Riley won in a time of 16:20. That day King finished second in 17:15.

The one thing that I realize everytime I show up to run at Run The Woodlands is how many friends I have and how many new people I get to meet.

Here's the news and notes from this Saturday:

+ Was introduced to Dick Esselborn of The Woodlands Running Club by Jim Braden. (Esselborn and his daughter, Maria, ran some of the races in the very first year of the event. Esselborn's son, Chris, ran collegiately for Georgetown University and competed in the NCAA Division I 10,000 meters cross country championship which was held at Indiana State University. He ran the 10k course in 31:42.9. The year before, he ran the same distance in the same meet in 34:10.5.)
+ Talked to Russell Meyer about his 1:02:15 performance two weekends ago at the Boilermaker 15k in Utica, New York. He said it was a hilly course, especially at the beginning.
+ Chatted with Art Dacosta, 54, from Flowery Brand, Georgia, who ran the recent Peachtree Road Race 10k in Atlanta in 43:48.
+ Spring's John Soul, 48, sat the race out with some tight hamstrings. (Here's wondering where Kirk Norton of Spring has been recently.)
+ Since I missed his farewell Run The Woodlands 5K earlier when he moved to Jacksonville, Florida, I was at the return race of Tom McDonough. (Tom, you can always work the original date on the 14th now that you're back in town.)
+ Father, Vincent Attanucci, beat son, Michael, again, 20:59 to 22:24.
+ Always good to see Tom Hippe, Jeff Westergren, Jim Harrington, Tom Pinney, Tim Bowler, Danny Gilbreath and Denise Van Kuiken. Husband, Gary, will be going to South Dakota next month to click off state #34 in his 50-state quest with a 50K trail race. He's saving Arizona for last - for a marathon in Sedona!
+ A couple of good masters runners, Gary Johnson and Rich Yanacek, were out today.
+ Rick Cook had run to the course from his house, finished in 22:36, won a running shirt in Luke's post-race drawing and was running back. In three weeks, he'll be pushing the door with 100-mile weeks in preparation for October's Arkansas Traveller 100.
+ Seven Hills Running Club's Ken Johnson brought down Jerry Flanagan, 66, of Madisonville to scout out the course for the next RTW on August 12th. Jerry finished in 26:14 while Ken put together a nice 32:27 effort today.
+ Dick introduced me to Stuart and Michelle Comrie, who are from South Africa, living in The Woodlands and both training for their first marathon in Houston.

Thanks as always to Susie Schrieber, Tara Wilson (and husband, Steve, this morning) and Becky Isaac from Luke's Locker for making the event possible again today.

Tour de Gastown

No, no, this wasn't any beer-drinking (err ... Mountain Dew-drinking) run around Vancouver.

In fact, the Tour de Gastown was a men's and women's cycling criterium that was part of BC Superweek, the richest week of racing in Canada that attracts top riders from North America (mostly Canada).

I had never attended a bike-racing event before and I read about it early yesterday morning as I was riding the Seabus across the Burrard Inlet to work in North Vancouver. So I left work early enough to be able to walk towards Water Street and the Gastown district of downtown Vancouver.

It was interesting to say the least. Watching the riders navigate a 165-degree hairpin turn, move into a long straightaway and then jockey for position each of the 1.2-kilometer laps was pretty exciting. (Although the guys doing the public address annoucing, who were suited more for the X Games, threw out the occasional stupid comment, "These are some of the best riders in the world." I thought, "No, the best riders in the world are cycling somewhere around France right now!")

This race was in its fifth year back after having run consecutively for 21 years (1973-1993). Some Texan back in 1991 riding for a team called "Motorola" won the event shortly before it went on a hiatus.

I was kind of curious as to what kind of speeds the riders were hitting. So I figured that I would stay situated in the same spot and hit my watch each time the leader of the peloton passed me.

For 19 of the 21 laps that I timed in the 30-lap women's criterium, they ranged between speeds of 24.45 to 26.41 miles per hour with outliers of 27.14 mph followed immediately by one that slowed them down to 22.04 mph.

Before I took a telephone call from Melissa Broussard, a running friend of mine from the Seven Hills Running Club in Huntsville, I clocked the first five (5) laps of the men's race. Their speeds ranged between 28.04 and 29.96 mph.

After watching a little bit more of the men's race, I walked back to the apartment. Before I completely retired for the evening, I ended up putting in a hard hour on the stationery bike downstairs (while reading a book on women's runners).

I'll try to get in some more time on the bike this evening as well as a short run before flying home in the morning.

Training Days: Fighting cancer motivation for local 'TNT'

You'll find at this link an excellent column by Conroe Courier editor Jim Fredricks, who is training for the October 22nd Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco.

(Please note that this link will only remain active for a short period of time until it becomes available only via a subscription to Houston Community Newspapers. Therefore, read while the iron is hot - so to speak!)

Run The Woodlands 5K Challenges

As previously noted, the Seven Hills Running Club/Houston Running Bloggers Challenge at Run The Woodlands 5K will occur in just over two (2) weeks on Saturday, August 12, 2006. Seven Hills Running Club, based in Huntsville, is approaching a possible all-time club record turnout of nearly 40!

On the calendar already for the second race of 2007 -- January 27th -- is the Reunion/TNT Challenge.

Directed last year by TNT Team Woodlands coach Bill Dwyer, 43 Team in Training runners from around the greater Houston area showed at Run The Woodlands 5K on January 28, 2006 to help push the all-time event finishers mark to 127!

"Last year we promoted it from about Thanksgiving," Dwyer said. "Maybe (this year) we will beat last year's turnout."

He added though, "And, of course, we will challenge WoodlandsFit again!"

Impressive!

E. Allen Wrinkle of Magnolia, Texas, M40-44

1.) Ironman Arizona, mid-April, 13:10:11

2.) Western States 100, late June, 29:09:25

Not much more needs to be said about that accomplishment!

--

While there were 256 Texans that finished either Ironman Arizona or Couer d'Alene (Idaho), there were only six (6) HARRA members to do so. I'll probably wait and see how Ironman Lake Placid (N.Y.) turns out and include everyone in the September issue of Footprints.

--

9 of the 12 top times came from Austin-based triathletes. (69 overall.) No surprise there.

The fastest male was Jamie Cleveland (8:46:42 at Ironman Arizona) and the fastest female was Desiree Ficker (9:44:56 at Ironman Arizona).

Ino Cantu registered for USATF in Charlotte

Registered in the 800 meters, 1,500 meters and the 5,000 meters, Houston's (and HARRA member) Ino Cantu is registered for the USA Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships which will be held August 3-6, 2006 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Ino will compete in the 5,000 meter final on the first day (August 3rd) as well as the first round of the 800 meter competition. The 800 meter finals will be on Saturday, August 5th while the 1,500 meters will be contested on Sunday, August 6th.

There are quite a few entries from the Houston area track club Houston Elite, which features Bill Collins who will compete in the 100, 200 and 400 meter distances, and the Houston Harriers, which started as a track club but is also a member of HARRA today.

When I was at the Tesoro March Point Run 10K in Anacortes, Washington on Saturday, I was talking with a woman who knew one of the individuals (Snohomish Track Club's Bill Iffrig) that would be going head-to-head with Cantu as the favorites in the 5,000 meters.

Whitlock and Collins set world records!

Credit once again goes to Ken Stone's "Masters Track" blog for noting two gems this past week of individuals that have been mentioned here at "Houston Running". They include:

+ Canadian Ed Whitlock, 75, smashing his country's national age group record (M75) by almost two minutes as he posted an 18:45 effort at the Nissan Foundation 5K on Saturday in Toronto. (The Nissan Foundation 5K is a Canada Running Series event that is produced by Houston Running Bloggers' friend Alan Brookes - the race director of the Toronto Waterfront Marathon.) The former record, Runner's Web reported, was 20:42 set by Maurice Tarrant. (Runner's Web release)

+ Houstonian Bill Collins, 55, last Friday night set the world age-group track record for the 200 meters at the last RunSport/Rice University All-Comers meet of the year with a tmie of 23.36. That eclipses the world record of 23.37 set by Britain's Ron Taylor from 1990.

Harvest Days Milk Run 10-Miler Race Report

It is Sunday here in the beautiful, sunny, fairly cool (but getting warmer today) Northwest. How nice is it? Crossing the Columbia River from Washington back into Oregon, I could see Mt. Hood on the left (which is where HRBer Erin Foley will be participating in next month's Hood-to-Coast Relay) and up to the right, I could see the moon - in the clear blue sky!

This report is being written at 12:10 p.m. Pacific and less than an hour before check out (and still needing to get a shower), will be almost complete, but I have a story to add that you'll just go, "I can't believe some of the situations that Jon walks into."

My time for the Harvest Days Milk Run 10 Miler in Battle Ground, Washington was 1:51:30, but the course map was marked 10.3 miles "and" I heard the race director tell somebody that "that map" was charted online. That means you could have run more or less depending on what side of the "pastoral country roads" you ran on. (Anytime there was a concern with traffic or shade, I ran against traffic and in the shade.)

Hey, it was $15. $10 if I would have registered ahead. No gripes at all for that kind of price!

Two tougher hills than yesterday (in Anacortes) at mile 3.2 and 5.25 dropped me to a brisk walk, but otherwise I ran the entire way (other than only 3 water stops) albeit a little slower. Again, not bad for it being only the third time that I've run in the last two weeks.

The schedule at work is still fluid, but I think that I'm going to be able to do a lot in November and December like I wanted and now, obviously, is the time that I need to strike while the iron is hot.

I ran parts of this race fairly well, despite the time. The first three miles to the hill, I was gassed. (And I thought that I had fueled up fairly well last night and this morning.) If 3.2 miles was at the base of the hill, I was only there in 35 minutes. It was tough, but you were rewarded with one of the best views I've ever seen on a course once you got to the other side.

From almost the beginning, there was a woman who was a little bit older than me in front of me.

We both stopped at the bottom of the downhill to check on a runner (another woman) who I learned later said that she said that she thought she was going to pass out.

There was a right hand turn at the end of that road and once we both made it, I yelled ahead, "You can't get lost because I'm following you." I didn't have anything in to even think about trying to catch her. I just wanted to stay close.

There was a "5-mile mark" painted on the road (no other mile splits to then) and my watch showed 56:13.10. This was before the second large hill. She ran all the way through the hill albeit slow while I made it half way and power walked the rest of it.

We went for awhile before making a turn on a road that would prove to be close to mile 7 where it was a slight rolling hill. It was then that I decided, thinking about a quote that Kim Hager had made in her Ironman France race report about taking something from the race despite not being happy with your time, that I was going to catch her. I did. I pulled up beside her and she said something about it being downhill most of the rest of the way. (That told me she was a local.)

I tried to turn it up even more all the way to the water stop that was stated to be at approximately 7.5 miles. She didn't take on any water and passed me. I thought, "Darn!" but I couldn't bypass it. I had to get two cups of fluid in me. I noticed that the trash can was on the left side of the road heading into a curve so I asked the woman at the stop (who looked like a coach) on which side she recommended to run on (other than for the curve).

I asked this because the woman had decided to take the right side - running with traffic. I stayed to the left where there was also some shade. We passed the 8-mile mark (painted on the road) at about this time as we running up some of the slight hills. It wasn't even enough to slow you down at all. I felt good, having taken on the water, and somewhere past 8 and before a nice downhill that put us back into town, I passed her.

I hit the 8-mile mark 30:30.23 later. If it was measured accurately (maybe about as good as my Ford F150), that means I went 10:10 / mile with a tough hill - better than Sound to Narrows. Overall time, I was at 1:26:43.

I thought to myself that if I could run strong, I might be able to see a time of 1:46 - respectable given that my PR is in the 1:41 range from Pearland last December. Therefore, I tried to push as much as I could without wiping myself completely out.

There was no 9-mile mark so I had to go on feel and when I saw the lap time pass 10:50, I knew for sure that I had to have passed it. Now it was just try to hang on and not let her pass me.

I couldn't hear footsteps and there were three (3) turns where there were volunteers. I thought of asking any of them how far back she was, but I chose not to. I also did NOT look back although I wanted to. If this was for money, that would have been another story (although not classy.) I thought to myself, "If she's close, that might just give her the notion that I'm struggling and fire her up." And if she had fallen back too far, it might have been construed as what I said before - not classy. I kept running as hard as I could.

At one point, I looked at my watch and realized that it was 1:47, 1:48 and I thought that mile 10 was definitely long! (See the note above about the 10.3-mile on the course map!)

There are all kinds of things that you could say that was "wrong" about the event (3 water stops over 10 miles, etc.), but it isn't worth taking the time to type them out because they weren't significant. The people were incredibly friendly. I had a good time. I ran good for not being consistent with my running - although the time certainly suggests otherwise. I pushed myself late in the race, which will pay off later I'm sure.

There's a story that I'll update because it is one of these things that you come to read this blog for -- yes, there is a "people from Houston" story.

And, oh, by the way (again tongue completely in cheek), I finished third in my age group (last too) and picked up another ribbon. I'll scan them when I get home on Friday!

Tesoro March Point Run 10K Race Report

I'm in Portland, Oregon (Hillsboro, to be exact) this evening as I will be running in the Harvest Days Milk Run 10-Miler Sunday morning in Battleground, Washington.

Now ... about today's 12th annual Tesoro Refining Corporation March Point Run 10K in Anacortes, Washington (which is about 15 minutes west on I-5 from Bellingham.)

When this is the second time that I've actually laced up the running shoes in the last two weeks, it is wise not to go setting high expectations and I didn't. Without knowing completely what the course was going to be, I wanted to go out the first mile, see how I felt and then work to maintain even splits throughout the race from there.

The one interesting thing about this event is that it started on the grounds of an old Shell refinery (that is now owned by Tesoro). We ran outside of the plant and on country-like roads around the exterior of the plant and very lightly-populated residential areas around it.

The scenery with water all around the exterior of the course was absolutely incredible. Sarah would have had a field day from a photography standpoint - especially given that she didn't feel well enough (in time) to run the Lunar Rendezvous Run.

My time? It was an unimpressive 1:03:52.51, but I'm not beating myself up about it -and- I'm not unhappy about it. There were some positives (including a 6th place age group - 30-39 - ribbon). (I am NOT jumping for joy over that! The guy who won 5th looked like a pretty good runner; therefore, 6th I was.) However, when you take some time off, this is the net result.

Mile 1 -- 10:03.23 -- I was completely prepared to, use the overused analogy, simply "run within myself". The first part of this mile had a gentle downhill that went out of the plant to March Point Road. However, I knew that if I tried to gun it early that I'd be walking more than just to get water later in the race. Right around mile 1, I passed the lady who won the 70-and-older division (the only competitor too BUT she got a $20 gas card for winning her age group!) I felt like I ran this mile at about 85% of maximum effort.

Mile 2 -- 11:47.15 -- What happened here? A hill. A nice big hill that was approximately a half mile long. I took a picture - uh, not while running - and when I get the photo CD back, I'll post it. A lot of people in front of me walked a good bit of it. I made it through the first half, laughed to think that somebody local actually ran that course once in 31:50-change, walked a little and got to the top of the hill (where they had a water stop right past the marker!)

Mile 3 -- 9:25.00 -- I started to think about Sean Wade's comments about the Boilermaker 15k and how he said that he is strong on the downhill. I tried to lengthen out my stride and push a little. I passed about 6-8 people in this mile alone (including the woman who was 3rd in the 50-59 age group that took home a trophy.) This mile was probably right at 95% of maximum effort. I didn't want to go as hard as I possibly could after not running since last Saturday.

Mile 4 -- 10:22.96 -- Not sure what happened here. I took water just after the mile 3 marker; however, I didn't feel like I slowed down. The sun started to come out. (The race started at 61-62 degrees, but the sun - with no clouds like the Vancouver Half - made it feel warmer. When I finished, it was just around 67 degrees.) The course was completely flat until before we turned into the plant at the end of mile 6. In fact, I'm not even sure I remember where the marker was, but I do remember that this was a 95% of maximum effort mile.

Mile 5 -- 10:08.25 -- I picked off a couple of people in this mile and this even included taking 30 seconds - still moving - to take on water. I think it was during this mile that I was thinking about Chris Rampacek's article in Health and Fitness Magazine about, "Are you an economical runner?" I tried to be more relaxed and remembered when I've seen Chris run recently - at the Houston Marathon - and that he doesn't waste a lot of energy by running with reckless abandon. I remember thinking that this mile was really only at about 90% of maximum effort (i.e. I didn't feel like I was pushing it).

Mile 6 -- 10:21.81 -- This had a little bit of a crest at the mile 5 marker, but nothing serious. We went back up the gentle downhill that we started with in mile 1, but I was able to run it. The first .2 of a mile was 2:01.52 and the last .8 was 8:20.29. I slowed a little bit around the 5-mile marker. (I actually felt good again in this mile and felt like it was a 90-95% of maximum effort.)

The last .2 -- 1:44.11 -- I tried to turn it up a notch to keep the three people that I passed in the last half mile from catching me. One really put on a hellacious sprint in the last tenth of a mile. There was nothing I could do about that. This equates to a 8:41 per mile pace - which to means that I was able to leave a little in the tank. Now what I need to do is get consistent, get the miles in, shed even just a couple of pounds that I put back on when I was home last week, and I have a good approach for the next 10k (where I'll be able to push a little harder.)

Like I said, I'll take it. 10-Miler tomorrow. Another new town. Another new course. Always fun and I get to see the country doing it! (I was going to do another half in Fort Langley, BC, but online registration ended Wednesday night. And I hadn't made up my mind. I would have had to have paid cash, which I don't carry a ton of to convert when I'm in Canada. So it was come down here and have some fun. Plus I get to stop in at Powell's Book Store tomorrow in downtown Portland.)

Overall, this event was great. They had a guy who was actually pretty witty and funny with a microphone (i.e. he had a personality and knew how to use it!) With it being an oil company, they gave out all kinds of awards and t-shirts, gardening/work gloves, trinkets ... you name it.

Hot dogs and drinks and the rest of the regular runner's replenishment fare. They had a country band! Gotta love that being from Texas!

And I actually saw a couple of guys there today that I had talked to three weeks ago at the Berry Dairy Days 10K in nearby Burlington. (And, yes, I think that this course was right on the money this time!)

Gabriel Rodriguez back in Houston!

As I scrolled through the blog reader, the entry that represents the worst kept secret in Houston that Gabriel Rodriguez is back in town.

Gabriel reports on his blog entry for today that he will become the store manager for Finish Strong Sports. Although he is recovering from an injury that sidelined him from making an appearance at this year's Boston Marathon, my only question is how long will it be until he makes an appearance at a Houston road race.

There's always the 12th of August in The Woodlands! (Never too late to become a Houston Running Blogger, especially since Gabriel was one of the first running bloggers in the greater Houston area along with Fort Bend Fit and Finish Line Sports in Sugar Land.)

Run The Woodlands 5K to break with tradition!

Yes, it will happen in October! For the first time in its seven years of existence, the Run The Woodlands 5K (RTW) will not happen on the second and fourth Saturdays of every month.

After consulting with four of the event's most frequent runners as well as the staff at Luke's Locker in The Woodlands, the bi-monthly race in October will occur on the first and fourth Saturdays of the month -- the 7th and the 28th.

The reason for the change is the addition of the Ten for Texas 10-Miler in The Woodlands, which will be held on Saturday, October 14th.

Since all of Luke's Locker staff will be needed to put on the event that day and many of the regular runners who volunteer for RTW will be running "10 For Texas", a staffing shortage existed. Several alternatives were explored, but the best solution was to move the date of Run The Woodlands 5K up one week.

Ten For Texas was originally targeted for Saturday, October 7th but it would have conflicted with one of the top high school cross country meets in Texas, the 2006 Nike South Cross Country Invitational. It is an event that is put on with Luke's Locker's assistance.

Online registration for the Ten for Texas 10-Miler is slated to begin on Tuesday, August 1st.

Texas Marathon Trivia Answered

Two (2) men and five (5) women won both of their marathons (from San Antonio, White Rock, Houston, Austin or Cowtown) in the same calendar year while just one of the runners won them a month apart. Can you name any of them?

A new blogger to the running scene, Mike Jackson of Spring, was able to indicate that Liza Hunter-Galvan of San Antonio is the only one of the seven (7) above to win two of those five marathons in the same calendar year.

The year before last, Liza won the San Antonio Marathon (at that time for the second straight year and fourth overall) in November 2004 in a time of 2:44:22.6 and then went to Dallas 35 days later to win the White Rock Marathon in 2:38:24. The win in Dallas was emotional for Hunter-Galvan as it came just days after Arthur Lydiard - who was a mentor to her - had passed away in Houston after speaking to runners the evening before the start of the Sunmart Trail Endurance Runs in Huntsville.

The other six (6) are as follows:

1976 - Jeff Wells, Houston (2:17:46) and White Rock (2:15:11)
1977 - Clent Mericle, Houston (2:27:46) and San Antonio (2:29:37)
1983 - Sue Moen, Cowtown (2:51:19) and White Rock (2:49:54)
1994 - Marjory Stewart, Cowtown (3:01:04) and San Antonio (3:03:17)
1999 - Lori Stitch, Cowtown (2:56:39) and White Rock (2:52:44)
2000 - Riva Rahl, Cotwon (2:59:48) and White Rock (2:54:20)
2004 - Liza Hunter-Galvan, San Antonio (2:44:22.6) and White Rock (2:38:24)

Texas Marathon Trivia

No runner -- male or female -- has ever won more than two of Texas' five (5) largest marathons (San Antonio, White Rock, Houston, Austin and Cowtown) in all of their collective histories.

Lots have won two events. (This is only for overall winners, not Masters nor wheelchair races.)

Two (2) men and five (5) women won both of their marathons in the same calendar year while just one of the runners won them a month apart.

Can you name any of them?

Radcliffe is Pregnant

David Monti of RaceResultsWeekly.com is reporting that the Times of London on Tuesday will report that Paula Radcliffe, the reigning world champion and marathon world record holder, is pregnant.

Monti reports that it was anticipated that American record holder Deena Kastor and Radcliffe would square off in November at the ING New York City Marathon after Radcliffe bypassed the Flora London Marathon because of surgery.

Here is the link on RunnersWeb.com!

Utica The Observer-Dispatch Race Story

Have to love a reporter, Nick Sardina, who does his homework.

He pointed out that Wade's win was his 12th in 15 events - which more than likely comes from Wade's blog. However, the first two races were before Wade turned 40 in early February.

In addition, two of the races - the ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run and the Race for the Pennant 5K - did not include national and/or international level talent (although wins nonetheless).

Click here to read the best race-day coverage of Wade so far this season.

Wade wins Utica's Boilermaker 15K

Houstonian, former Olympian and HARRA member Sean Wade, 40, won the Masters division today of the 29th annual Boilermaker 15K in Utica, New York in a time of 47:24.

Wade, who won the Chevron Houston Marathon in 2003, easily defeated fellow Masters runners Oleg Strijakov, 42, of Russia (47:57) and Paul Aufdemberge, 41, of Redford, Michigan (48:16) to pick up the $1,500 Masters check for winning.

It was Wade's second major Masters win of the week after winning the Peachtree Road Race 10K in Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday, July 4th in a time of 30:47.

Wade, a HARRA member since the organization's inception in 1993, has now won 10 of the 13 Masters races he has participated in since turning 40 in early February, including his last seven.

All but two of the 13 races have been against top national and international Masters runners.

-30-

(If this looks like a HARRA press release, it is. The Chronicle has a way for news material to at least get into their system. I learned this while being on the media distribution lists for various colleges as well as when I have been a stringer for them. It is no guarantee that it will show up on page 2 tomorrow; however, it is a better shot than not having sent it in at all.)

Brett Riley does 8 events at Rice All-Comers Meet

At the RunSport/Rice University All-Comers Meet Friday night, Houston's Brett Riley (who races for the On The Run Racing Team) and Dan Steiner competed in the event's "decathlon". It wasn't exactly a decathlon because there were only eight (8) events but the premise was that they had to compete in every event that somebody signed up for.

So the duo competed in the 400-meter hurdles, 100 meters, 800 meters, 400 meters, 200 meters, the mile, the 3K and the 4 x 400-meter relay.

The Tornados Running Club's Leno Rios competed in the 200, 400 and 800 meters as well as the mile. (Leno wasn't quotable after the mile race. He admittedly was pretty spent!)

400-Meter Hurdles: I didn't get the times for both Brett and Dan, but Brett barely beat Dan coming down the stretch. Rice University head track and cross country coach Jon Warren was overheard by all near the start of the 100 meter event commenting about the guys' two-footed landing on the other side of the hurdles. (Brett, 1-0)

100-Meter Dash: The guys, of course, were running in heats with some fast guys, including world record holder Bill Collins. Dan beat Brett in this event, 14.00 seconds to 14.19. (Tie, 1-1)

200-Meter Dash: Rios got the better of both Brett and Dan. Leno covered the distance in 28.71 seconds while Brett defeated Dan, 30.61 seconds to 32.21. (Brett, 2-1)

400-Meter Dash: This event all three had Bill Collins running against them and the elder statesman took them all. Collins, running in lane 4, nailed a 54.24 second time while Rios again edged the two "decathletes". Leno finished in 61.54, Dan in 63.05 and Brett in 63.78. (Tie, 2-2)

800-Meter Dash: Leno was good for one more, but masters Clydesdale (and one of the best)runner Ken Yanowski entered this event too. Leno ran the 800 meters in 2:13.25 while Dan once again narrowedly edged Riley, 2:19.78 to 2:19.86. Yanowski stopped the clock in 2:24.49. (Dan, 3-2)

1-Mile Run: There were at least 20-plus entrants that ran in one heat. Cornelio Garibay led the entire way before being outkicked by St. Pius X junior-to-be Joey D'Eramo and another high schooler James Webb in the last 25 meters. D'Eramo won the event with a time of 4:43.66 while Webb and Garibay followed in 4:44.15 and 4:44.35, respectively.

Riley edged his fellow club mate Thomas King, Jr. (the former UT-Pan American distance runner), 4:49.69 to 4:51.68. Yanowski came across in 5:40.58 and was followed in by Dan Steiner (5:51.89), Leno Rios (5:55.53) and Thomas King's son, Nicholas, in 5:58.87. (Tie, 3-3)

3,000 Meters: Ino Cantu was using this event as a tune-up for the USATF Masters Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Charlotte, North Carolina early next month. Within the last week, he was worried he might have injured himself and put his trip in jeopardy. But since Ino was out there, so too had to be Brett and Dan. King, D'Eramo, his younger brother, Jake, and Adam Santos also all joined in.

With little surprise, Riley covered the 3K in 10:15.57. King was second in 10:54.17 while Joey D'Eramo in some cool down laps finished third in 11:21.51. Steiner was fourth in 11:31.76 while Cantu turned in a nice performance of 12:18.47 (which, if he held it, would have been a 20:30 5,000 meters). The younger D'Eramo and Santos finished neck-and-neck in 12:46.00 and 12:46.18, respectively. (Riley, 4-3)

4 X 400-Meter Relay: The duo recruited Tommy King and his daughter, Sydney, as they raced two other teams - both made up of high school aged kids. Sydney led off the first leg followed by Dad, Riley and Steiner. The squad covered the 1,600 meters in 4:42.12.

There was one other story Friday night that I saw; however, I'll be developing it into a future "Talking The Talk" column in Runner Triathlete News.

Run The Woodlands 5K #157

I wasn't even going to run this one today. In fact, it was at about 7:40 a.m. this Saturday morning that I went to my truck, got my dollar and signed my waiver. Waverly and I had gotten there early to help Stan Timmer and Becky Isaac (of Luke's Locker) to put on the event. (In fact, Waverly took all of the pictures that are on the race report here.)

The plan was to just take it easy with the heat and humidity. It was fine in the first mile, but the humidity got the better of me in second mile. Debbie Tripp caught up to me just before mile 2 and we ran together the rest of the way including when 11-time RTW winner Bret Ramsey came out and ran us both in from about 800 meters. (Bret - thanks! He saved me from slipping over 31 minutes.)

I don't expect that all the time, but it was nice. I really appreciate Bret's thoughtfulness. The splits were as follows:

Mile 1 -- 9:20.65
Mile 2 -- 10:28.37 (19:49.02)
Mile 3 -- 10:15.39 (30:04.41)
Last .1 -- 54.24
Overall -- 30:58.65

Admittedly, my head's not completely in the game right now. It's not burnout, but just no deep-down burning "I really have to be doing this." I think once I am able to know what my fall and winter work schedule is going to be with this project is when I'll be able to know what events I'll be able to do and then get ready for them. Also my best running the past couple of years have been between mid-November to late April.

Volunteering for Jeff and Brede's Triathlon at Finish Line Sports

Finish Line Sports in Sugar Land is one of the sponsors for this Sunday's Jeff and Brede's Intergalactic Triathlon in Katy.

On Thursday, store owner Andy Stewart put out an e-mail call for volunteers to help out with packet pickup. Since there is an item that Andy had requested my assistance on (and, more importantly, since I had never met him in person), I decided that I could 1.) do something fun with Waverly, 2.) help Andy out and meet him and 3.) give a little back for everything that I've taken from the sport.

In the process of querying individuals when they entered the store if they already had their USAT card or not (Waverly was responible for integrating the bags with an extra flyer or two, a water bottle, pulling the T-shirt and the race number), I had the chance to experience the following:

1.) Met Finish Line Sports runner and multi-sports athlete Jean Leach (who had qualified for and ran Boston this year in 4:18:46).
2.) Met Terlingua Track Club's impressive 70-and-over runner Ino Cantu.
(Both Jean and Ino are great people who helped with packet pickup as well too.)

3.) Talked to a number of Jeff and Brede's Triathlon participants from The Woodlands about the Run The Woodlands 5K Series.
4.) Handed out a number of HARRA Just For Kids Fun Run flyers.
5.) Met Houston Racing Triathlon Club's Biff Farrell who is going to be able to assist us for the JFK Fun Run by getting the word out to Houston's cyclists that we'll have the Memorial Park South Picnic Loop reserved on Saturday, November 25th from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
6.) Learn lots about the operations of a triathlon from all of the questions that were being asked and answered all day.

Great day, had a good time around Andy, his staff and family and thanks for lunch -- and allowing us to help out!

Witnessed World Record at Rice This Evening!

It isn't every day that one witnesses a world record being set (up close and personal), but that is what happened during the RunSport/Rice University All-Comers Meet tonight.

In one of the event's many 100-meter dash heats, Houston's Bill Collins covered the distance in a new world record time of 11.41 seconds. You say to yourself, "Wait, doesn't Asafa Powell and Justin Gatlin share the world mark in 9.77 seconds?"

They do. But Bill Collins' mark is for all runners 55 years of age and older!

Back in April at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Collins set the World Masters record in the 55+ age group division with a time of 11:50 breaking the former world mark of 11:57 set by Ron Taylor of Great Britain in 1991. (Source: Masterstrack.com)

Since the meet was using FAT (Fully Automated Timing), it is certifiable according to Rice University Assistant Sports Information Director Glen McMicken; however, Collins may choose not to report it even as he believes that he'll be able to break it next weekend at the USATF Southwest Region Masters Outdoors Track & Field Championships.

If you have never heard of Houston's Bill Collins before, here are some online resources about one of the best Senior runners ever:

World Class Talent to Compete at USA Masters Indoor Championships (3/22/06)
Bill Collins Named GeezerJock Athlete of the Year (12/3/05)
Bill Collins - Over 50 and Still Flying by Marc Bloom
Laughing At Father Time and Winning by Black Athlete Sports Network

I was standing in the infield and watched it up close and personal. It was pretty exciting! And the thing is everyone out there knows who he is and I never once saw anything that would given you the impression that he was "proud" of the mark.

Miscellaneous Week-Ending Rambling

Waverly and I went to the Astros game this evening to watch the hometown team beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2. It was an Astros Buddies game tonight, which means that her ticket was free. (We missed the first three, but should be able - depending on my work schedule - to make the last two.)

We almost had an Astros operations personnel drama unfold like Sarah had a few weeks ago when the club's computers were down and they wouldn't let people in the park because they couldn't scan the tickets. Astros Buddies members get coupons to four (4) games - out of six (6) - for a free View Deck I ticket, which is worth $12. If you wanted to buy a Field Box seat, you could apply $12 towards the price of that ticket as well.

After getting to the ticket window, here was the conversation with the young female ticket seller:

Me: "I have an Astros Buddies coupon and I'd like to buy one extra ticket."
Ms. Ticket: "Sir, all of the View Deck I seats are sold out."
Me: "So are you telling me then that I can't use the coupon? What else in the ballpark do you have available?"
(I look at the seating chart on the glass above my head, while she talks to a co-worker without leaving her seat.)
Me: "What about View Deck II seats?"
Ms. Ticket: "I can't sell you those because they aren't the $12 seats and we're sold out of them."
Me: "Yes, I know. They are $10. All I care to do is just get in the ballpark."
Ms. Ticket: (Something I honestly don't remember now, but it had something to do with the value.)
Me: "I don't care that I'm not getting the full $12 value. I just need a ticket that I can get for the coupon and an extra one."
Ms. Ticket: (Something else, but the bottom line was -- she wasn't getting it.)
Me: "Can I speak with a manager please?"
Ms. Ticket: "You need to go down to ticket window 10 or 12."

As I walked down there, I was thinking to myself, "I know John Sorrentino (Astros' ticket director and former Spring HS graduate), but I don't want to play that card unless it is absolutely necessary."

The older gentleman in that window - who I interrupted his trying to scarf down a sandwich - understood what I was trying to do. He understood that I could care less that I wasn't going to get any money back. (I only imagined what torture some fans put some of them through.) However, he said, "Meet me down at window 23 and I'll get it taken care of for you."

Good game. Our pre-game meal at Pappas Barbeque on the other end of downtown before the game - yes, we walked down there and back - was more than my ticket ($10) and parking ($5). (I can't believe that there is $30 parking right across the street from the stadium near Incarnate Word Academy.) As were walking down there and back, Waverly recollected what she remembered from "Marathon Day" as we were walking down Rusk. That was fun and made me thankful that if neither one of us ran another race that we'd have that moment as long as God granted the two of us on the Earth.

However, we had a great time (like we do most of the time) and the evening made up for Tuesday. Dad and daughter didn't have a good morning and it was a result of a lack of communication which was revealed at just the wrong moment. Not as important though, it kept me from racing - well make that "running an event" - on the fourth of July for the first time since I started running. (I missed seeing my fellow Seven Hills members up in Centerville, which included Rick Cook, who ran 21:34, and his wife Kim and son Cooper as well as HRBer Dave Smart and his family.)

Note to my fellow HRB members: SHRC has 28 signed up for the Challenge on August 12th. To avoid the penalty, we may need a few new bloggers before then! Ken sent this e-mail, "For when you go to the store, I personally prefer Moolineum Crunch."

I talked to Rick last weekend on the phone and his training is diligently coming along for a fall 100-miler and I'm pretty confident that he'll be as succesful as he plans to be. (I also think that we'll see a BQ from somebody we all know in October, but I'll wait to reveal that later on.)

Finally, I'm really excited about my new role with HARRA.

If you haven't noticed already, Sarah's made some content changes on the website. We've updated all of the HARRA-member blogs. We're also working with current president Anna Sumrall Helm to establish some direction about what should be on the site and not in certain areas.

Content for the September edition of Footprints is coming together rather nicely as we have a late July deadline. (Now if my August RTN column would do the same, I'd be set.) I already have a couple of pieces written. Edwin is going to be working on one I hope will be as successful as I think it will be. I'm actually worried about whether or not we'll have enough room - not knowing what the club reports are going to be like.

And we have an idea about what we're going to cover for the October edition as well too.

WTRN-AM Online Display of My Grandfather's Radio Career

This has nothing to do with running, but it does have a lot to do with me!

The two individuals that have had the most to do with me having the media and public relations knowledge that I do are my father, Will Walk, III and my grandfather, Will Walk, Jr.

My grandfather turned 83 years old this past April and at the beginning of August, he will extend his media career to 67 years when he mans the airwaves of WTRN-AM in Tyrone, Pennsylvania for Tyrone's Community Day at Delgrosso's Amusement Park.

Before he went off to fight in World War II, my grandfather was involved in both radio and photography. At the end of the War, he spent six months in then-Czechoslovakia (Pilsan) on the Armed Forces Radio Network before helping build four (4) radio stations in central Pennsylvania. On WTRN in the early 50's, he was the "Rush Limbaugh" of his day in that part of the state.

If you'll point your browser to http://www.wtrn.net/, you'll see a display that has been put together by the Tyrone Historical Society. One is for all of the employees over the past 51 years and the other is completely on my grandfather.

At the end of the 2000 football season, I did two (2) Internet-only broadcasts of TAPPS state championship football games at Baylor's Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco. One of the games my father did the color commentary while I handled the play-by-play duties. But for both games, I had my Dad, my grandfather and my daughter in the press box with me.

Kim Hager's Ironman France Race Report

(I have to say that I've been very privileged to meet some of the people that I have over the last three and a half years in this sport. To get a race report as such from The Woodlands' Kim Hager - via Bill Dwyer, of course - is truly an honor.)

The Ironman France-Nice Triathlon was held on June 25th, 2006. Kim was 167th of 874 finishers and 10th of 11 professional women competing in the event.

3.8-kilometer swim -- 56:29
Transition 1 -- 4:39
180-kilometer bike -- 6:05:40
Transition 2 -- 4:18
42.2-kilometer run -- 3:44:24
Overall time -- 10:55:30.25

In this event, 33 runners qualified for Boston after swimming more than 2 miles and riding a bike for 112 miles. Incredible!

Fellow Lone Star Multisport Club member Emily Deppe - also of The Woodlands - was 120th overall and won her age group which earned her a slot in the Ford Ironman World Championships on October 21, 2006 in Kona, Hawaii. Deppe, in the 25-29 age group, finished just under 15 minutes ahead of Hager in 10:40:54.05.

This is Kim's report ...

“Happiness is different from pleasure. Happiness has something to do with struggling and enduring and accomplishing.” -George Sheehan

Ironman France was my first Ironman post-knee surgery. My training leading up to this event was checkered with post-surgery rehab, illness and family emergencies but I was determined to make it to the start (and finish) line. My emotions have run the full gamut in preparation for this event. Following knee surgery I was wondering if I would even be able to withstand the necessary training for an Ironman, and would just be grateful to be able to run ‘normally’ again. Much of my time was consumed with training and rehabbing my knee. I have been running since I was 12 years old and it is, without a doubt, my favorite discipline in triathlon. I knew I would never again take the ability to run for granted.

However, when my daughter was hit by a car while biking to school and we spent almost a week in the hospital, I was harshly reminded about what is truly important in life. At that point I only wished that I could somehow take upon her physical suffering and injuries, and Ironman took a backseat. I would have given anything for her not to have to go through such an ordeal.

Fortunately my daughter’s recovery progressed well, and putting things in perspective and adjusting my goals for Ironman France, I continued with my Ironman training for the remaining 6 weeks leading up to Ironman France. With the support of my family, friends, and coaches, I was off to Europe.

My travels to Europe did not get off to a good start and included flight delays, missed connections, lost luggage (bike, of course), airport evacuations (London Gatwick), and upon finally arriving to Nice, exhausted, only to be ‘entertained’ by loud techno music vibrating my hotel room until 3 am. I learned that laughter is good medicine and peanut butter sandwiches make good comfort food.

Race day arrived soon enough (thankfully my bike was eventually found in “lost luggage land” and returned to me) and I exited the hotel to slightly dark, ominous skies off in the distant. I was just grateful to see that the Mediterranean was calm, and was hoping rain would hold off. My biggest anxiety with this race was not so much the climbing I would have to do on the bike, but the swim start. I did not realize that the beaches in Nice are not of the sandy-like beaches I am accustomed to, but, rather, are rocky. I spent a lot of time worrying about falling at the race start. However, thankfully, it was not an issue race day.

The gun sounded and I began my first of two swim laps. I had a good start position, as I did not get hit too much at the beginning. However, at the first turn buoy I was to the far inside and was crammed, pushed, and shoved around. I even had my goggles ‘knocked’ off. WHAT? This is something I had always feared in an ocean swim. I truly thought I would panic if this ever happened to me. Even though I was mad that it happened and I could not see much, I continued to swim until I was able to get to an area where I was able to tread water and readjust my goggles. I lost some time, but remained calm and continued on with my swim. I exited the water from my first lap and quickly glanced at my split…27 minutes…I spent the next lap of the swim thinking my watch had said 37 minutes because I figured there was no way it could have said 27 minutes! The second lap went better as groups broke up, but once again my goggles were knocked off with about 300 meters to go and I had to deal with salt water in the eyes and blurred vision.

Finally, the swim exit…I check my watch…what…I went under 57 minutes?! That is a 10 minute PR for me. Was it a short swim? Who cares…I will take the PR. Now, off to the 180 km bike.

I really did not know what to expect on the bike. All I knew was that I had about 6000+ feet of climbing to do, that there was one long 25km uphill portion, and that the downhill portions can be technical…very technical. Unfortunately this type of terrain is hard to replicate in the Houston area. However, I like a challenge. I figure racing a difficult course only makes me stronger…maybe not on race day, but on future races.

The scenery was absolutely beautiful. It was a surreal feeling to be climbing and look down upon the villages below, knowing that it was by my own power that I made it up to where I was cycling. The people from the villages along the bike course came out and cheered. It reminded me of the scenes I see during the Tour. I am fortunate to be able to see the world the way that I do.

Unfortunately during the latter portion of the bike my lungs began to tighten up and I could feel things slow down. At the 110km point I was 18 minutes behind the 2nd female, but was unable to hold that distance and I lost a lot of time over the final 70 km on the bike. In addition, during my final descent portion, the rains came. This made things quite slick on the road and every turn my rear wheel would fish-tail. I do not know which was more stressful…the climb or the descent in the rain.

Regardless, I finally made it to the run. By this time my stomach had shut down and it felt like my throat and stomach had a belt around them that kept tightening. My thought was just to run as fast as I could for as long as I could before “the bonk” would set in. Not necessarily sure if that is the smartest philosophy but every Ironman is a learning experience for me. I made it through the first 20k real well, but by 25k I was feeling the lack of nutrition. I finished the remainder of the run and crossed the finish line! This is not something I take for granted and I know I am truly blessed to be able to do what I do. Furthermore, I accomplished what I came to Ironman France to do…finish the race, work on my Ironman nutrition, and gain some confidence for my next Ironman.

I can say that this was the first Ironman I have done that I did not think, “Why am I doing this?” I knew I would finish, and when my nutrition started falling apart, I did not let it derail me, but rather remained calm and focused on what I was capable of doing at the given moment. Thoughts of my daughter, and everything that I had been through recently motivated me to push on. I did not have my fastest Ironman race, but it was the first one where I did not get discouraged when things started going downhill. I truly felt ‘in-control’ during this race, and an overwhelming sense of happiness enveloped me as I crossed the finish line.