Tuesday, Apr. 3 Workout / Miscellaneous

Bally's The Woodlands
I wasn't adequately fueled this afternoon before I went to the gym; therefore, my output wasn't what I was hoping for it to be going in.
45 minutes - elliptical machine; same level 16, no sticks
5 minutes - stationery bike; was starting to get borderline sick so it was time to go get something to eat.

Maybe if I had run instead, I would have been better off. Bally's has a particular treadmill that I like where I can run and read at the same time. They have two of them. When I got there, there was a gentleman walking on one and somebody had something draped over the handrail of the other one. Well, nobody ever came.

So ... at about 6:30 p.m., I left the house and went out to the weekly workout of the Luke's Locker Beat program in The Woodlands that Kim Hager, Bill Dwyer and Rick Cook coach. I've got a standing invite when I'm in town. They had two groups - one that was doing three (3) 1600's and another that was doing something less. I figured that I would choose the harder workout. (Yes, I'm stubborn.)

I had already done a warmup mile. I did the first 1600 in 9:47 (2:19, 2:30, 2:30, 2:28), took a self-imposed minute break and tried to start the second one. I did the first lap in 2:28 and realized that it wasn't going to be my night. After shooting the breeze a little bit, I did another 1,600 meters at about 85% and did it in 10:20. Nothing sterling - 2:27, 2:38, 2:37 and 2:37.

But it was three miles in addition to what I had already done earlier in the afternoon and I'm not going to get better at anything - whether it be speed, endurance or distance if I don't work more often than what I have been.

HARRA Tour de Bayou
I was going to head south for this (not to run even) this afternoon at 6 p.m. at Spotts Park; however, I remembered that Waverly was coming home on the activity bus after school (which drops her off away from the house) and I'm more concerned about making sure she makes it here safely then leaving to attend an event.

While we live in a decent subdivision, I have two registered sex offenders that live on our street. I certainly hope they don't make another mistake, and while I can't be everywhere as a Dad ... still why take chances?

Congratulations to ...
Juancarlos Vielma for his second place finish on Sunday at the Big-D Texas Marathon in Dallas.

Rick Cook for winning our 11-member NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament bracket by picking the Florida Gators to win it all. (Lisa Foronda must be doing cartwheels with two men's basketball championships and a football championship in the last year and a day.) Doug Spence, who made 55 correct selections, was second while Steve Maulden - a friend of Bill Dwyer's finished third. Edwin Quarles made a screaming comeback to finish 4th after starting out at the bottom. Erin Foley was sixth while Dwyer and Joe Carey were right behind me.

Miscellaneous
We'll preview the Resurrection Run 5K in Nassau Bay this Saturday on the RunHouston Chronicle blog tomorrow. Where am I going to be on Saturday? Not completely sure. I'll run somewhere, but I may be travelling to do so - and no, I won't be going to New Orleans for the Crescent City Classic 10K.

MLB Observations
1.) We need to see more complete games (although we won't) like we did with Ben Sheets of the Milwaukee Brewers going the distance against the Dodgers on Monday.
2.) Wouldn't it be nice to have former Astro (and current Boston Red Sox) Julio Lugo leading off your lineup at shortstop instead of the anemic hitting, yet defensively strong Adam Everett? (And I did notice that both went 1-for-4 on Monday.)
3.) Best pitching performance, aside from Sheets? Had to belong to Seattle's Felix Hernandez. Eight innings, three hits and 12 strikeouts. He turns 21 on Sunday.
4.) It is going to be fun to see how Frank Thomas does with the Blue Jays and Mike Piazza, his replacement at DH, does with the Oakland A's. Thomas went 1-for-4 while Piazza was 0-for-4.