On The Run Update

On The Run Pearland Is Now Open!!!
10009 Broadway, Suite 101
Pearland, TX. 77581
Phone: 713-340-0505
New Balance 1062 and 768 is now in stock. Come on in and check out these two new shoes.

It’s Time to Start Thinking About the Seabrook Lucky Trail Marathon Again!

For those who don’t know, this event has a history of selling out fast. This event consists of two half marathons (one on Saturday, March 15 and another on Sunday, March 16) and a marathon on Sunday. There will also be a half marathon relay on Saturday, March 15 and a marathon relay on the 16th. Don’t miss out on the fun, register today! Check out the event website for more details.

RACE CALENDAR
February 2, 2008 - Galloway Gallop Fun Run

The 6th annual Galloway Gallop Mardi Gras Fun Run will be held Saturday, February 2 at the Kemah Boardwalk in Kemah, Texas. 10K and 5K races will begin at 8 a.m., followed by a Kid K Dash at 9 a.m. A finish-line party will be held after the races which will include prizes for the runners in addition to door prizes, refreshments, and a Mardi Gras costume contest. This event is open to the public, so invite your friends! Last year, nearly 300 runners participated in the Galloway Gallop, raising nearly $10,000 for the school. For more information, visit the Fun Run website at www.thegallowayschool.org/funrun or download a Fun Run brochure. If you are interested in sponsoring the event, please call the school. Sponsor forms will be available online soon!

Feb 2 (Sat) Buffalo Wallow 6K Cross-Country Race (1st Race of the HARRA Spring Series); Buffalo Bayou; click here for more information

Feb 2 (Sat) Rocky Raccoon Trail Run (50 & 100 Miler) Huntsville; event website

Feb 9 (Sat) Surfside Beach Marathon & Half-Marathon (Second Event of the Texas Marathon Triple); Surfside, Texas; event website & on-line registration

Feb 9 (Sat) Christopher’s Fun Run (5K Run/1 Mile Walk); Downtown Houston; event website

Feb 23 (Sat) Park to Park 5 Miler (2nd Race of the HARRA Spring Series); Downtown Houston; event website; on line registration

Feb 23 (Sat) The Woman’s Hospital of Texas 20th Annual Race Against Violence (5K Run, 5K Run-Walk, Kid’s K); Sam Houston Park; event website; on-line registration

March 1 (Sat) ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run (10K Run-5K Run/Walk); Downtown Houston; event website; on-line registration

March 8 (Sat) Bayou City Classic 10K (3rd Race of the HARRA Spring Series); Downtown Houston; event website; entry form

March 8 (Sat) Methodist Stride4Stroke 5K Run/Walk; Rice University Campus; event website

March 29 (Sat) Husky Hustle (5K Run-Walk); Houston Baptist University; event website

March 29 (Sat) Law Week Fun Run (8K Run/1-Mile Children’s Run/1-Mile Family Walk) (4th Race of the HARRA Spring Series); Downtown Houston; event website

Texas Independence Relay Information

This isn't a team-related update; however, it is something cool that I'm getting a chance to be a part of with the Texas Independence Relay. Once the rosters start flowing into Jay and Joy Hilscher, we've talked about forwarding them on to me so that the public address announcer can say a little bit about each team before they start.

The e-mail exchange was like this:

Jay,

Something like this - or a little longer?

Next to the starting line are the Battling Bloggers of the Texas Republic, who are captained by Jon Walk and hail from the greater Houston area. Regardless of where they finish tomorrow, they'll certainly be the first to tell the stories of "How Texas Is Run!"

Hey Jon -

Yes! That blurb is exactly the kind I’m looking for. First emphasis would be on something about the team, but then something about the captain would be second in line. Lastly, there could be something about an individual that stands out. It could be a little longer especially when teams aren’t going every minute, but... That would be me being ultra picky (and maybe longer wouldn’t be better... I guess it may depend on what it is that is being mentioned).

I can certainly help as I’ve corresponded a little with all of the team captains. Don’t you think having the announcer guy say a little something about the teams as they’re about to take off would be SUPER COOL!!?! I do. Awesome.

Thanks for helping on this... I think it’s going to be one of the touches that will be small yet make a tremendous impact.

- j

This is just one of the many small detailed initiatives that the Hilschers are taking to really make this a special, fun event. And I'm glad that I've been given an opportunity to help.

Miscellaneous Tuesday Musings (NRC)

1.) The Roger Clemens Report. Primarily stat geeks will appreciate the numbers in the report produced by his agents, the Hendricks Brothers of, ugh!, Spring. Here's wishing Clemens, his agents and Rusty Hardin would all just go away. Andy Pettitte's faith - and a need to resolve things before he went to church in Deer Park that Sunday (where he teaches Sunday School) after the Mitchell Report came out - directed what he felt like what the right thing to do was.

2.) Obama has landed in Pasadena. Not him personally, of course; but, rather, his campaign. They've opened up an office on Union Avenue within a two-block radius of the office that I work in. Quite honestly, I'm surprised I have seen a candidate's office opened sooner here. I guess this just means that California is now coming into focus.

2a.) Not another Texan! ... is the response I gave to Ron Paul's people when they approached at the corner of Central Park this fall in October when I was in New York City. I haven't got close enough to their campaign people since.

3.) Mike Huckabee should qualify to run Boston. I know three people - including one of my TIR teammates - who have run Boston without qualifying. One ran it as part of a charity (the Dana Farber for breast cancer, which she had contracted herself), another ran it from receiving an entry in a lottery that the event gave to its sponsor (and that she wouldn't have another chance to use the same option for another five years), and finally, a third ran it given to them by a running specialty store through a shoe company. The final individual is/was 70 when he ran it. I have no problem with that either.

I met Huckabee two years ago at the Little Rock Marathon Expo. I like him. I think he's a great guy. I think that McCain/Huckabee would make a good Republican ticket, though. I bought Huckabee's book, "Character", and I think he should exercise more of it in his decision to run Boston. To me, he's lumping himself in with Katie Holmes. Katie Holmes is a celebrity and Huckabee is lowering himself to her standards, which I'm disappointed.

This position isn't an easy one, obviously, because some would say that Huckabee is doing it under a great charity, Team Hoyt. I agree that it is. But is he really raising money for the charity, especially when his campaign is pinching pennies to make it to another state?

For the record, I wrote the campaign and every available e-mail address I had. Needless to say, I didn't have a response. Maybe Vincent Attanucci can speak some sense into Mike when he runs Boston for yet another year.

3M Half Marathon (Austin) Brief Race Report

I was talking with a friend over here in Austin yesterday afternoon and I told them that I hoped to be in the 2:15-2:16 range today. As that is where I felt that my fitness is right now for this course. Indeed, they advertise this as a downhill; however, there is enough uphills in it to negate much of it.

On the website, my gun time is 2:20:30 and my chip time was 2:15:31, which means I hit the goal (but there's lots of room for improvement.)

Mile 1-2 - 20:25.71 (slightly uphill)
Mile 3 - 10:07.96
Mile 4 - 10:12.31
Mile 5 - 9:25.50 (mostly downhill with an uphill finish over one of the overpasses)
Mile 6 - 10:49.41 (an extra walk break and a water stop)
Mile 7 - 10:43.31
Mile 8 - 10:09.66
Mile 9 - 10:46.66 (uphill)
Mile 10 - 10:58.00 (uphill again)
Mile 11 - 10:20.50 (gently downhill)
Mile 12 - 10:13.42 (a bit more pronounced downhill)
Mile 13 - 10:24.66 (primarily flat, a slight rise)
Last .1 - 56.82 (got a motivational shout-out from Kemah's Ben Harvie)

I love the friends that I have. (Leadville,CO/Houston's Camille Yarbrough said Hi! after I crossed the finish line.) The one good thing from the splits? No 11's. Needed a few more 9's though.

And who did I see in the line to get on the buses back to the start area? None other than first place age group winner Jim Braden, 72, of The Woodlands as he ran under 1:45 today. Amazing. :)

Live from Austin at the 3M Half Marathon

Just checked into my room here in Austin at the Marriott Courtyard, which is right in front of the starting line for tomorrow's 3M Half Marathon. Very sweet! Best use of Marriott Reward points in awhile!

I wore my Texas Marathon long-sleeved shirt over here and when I checked in, the young woman (presumably a college student) asked: "Are you here for the marathon?" I wondered to myself, "What gave it away?" :)

The temperatures are going to be a little bit more than my liking for over here in the morning.

This will be the third straight year that I've run this event. The last two years have looked like this:

2007 - 2:12:07.8 (Chip), 2:16:36.0 (Gun)
2006 - 2:12:25.3 (Chip), 2:15:50.0 (Gun)

Come to think of it, I didn't beat Debbie by much two years ago. Her chip time was 2:12:55.7 and gun time was 2:17:13.0.

I think I wanted to run in it 2005, but some guy named Brian Sell won it in 1:02:59.

Update (9:30 p.m.) -- I ventured to get something to eat at Manny Hattan's, which is a New York Deli-style restaraunt and a little pricey one for some pretty good food though. I'm stuffed.

And I've heard music outdoors since I got here. It is coming from the Baby Acapulco Mexican Restaraunt. It's not far down the road, but I can't imagine what the folks at the Embassy Suites - one hotel closer - is thinking. Their walls must be rattling.

Good news! -- Waverly made Region Choir as a soprano! She called me at about 2 p.m. and was a little disappointed as she said that she had gone in and, despite drinking a lot of fluid to keep her vocal chords moist, she went dry and didn't feel like she had done well. She called about an hour or so later saying that she had been selected! Now I'm learning what "Region Choir" means!

I guess she did a solo and then was picked to represent about 10 different middle schools. I was doing a little surfing a few minutes ago and it looks as if they're in what is known as District 9. I believe that the Region Choir then goes and competes against other regions across the state. When I know more, I'll let you know! :)

Run The Woodlands 5K Race Report

Yes, yes, I know that I still owe everyone a Chevron Houston Marathon race report. (In fact, I was forced to write down the splits last weekend before the track meet at the University of Houston.)

I ran most of the way with Debbie Tripp and we had a good run. We probably could have pushed ourselves a bit more in mile 3, but it was a good workout for the both of us.

She probably ran harder than she wanted to in the first mile as she was running - and talking - with the Van Kuikens and talking about their upcoming trip to Sedona when Gary gets in state No. 50. Then when she backed off, here I came!

Our splits and overall time looked like this:

Mile 1 -- 9:18.35
Mile 2 -- 9:58.01 (took 35 seconds at the beginning at the mile marker)
Mile 3 -- 10:39.55 (took 1:45 at the beginning of mile 3)
Last .1 -- 54.12

Overall -- 30:50.03

Debbie has normally been doing a run/walk she said; however, she commented coming down the back stretch about being thankful that I made her work.

Though I said we weren't going to race each other because neither one of us needed a knock-down-drag out! (We talked about the 2006 3M Half Marathon where I was surprised to see her ahead of me past the mile 6 marker. I worked pretty hard the rest of the way to make sure she didn't beat me -- even though I didn't crack 2:10 that day.)

Mick Long, Rick Cook and Dave Smart worked the race from Luke's perspective today.

Karen Felicidario and Holden Choi both ran for our TIR team and Karen had a new PR - breaking 27 minutes - and Holden was back, as expected, in the 25-minute range. My 10K estimates for the two of them are right in line. I may have to upgrade Holden's a minute or two though.

Doug Spence was out for Bill's team and ran in the 35's and Bill ran the course before we all did. He got to Kuykendahl, probably about 2.7 miles or so, in 30 minutes and then he said he walked it in. (I reminded him that Debbie and I both got there in 26:10. I know that'll motivate him.) I told Bill that we could go run the RTW 5K course again tomorrow after I get back from Austin.

I saw three of Bill's runners - Delia Akers and Greg and Gena Alvarez - starting their long run from Skeeters parking lot this morning at about 7:30 a.m. as I was heading to RTW. So, they're working, but we're still going to win! :)

The rest of the "Who's Who" went like this:

+ Skip Moschell was the overall winner. (He said, of course, that there were no high school kids or Jacob Mazone from Spring there.)
+ Vincent Attanucci was wearing his Wake Forest shirt, courtesy of his oldest son's girlfriend who ran her first marathon in Kingwood on New Year's Day.
+ Ron Longtin belted out a new PR, breaking 27 minutes for the first time. As Bill pointed out, Ron was a walker two years ago. (Ron will be challenging Mike Mendeck in their age group now!)
+ Nora Wilson was out volunteering and George Roffe was shooting pictures.
+ Dawn Craig was getting 100-mile running advice from Rick. (My plan for next Saturday: Just go run and let what happens happen.)
+ Ruth Fields and a couple of runners from their TIR team were there.
+ Joe and Missy Martinez of the Tejas Renegades were there as well.
+ Carlos Ortegon, Ann Leoni and Wayne Rutledge ran before and then the 5K.
+ Tom Pinney and Rjole battled it out with one of Ruth's teammates for the runner-and-animal winner today. Rjole is one of Tom's salukis.
+ Fellow TWRC club members Susan Meyer and Joe and Lori Eubanks also ran the race.

It was a good morning overall!

A better day will be to find out that Waverly made Region Choir this afternoon. She was singing in the afternoon, but was helping out - volunteering - this morning.

She was invited to join the National Junior Honor Society this week at school and will be running track. I'm very proud of her desires to be as involved as she is.

And Then We Had 12 ... Again!

Heading into the Chevron Houston Marathon weekend, I knew that our "Battling Bloggers of the Texas Republic" team would possibly be needing one replacement (for Joe) and maybe another (but I didn't expect it to be JD).

I had asked Edwin at the Expo (or even that week before) to see if Tommy Stunz would be interested; however, his availability was a concern.

When I saw Cassie and Manny on the course that Sunday, Cassie said that she knew somebody that would be a good fit for our team. I told her to go ahead, make the connection and let's see. I've trusted Cassie ever since she let Waverly stay with her in the summer of 2005 in Parkersburg, West Virginia while I ran the News and Sentinel Half Marathon.

So while I'm waiting on word from these two, I see a note posted on the Texas Independence Relay message boards by a fellow Seven Hills Running Club member and that they're looking for a team to run on. Imagine my surprise!

I e-mailed the member and told them that I had two invitations outstanding and that I couldn't commit until I had answers from those two individuals. They stated that they understood.

So the word came in Wednesday that we were able to make Tommy team member No. 11.

Cassie e-mailed this morning and said her friend was a "no go" as he had just taken a new job.

Therefore, our 12th - and newest - team member will be Katy Lampson, the secretary of the Seven Hills Running Club in Huntsville. Katy and Ken Johnson both came down and participated in the Montgomery County Triple over the Thanksgiving Day weekend.

Katy ran the Wellstone's White Rock Marathon in 4:32:10 and ran the Chevron Houston Marathon in 4:45:07. She'll be in Austin in a few weeks to complete the Marathons of Texas with the AT&T Austin Marathon ... giving her just enough time to recover to knock out her 15-16 miles with us!

Therefore, our roster looks now like this:

Active
Jessica Alexander (Houston Striders)
Barbara Boone (Champions Fit)
Holden Choi (Houston Striders)
Karen Felicidario (The Woodlands Running Club)
Sarah Graybeal (Bay Area Running Club/Houston Striders)
Keith Kelleher (Clear Lake Fitness Club)
Katy Lampson (Seven Hills Running Club)
Cassie Mondragon (HARRA)
Edwin Quarles (Brazosport Area Road Runners Association)
Dave Smart (The Woodlands Running Club)
Tommy Stunz
Jon Walk (The Woodlands Running Club/Seven Hills Running Club)
Injured Reserve
Joe Carey (Bay Area Running Club)
James David Dykas (Houston Fit)
Physically Unable to Run
Christy Gonzales (Houston Striders)

Therefore, with just a couple of days over five weeks to go for the event, we're back at full strength with a balance of six men and six women!

Champions Fit Texas Independence Relay Blog

This is the Fit program that Barbara Boone runs with, and they've got their own TIR blog (as they've indicated that they have 108 participants - 9 teams!):

http://texrelay.blogspot.com/

By the way, we're glad Barbara's running with us. :)

Please, no trash talking! Even though they've postulated a tagline of, "We don't pass batons, we pass people." Bravado, I tell you.

Unless things have changed though, there will be no traditional batons. It is more like a plastic handcuff that wraps around the wrist. You actually just kind of slap your wrist with it and it wraps around, and it won't fall off when you run.

Here's another TIR blog -- http://tirelay.blogspot.com/!

And another -- http://sandwichrun.blogspot.com/!

Great ways to keep up with the competition!

Battling Blogger Team Member No. 11

Actually, our team is really made up of 15!

Christy Gonzales was really our first alternate, but a wonderful thing developed before an opening on our team came about.

Joe Carey and James David Dykas have had to withdraw because of injuries, but they're still part of our team too. Once in, you're always in! (They have an invite to run the last half mile in with the team at the Monument!)

I feel like a MLB general manager putting together our TIR effort. Therefore, I'm pleased to announce the acquistion of Lake Jackson's Tommy Stunz.

The tag line of Tommy's blog (in the link above) is a great one for the Texas Independence Relay: "All Who Wander Are Not Lost". No, we're just running 203.67 miles on a weekend - for fun! Well, and to beat Bill Dwyer's team too.

Many of you have met Tommy either at the Surfside Marathon or perhaps at the Chevron Houston Marathon Expo any of the last three years. He's probably best known among us as being Edwin's good friend, which is a good thing. Tommy ran the CHM two Sundays ago in 3:55:13, breaking four hours for the first time, and he beat the Super Heroes -- Superman and Flash Gordon - on the course!

I should be able to announce team member No. 12 soon.

Tommy, welcome aboard!

All About Family

On the ultrarunning list-serv that I "was" a member of, until they went on a Karnazes-bashing feast last year, they would label posts "NUC" for "No Ultra Content" or "NRC" for "No Running Content".

This post is most definitely a "NRC" one!

Today is my Dad's 61st birthday and I just got off the phone from talking with him and wishing him, "Happy Birthday!" My sister, her husband and two kids were there at the house.

Earlier today, my oldest niece, Haylee, who's 8, called him first and then my younger niece, Hunter (she's 3), got on and wished him "Happy Birthday", he said, and then asked him how old he was.

My Dad said that he responded, "Six. One."

He said he heard her holler to my sister, "Pappy's 61!"

We shared a good laugh. The last couple of Christmas, Waverly and I will go to the Dollar Store on Christmas Eve and buy something - of the same thing - for everyone. We don't stress over it. If we find something, great. If we don't, then we don't do anything. It is just one of those things (the many of them) that she and I do together.

This year, it was $1 CD's.

For my cousin, who is 23 and is dating a really nice, beautiful young woman, we gave him a CD that the first song was the Wedding March! And hers was a Kids CD! (I have a warped sense of humor.)

I don't quite remember what I got my grandparents, but my grandmother told my Dad today that he should tell me that "she really enjoys her CD" and "listens to it often". Again, my Dad and I had a good laugh.

It wasn't always that way. There is one bad episode that left my Dad and I not to say a word to each other for at least a couple of months. But you try and bury that stuff because we don't know how long we have left here on this Earth.

If you're reading this on Tuesday evening, please keep Waverly in your prayers. She fell today at school during PE and is having some pains below her belly button that haven't gone away. Her Mom is taking her to the ER at Memorial Hermann in The Woodlands to find out what is going on. She said that when she laughs or coughs that it hurts. It could be nothing and it could be everything. We just don't know.

She's scared and was crying when I spoke to her (before they left to go.) I told her that before I got my back straightened out recently that when I coughed while sitting that my hip hurt like crap.

It is at a time like this that you have to exercise faith because certainly I can't exercise any amount of control from Pasadena, California and even if I was there, I'm not a medical professional ... so that means all I can do is get her the help that she needs and trust those who are qualified to make the decisions necessary for her well-being.

As soon as I hear something, I'll post and keep everyone up-to-date. These are the worst times when it comes to travelling for a job.

8:30 p.m. Central -- She's been triaged. 17 people in front of her. Some have been there since 3 p.m. (Unfortunaetly, this is typical of the business that I work in. Could she have gone to a neighborhood clinic, which could have taken X-rays? Possibly; however, if there's a break of a bone involved, I want my money on a hospital emergency room visit.)

11:30 p.m. Central -- Now there are only 2 people in front of her. Many have left. One coded in the ER; certainly not good. Waverly thinks it is just a pulled muscle; however, she's still getting checked out! It reminded us of her very first trip to the ER as a baby. We were living in Dallas at the time - where she was born - and I think that she hadn't eaten anything in almost a day, plus she was running a temperature. Well, we had Children's Hospital of Dallas there and that's where we went. After waiting there for awhile, guess what happened? She wanted a bottle! They checked her out and said that she wasn't dehydrated. And it was back to the apartment we went! (Those were some better times. It is kind of bittersweet.)

1:11 a.m. Central -- The ER staff indicated that she had a soft tissue contusion (or a bone bruise). They determined that her organs were intact (and that was one of the things that I told her when I talked to her on the phone - when she was scared - that that was the major reason why she really needed to go and have it checked out.) Her Mom said that she made the comment that she wished that I was there, which I kind of understand but then again I don't. Her Mom was there to take care of her and made the effort to do so (like she would no matter what.) I felt bad for her. Here's the reason why this blog will never go public again: I do what I do - i.e. the things that I do - with my daughter because it is just natural. It is what I know to do. I've always said that it is my job as a parent to open the world to as many experiences as I possibly can to her. And sometimes, many times actually, I feel like I don't do enough. That's how much I want to give to her. I also know that as she'll turn 13 - oh my God - in May, that time is also running short.

For those that read this and prayed for her, thank you. The doctors, of course, indicated that if something changed to come back. And I apologize for not updating this at 1 a.m., I was already in bed here. :)

Slated to Start Rocky Raccoon and Western States

These runners are in the start lists of February's Rocky Raccoon 100-Miler and the venerable Western States 100, to be held in California in June:

Beth Simpson-Hall, Bayside, WI
Chase Squires, Denver, CO
Dan Brenden, Phoenix, AZ
Dmitry Rozinsky, Austin, TX
Jennifer Forman, Riverside, CA
Juli Aistars, Lake Zurich, IL
Leslie Antonis, Modesto, CA
Meredith Murphy, Chester Springs, PA
Michael Siltman, Middletown, IL
Mike Krejci, Dallas, TX
Prasad Gerard, Washington, DC
Ralph Hirt, Crescent City, CA
Rick Cook, The Woodlands, TX
Rob Apple, Murfreesboro, TN
Stephanie Day, Tracyton, WA
Steven Holman, Oakland, CA
Xy Weiss, Villa Park, CA

See anybody you know?

TIR Tuesday Update

I've been tinkering with the leg assignments a little bit and I may be able to pull off one van swap AND get everyone, but me, between 15 and 20 miles (which makes me happy).

As I've mentioned before, Edwin, Cassie and I have all invites outstanding - in that order - to get our team back to 12. I'm hoping that one of theirs and mine comes through as that would give us 6 men and 6 women on our team.

If that is the case, what we would do is the following:

+ Guys would run legs 1-6.
+ Gals would run legs 7-12.
+ Do a van swap before the start of leg 13.
+ Those two vans would then stay the same the rest of the way - with three men and three women each.
+ The extra legs have already been slotted to balance the miles out.

The mileage distances would look like this:

13.13 (me), 20.14, 16.67, 17.8, 19.24, 16.97, 16.43, 15.13, 17.22, 17.17, 17.16 and 15.08.

Based on my pace estimates for everyone, and getting the two people that I hope I can, we may be able to get a 7:30 a.m. start time in Gonzales (which would put us in downtown Houston by 11:20 a.m.)

Our projected finish would then be 31 hours, 42 minutes - finishing at 3:15 p.m. (just in time for some pizza and good Texas born-and-bred country music at the Monument!)

TIR Time Trials at Run The Woodlands 5K Saturday

Pretty soon, Texas Independence Relay team captains will be asked to turn in their team's rosters as well as their predicted finishing time (which will dictate what time each team will start in Gonazles.)

So, Bill and I will be inviting all of The Woodlands-area teams and their captains to come out to Run The Woodlands 5K for a time trial to allow runners to be able to give their respective captains an accurate reflection of what their predicted 10K pace really is right now.

If you can make it out to The Woodlands on Saturday, it'll be great to have you there or otherwise, there are a host of good races throughout the greater Houston area this weekend -- including two good 10K's - one in Angleton and another in Galveston.

You can read more about these races at this entry on our RunHouston Chronicle blog.

Texas Marathon Pictures

That's me finishing either the third or final loop of the Texas Marathon on New Year's Day. Wait, it has to be the third loop because that's Bill's hand on the camera on the far right and we all know that Bill ran the last 100 yards in with me on the last loop. :)

And, of course, Waverly's the "Monkey Girl" this day as she handed out to mostly all of the finishers a monkey stuffed animal and their medal.

(Pictures courtesy of Debbie Tripp)

Monday in California

Lots and lots of stuff going on. Let me try to recap the day so far .... :)

Last week's workouts (Monday thru Sunday) :

Monday: Travel and rest.
Tuesday: 53 minutes on the stationery bike (Bally's, Pasadena) and 3.91-mile brisk walk (1:05.63, but includes stopping at intersections to wait for traffic here in Pasadena ... even at around midnight)
Wednesday: Nothing.
Thursday: 57 minutes on the stationery bike (Bally's, Pasadena).
Friday and Saturday: Nothing. Friday was a travel day.
Sunday: Hour on the treadmill and 40 minutes on the stationery bike (Bally's, The Woodlands). Good run that felt pretty good. 4.4 mph for 30 minutes, 4.6 and 4.8 mph for 10 minutes each and then took it from 5.0 mph to 6.0 mph in the next 10 minutes to close the run.

Ideally, since I actually like running on the treadmill these days, I really need to be running 5 hours a week on them to start dropping some weight. That's my target.

This coming weekend? Sunday is definitely the 3M Half Marathon in Austin and I'll definitely try to go as hard as I can to see where I stand. Not that it will help me at Rocky Raccoon 50-Miler the following Saturday, but just as an overall level of fitness. Not sure about Saturday though. Had a slight thought about trying the Endurathon 25K in Bulverde (north of San Antonio), but I may hang close to home and do Run The Woodlands 5K for fun.

Oh, today. The list goes like this:

1.) Talked to Bill this morning - while I was still on the plane in Houston - about an event that we're coordinating for October. When the course is approved and we have one company's primary involvement, we'll announce it. We think it's huge.

2.) Talked to Rick (yes, boys and girls, the blog is back) on the drive from LAX to Pasadena. Continuing to talk about things relating to me just being able to finish the 50-miler the next Saturday. We both agree with Bill's assessment that the first one is more mental than physical.

3.) I have an e-mail from Robby Sabban, the race director of the Seabrook Lucky Trails Marathon, that says that it looks like they may have as many as 54 finishers in the Texas Marathon Triple -- including one from Wisconsin and a couple from Oklahoma. 35 men and 19 women.

4.) Karen: The park is open to the public. (I think it is $4 to get into the park if you don't have a Parks pass.) I don't specifically see where there is an item related to 50-mile pacers; however, 44 of last year's 103 finishers will be where I expect to be: 12 hours and over. I don't think I'll be challenging for a top three finish. :)

5.) I have an e-mail from Lance Collins about a new marathon in Lamesa, Texas and asked if I know anything about it. I know a lot of things but hadn't heard what will be Texas' 15th marathon. It is on March 29th. Here's the link!

6.) Wrote my Conroe Courier column, which is set to appear in tomorrow's paper.

7.) Edited Waverly's report on the Texas Revolution. She did a pretty good job.

8.) E-mailed Cassie back about renting the second van.

Weekend Update ... So Far

I swore to myself that this weekend was going to be a slow one, but that concept always seems to get away from me. The bottom life is that I'm living life and trying to enjoy it and be happy as much as I possibly can. :)

Before I go on much further, I'll take the Packers and the Patriots in today's NFC and AFC Championship games. (I'll be in the gym while the first one is going on.)

I got (home close to 11 p.m.) in late Friday night from Los Angeles. I thought (yes, thought) about going to New Braunfels to do this 12-mile River Road Run race that I did fairly well at last year. However, the cold weather in conjunction with the potential ice on the drive over there, as well as the two bridges that you cross each way, kept me in bed until about 8:30 a.m.

Waverly and I had a late breakfast/early lunch and then made our way down to the Carl Lewis High School Invitational track meet at the University of Houston. I went primarily to watch the mile run and the 3000 meters; however, the talent - and dedication - displayed by young men and women is absolutely incredible to watch. (Read more about it here please.)

We saw good friends, John Sullivan, who reports for dyestat.com, and Russell Henderson, who probably replaces J Fred Duckett as one of the most knowledgeable men about high school track and field in the area. (The two worked countless track and field meets together before J Fred passed away this summer.)

Waverly got to see (and stand no less than 10 feet away of) University of Houston head track and field coach Leroy Burrell, who at one time was the fastest man on earth (holding the world record in the 100-meter dash), as well as one of the greatest athletes of all time, Carl Lewis.

We were in church this morning to hear our former pastor, Bro. John Gross, at North Park Baptist Church. (Our regular pastor, Bro. Tim Thompson, and his wife, Debbie, were on a missions trip to the Phillipines this week.) I'm trying to make more of a commitment to be in church on a more regular basis than what I have in the past. (I'm at two out of three weeks.)

Waverly attended Sunday School in the same Junior High class that I was once in - with the same teacher. How's that for time passing by? But he's the person I know who could realistically bring the story of Moses to life. :)

We're heading over to my parents here in a little bit to have lasagna before I head to the gym to workout (I hope) for a couple of hours.

And then it is back on a plane in the morning to LAX for work.

I'm going to try and get my schedule setup right so I can go and see the "Spirit of the Marathon" movie Thursday night. I work in Pasadena and the closest theatre that is showing it is in Alhambra, which is about five miles away. I know what Rick would do. He'd run to it and back. But wouldn't that be funny if that is what everybody did? :)

Funny, but it'd be a sweaty theatre.

I'll probably go and run the 3M Half Marathon in Austin on Sunday. I think I'm going to go over the night before - for once (Cassie won't believe it) and use some of my Marriott points to stay at the Renaissance, which is in walking distance from the start (and where the bus brings you back after the point-to-point race is over).

Montgomery County Triple Site Updated

The spring racing season is shaping up quite nicely for runners in Montgomery County and north Harris County. With that in mind, we've updated the Montgomery County Triple website:

http://www.montgomerycountytriple.blogspot.com

Bill and I are going to launch the Montgomery County Racing Series (we may even include an event that will be held in Tomball in late April) that will involve all of the events; however, it will not change the "original" Montgomery County Triple.

I'm also going to bring up with HARRA about re-establishing the Texas 10K Challenge in 2009. (I've already sent El Presidente an e-mail.)

I don't have time to make it happen in 2008. I just think it is impractical with the price of gas to expect people to drive all across the state to run 6.2 miles five or six times.

My strategy will be to carve the state into five or six zones and have a partner event in each zone. You have to run the event in your zone and a partner event in another zone, but then you can run any three additional 10Ks that are on certified courses.

Given that HARRA has the state's certifier, Tom McBrayer, in our sphere of influence, it would behoove HARRA to do anything but.

We can promote this all through Footprints in Inside Texas Running, which gives us statewide exposure.

And speaking of Ms. "El Presidente" (nice bib on Sunday), I'm certainly hoping that Anna stays on another year or more. I know tradition in the past has been that a president stays on two years; however, Anna has brought relative calm to things after her predecessor, Tom Stilwell, had to deal with an issue or two that had things pretty turbulent for awhile.

We still have to figure out how to sell HARRA beyond where we are today. (1,500 members and less than 1,000 households out of 91% of the runners - from Texas - who ran one of the affiliated events this weekend just doesn't cut it.) I don't have the answers, but I'm doing what I can through Footprints to put the organization and its clubs in the greatest spotlight possible.

We have two clubs - the Striders and Bayou City - that can turn out the vote and put in place whoever either club wanted to in the spot; however, that dissention isn't needed.

Anna has leaned and counted on people to help her make well-thought out decisions, but unfortunately, I think that we're No. 3 in the city as far as influence. No. 1, obviously, is the Chevron Houston Marathon. When the marathon can command the numbers that they did for the new Kickoff 5K, which is close to what the Bayou City Classic 10K is struggling to hang on to, that I think is evidence of their influence.

No. 2 is the Fit programs. Love them or not, they command a lot of attention. Everytime I see one of the groups out at any of the Fall Series races, I'm thankful because the programs have alternate distance events - not official races - for their folks that draw away from the races. Fort Bend Fit, of course, has to be the most supportive Fit program in town. Bay Area Fit turned out a slew of people for the 10-Miler and I think all of the Fit programs overall turnout was much better than what it has been the last couple of years.

There's my "brain drain" for the day. :) Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

RIP Ernie Holmes

No, Ernie Holmes isn't a runner; however, he, Dwight White, L.C. Greenwood and "Mean" Joe Greene made a living out of chasing quarterbacks - most notably, Roger Staubach.

The Associated Press, however, reported this morning the following (on chron.com):

LUMBERTON — Ernie Holmes, who won two Super Bowls as an anchor of Pittsburgh's famed Steel Curtain defense, has died in a car crash. He was 59.

A dispatcher with the Texas Department of Public Safety said Holmes, who played college football at Texas Southern, was driving alone Thursday night when his car left the roadway and rolled over several times near Lumberton, about 80 miles northeast of Houston.

The department said Friday that Holmes was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the car. He was pronounced dead at the scene, the DPS said.

Holmes, an ordained minister, lived on a ranch in Wiergate, Texas.

I still remember when and where I was when I found out that a boyhood idol of mine, Willie Stargell, of the Pittsburgh Pirates, passed away.

Life's too short. God called a good one home.

A week ago, I was having breakfast at the IHOP in The Woodlands (after leaving the chiropractor's office and before heading down to the Expo) and I read in the Conroe Courier that Maurice "Big Moe" Wright, who played for Conroe's basketball team when they went to the state title game (losing to Sean Gay and Madison) in 1985, has passed on in New Jersey.

Wright, who helped destroy my alma mater, Spring, was also a minister.

Texas Independence Relay Leg Strategy

On our team, we now have two votes for van switching! :)

As Mr. Quarles would say, "I'm cool with that."

If you follow the traditional 1-to-12 runner rotation in the first 36 legs, here is what the mile breakdown per runner is (not including the 1.53 miles all runners will run at the beginning and the end):

Van 1
Runner 1 = 13.47 miles
Runner 2 = 14.47 miles
Runner 3 = 19.42 miles
Runner 4 = 13.96 miles
Runner 5 = 9.33 miles
Runner 6 = 16.12 miles

Van 2
Runner 7 = 19.74 miles
Runner 8 = 14.07 miles
Runner 9 = 15.04 miles
Runner 10 = 16.57 miles
Runner 11 = 15.67 miles (Captain)
Runner 12 = 14.86 miles

The last four legs (37-40) are legs of 4.4, 6.45, 3.28 and 5.31.

The question becomes: Who do you give the last four legs to? Certainly runner No. 5 would get their choice of the longer legs and then I'd go with runners No. 1, No. 4 and No. 8.

If you have ten runners only where each runner runs 4 legs and you do them in order, here's the mileage breakdown:

Van 1
Runner 1 = 24.17 miles
Runner 2 = 20.4 miles
Runner 3 = 21.59 miles
Runner 4 = 19.91 miles
Runner 5 = 16.76 miles (Captain)

Van 2
Runner 6 = 20.7 miles
Runner 7 = 22.84 miles
Runner 8 = 19.18 miles
Runner 9 = 14.99 miles
Runner 10 = 21.6 miles

Here only runners No. 5, the captain, and No. 9 get a little short-changed in miles.

Just all a part of the puzzle! :)

Battling Bloggers of Texas Republic Team Update

I think all of our team members has access to the blog; however, we've started the e-mails going in earnest to get our plan down for the Texas Independence Relay.

We've lost two team members to injury -- Mr. Carey and Mr. Dykas. As I said in the e-mail, they're still a vital and inspirational part of the team. That puts us at 10 - for the moment.

Anticipating Mr. Carey's situation, I had been in touch with Dane Rauschenberg of Arlington, Virginia - a no-nonsense guy who regularly puts down sub-3:30 marathons (and is a Penn State grad). However, Dane will be going to work for Ragnar Relays and will be working a relay in Arizona that weekend.

Edwin and Cassie have an option in play (from our discussions this past weekend) and then I have another invitation that I extended before sending this morning's e-mail out to the team.

I told everyone that I'm going to be shooting for as early as starting time as possible. Those will be for a 10-minute per mile pace. I'd like to think that everybody is going to push a little (while having fun, of course), and if so, I think we equate to more of a 8:45-9 minute per pace. (Edwin, 7 min; Keith, David, Barbara, Jessica, Holden, in the 8 mins; Karen, in the upper 8 to low 9; Cassie, in the 9 min and Sarah and I in the upper 9-low 10 range.)

We have some that want to go over the night before and some that want to get there in the morning and run. (I'm of the latter group, of course.)

I have a van already rented with Hertz, and we'll, of course, have to get another one.

I have also reserved two rooms at the Springhill Suites near the Katy Mills Mall. (I'll probably be able to change this as we get closer and use my Marriott Rewards points so it will be free!)

Theoretically, Van 1 runs legs 1-6 (then drives on to where Highway 90 crosses under Interstate 10 east of Schulenburg and waits at the end of leg 12.) Van 2 runs legs 7-12.

After leg 12, Van 2 can drive from just east of Schulenburg 60 miles straight shot on the Interstate to the hotel -or- can go and eat in Columbus (as they'll be taking over after leg 18 in Altair.) At this time, Van 1 is running.

After leg 18, Van 1 drives on to the hotel (via this route), while Van 2 runs. Or they can go almost 30 miles east to Wallis and sleep at Brazos High School. (However, they can be between exchanges 18-22. I believe that this has to do with the night running and that a large number of teams should be in this area by then.)

Van 2 runs legs 18-24 and Van 1 drives from the hotel (or the high school) to Orchard (where leg 24 ends) to take over. That return trip is 22 miles - 30 minutes. Van 2 goes on to the hotel and then meets up to take over at the end of leg 30.

Couple of comments came up:

"I don't mind running extra legs if necessary." -- With a 12-member team, eight (8) runners have to run three (3) legs and four (4) have to run four (4) legs. [I haven't decided with a traditional, 6-leg by 6-leg rotation who will run the last four legs.]

"I vote that we do van switches so we can all get to know one another." -- Logistically, that could create some nightmares. But if somebody can kill the image of Freddy Krueger and show me how it would work, it is something to explore.

"Does anyone know if there is a showering facility somewhere in the middle or do we just wipe down with wet towels?" -- Towels for in the vans, and developing word awaits in regards to Brazos High School in Wallis.

The initial van assignments were these:

Van 1 - Quarles, Boone, Felicidario, Kelleher, Graybeal, (Carey)
Van 2 - Walk, Mondragon, Alexander, Smart, Choi, (Dykas)

However, they may change since Manny will be driving one van and I'll probably handle the other:

Van 1 (Legs 1-6, 13-18, 25-30) -- Mondragon
Van 2 (Legs 7-12, 19-24, 31-36) -- Walk

This is all part of the fun! :)

Sports quote of the day: "Most people don't realize that athletes are human beings, made of flesh and blood. You just don't wind them up like a toy, and expect them to never run down."

My February '08 TWRC Deer Tracks Race Report

I’m a journalist who just happens to run. I told Rocky Raccoon 25K/50K race director Paul Stone, who works for the Palestine Herald Press, a couple of years ago as I finished his event, “Not bad for a sportswriter, huh?” If my memory serves me correctly, it was also how I met Coach (Dan) Green at a Run The Woodlands 5K as a good media friend of mine, Scott Kaiser, had covered the Highlanders for years at both the Conroe Courier and the Houston Chronicle.

But at least, it has earned me some respect over the years with runners because I’m aware a little bit of what they go through to succeed. U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier Andrew Cook, from Flower Mound, who won Run Thru The Woods this past Thanksgiving and ran in the USA Half Marathon National Championship, said after I interviewed him for my Courier story that day, “It is good to see you with a number on.”

My very first running event came five years ago on Marathon Weekend. I weighed about 40 pounds more than I do right now, but I was wearing a 54 Large suit jacket and had pants with a waist of 44 inches. (They’re 46 Regular and 38 today.) I ran and walked the 4-Miler that day, but before the race, I went to visit a friend.

He was already known to everyone in track and field around the Southwest and in Texas, but I knew him as the Astros former public address announcer and a teacher at Houston’s Awty International School. When I covered private and parochial high school athletics in Texas, I met J Fred Duckett at their school’s basketball games. I think I befriended J Fred when I told him that I thought that the Astros did him wrong when they didn’t include him in the last regular season game at the Astrodome ceremonies, especially just to say “Jose Cruuuuuuuuuuz!” one last time in the grand building.

The next three years, it became an annual tradition, and as I crossed the finish line, I always had a spirited, personal identification. (It pays to know the people with a microphone in their hand!) Even when Waverly finished her half marathon two years ago, it was me that he picked up on not her. (My plan was for it to be the other way around.)

Before the start of the 2007 race, I listened for J Fred’s booming voice, but I didn’t hear it. I heard the same female voice that we heard this year. It was the same rah-rah baloney that you hear at Rockets games and a lot of other sporting events. A public address announcer’s job is to inform their audience, not to get them pumped up. When I crossed the finish line, I didn’t recognize J Fred’s voice there either. I double checked with Waverly (as she crossed with me) and she said that it wasn’t him.

When I got home, I e-mailed J Fred and he informed me that he had been fired by the marathon. A volunteer fired! The Astros and Rice basketball had led the way in those acts. (At least, we had still been blessed to hear J Fred’s voice at Rice football games and at area track meets.) However, the time to hear J Fred’s voice and enjoy his warmth and wealth of knowledge was drawing to a close and many didn’t know it. J Fred was battling leukemia.

And less than ten days after the 2007 marathon, J Fred’s wife, Baudine, had passed away at the age of 73. I was in Vancouver and couldn’t make her funeral. I saw J Fred, in what would prove to be the last time, at the Victor Lopez Bayou City Classic track meet. He would pass away on June 25th. His memorial service was so large that it was held in Autry Court where he called so many Owls basketball games.

When I registered for the marathon on the last day of “cheap” prices, July 31, I put in my request for a bib name, “RIP J Fred”. Shortly after that, I thought about signing up and raising money for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society on behalf of J Fred; however, I didn’t want to draw any attention to what I was doing (and I wasn’t sure that I could either.) I’m not one that asks for money very well.

As the Expo approached, I figured that given some challenges with the event that there would be no way that I would have been granted my original request. At the very end of packet pickup on Friday, I went to pick my bib number up and when the volunteer looked at, I had my first chance to explain why I was doing what I was doing: to honor J Fred.

Sometime during Saturday’s Expo, I remembered the microphone lying on the floor of my office next to Waverly’s karaoke machine. It dawned on me that I should carry it the entire race. Waverly helped me Saturday night to tape it up, and I carried it the entire way!

Oh, the race itself? It wasn’t my best time and it wasn’t my worst either. Altogether, I probably ran a little bit better 12 days earlier when I ran the Kingwood (Texas) Marathon, plus I walked around the Expo – ferreting out information – both days and the pounding on my lower back didn’t help. A little extra weight isn’t allowing me to bounce back as well as I did when I ran four marathons in five weeks in the spring of ’06 – two of which included my best and third-best marathons ever.

The biggest highlight on race day, even better than shaking President “41” Bush’s hand in the area of mile 19, was having Waverly run in with me all the way from the mile 23 Finish Line Sports water station. She worked there for about three hours on race morning after walking out with Bill Dwyer.

Thanks to Carol Steele and Dana-Sue Crews for a “pick me up” after mile 14 and before mile 24 as well as the moral support of Peter Manry of “Other Brother”, the DJ who plays music at the Huntsville Half and many of the HARRA Fall Series races, at mile markers 15 and 23. What a great guy who is a Christian as well.

I also saw Woodlands Fit director Rich Cooper before turning on to Shepherd, and was surprised to see Karen Felicidario’s husband, Mark, and daughter, Emma, at the mile 17 marker. I surmised that Karen was ahead of me and that they probably missed her. Right at that time, Bill had called Mark to recommend them going to mile marker 25. After they left, I shed my windshirt, and stopped to stretch a tightening lower left back (which I would repeat often).

Pressing Towards Rocky Raccoon 50-Miler

I'll have a Chevron Houston Marathon race report online sometime soon as my gun time was 5:21:07 and the chip time was 5:18:37.

If I spin this right, I could definitely frame finishing my 17th marathon in just over three years - not all quality - as a positive in this way:

December 2 -- Tucson Marathon -- 5:26:07 (without proper training)
January 1 -- Texas Marathon -- 5:22:19 (signed up the day before)
January 13 -- Chevron Houston Marathon -- 5:18:37

What does that mean? It means I have to run at least 30 more marathons dropping four minutes each to qualify for Boston (at 3:20!) I'm joking!

Honestly, I shot myself in "the feet" - as I did last year - by walking the Expo both days and networking, which is what I do best to earn the credibility from a media standpoint with runners all over the greater Houston area and beyond. Everyone may not like my opinions and I certainly got sabotaged late last year by a few of them (and who I no longer trust), but when

But more importantly, my weight is getting in the way.

My race was OK. You couldn't ask for better weather, and as much as I had been critical in the past of the Marathon (primarily based on price and the way it was being promoted), there isn't one thing that I could complain about even if I wanted to. [Somewhere after the Striders mile 21.5 water stop, and before you got to mile 22, I saw a policeman wave a car through in front of me. There went the closed course! But that isn't anything at all!]

I saw race director Brant Kotch after crossing the finish line and told him that I thought things went very well.

I was glad that my friends -- and especially my TIR teammates -- did well. (Not letting anyone out ... but Jessica Alexander, Dave Smart and Karen Felicidario all posted impressive marathon finishes.)

I took Monday off completely (a change of my evening plans); however, I did 50 situps this morning (as I have to start working on my core muscles), used the rubber tubing with handles to do 50 arm curls on each arm as well as doing four hamstring stretches on each leg with them - holding it for at least 30 seconds each time.

I'm a little concerned about Rocky Raccoon 50-Miler, but why not have a stretch goal - sort of like Sarah's half Ironman goal for last year - and never pursue it? (Honestly, there's a little bit of fright, but I'll work through it as I have the best support system in the world.)

Rick Cook has given me some pretty good advice regarding shoes, especially for the third 16 2/3-mile loop. Susan Rouse sent me a nice, encouraging note that said the following:

Well, you already know that the biggest thing is just desire. So you are good to go. Not having a time goal is good too.

A few other suggestions that you probably already know...

+ Start out really easy
+ Walk the hills
+ Use lots of Vaseline
+ Be careful what you eat. A lot of people have stomach troubles in ultras

I'm going to be out there cheering!

And I know that Bill - and Seven Hills Running Club - will be out there too!

More later!

Post-Race TWRC at Goose's Acre

This was a picture (and Dad has too much chin there again) taken by Russell Meyer at post-race The Woodlands Running Club celebration at Goose's Acre on Sunday evening at the Chevron Houston Marathon.

For a peek at all of the pictures, please click here!

Very Busy!

To those of you who check here regularly as to what is going on, I've been very, very busy.

It has just been an incredibly busy time for me. Workouts? I ran and rode the stationery bike last Thursday, Friday and Saturday (including on my birthday!)

Sunday, I was in church and then my parents took me out to eat at Pappasito's while my grandparents were still in town. I flew out to L.A. Sunday night and didn't do anything until Wednesday night when I ran 90 minutes on the treadmill before following it up with a 45-minute run on Thursday night.

I flew the "red eye" in Friday morning and went straight over to Terminal B to surprise Kim Hager, who was leaving on a Continental flight to Phoenix to get her Olympic Trials qualifying time tomorrow at the P. F. Chang's Rock 'N' Roll Marathon in Arizona.

The last two days have been spent at the Chevron Houston Marathon Expo. Doug Spence and I went out to eat at the Spaghetti Warehouse with Texas Indepedence Relay race directors Jay and Joy Hilscher and their son, Austin. We had a great time!

The one cool thing about tomorrow's Chevron Houston Marathon is that I'll have "RIP J Fred" on my white marathon bib and, of course, this is for the Marathon's former public address announcer, J Fred Duckett.

I had some friends told me that there was "no way" that I'd be given that. Well, for some reason, I was and I'll carry a microphone with me the entire race if I can to memorialize my good friend, J Fred Duckett. (There'll be some that will think that I'm with Channel 13 tomorrow. Don't worry. I won't show up on there. They'll be in to Sunday afternoon movies before I finish.)

If you're up late or early, have a great run on Sunday, if you're running!

Thursday Night Workout

Bally's - The Woodlands
50 minutes on the treadmill (35 minutes at 4.3 mph, then 15 minutes at 4.1 mph)
45 minutes on the stationery bike

+ Chewy granola bar before the workout (to tie my stomach over)
+ Orange juice after the workout, plus 20 oz. bottle of water
+ Two Tyson chicken patties and a can of green beans for dinner

Motivation

Nothing like bad race pictures to piss you off and realize that you can do better. Mind you, Karen Thibodeaux's pictures weren't bad at all. It is just that I looked bad in them. They are the worst that I've seen - next to a picture with Jim Braden before the Leadville Heavy Half in Colorado last July - of myself.

And, no, I'm not going to give you the link to go look at them either!

Well, and realizing that I should (and could) have caught somebody - a good friend, Becky Spaulding - that I know on Tuesday. She finished in 5:16:23 and I finished in 5:22:19. I let her go beyond the mile 22 mark and the last aid station on the way out to the turnaround at Tuesday's Texas Marathon.

The trip to Mississippi this weekend to log another state in half marathons is out. (It was aided by the fact that I needed to be in Jackson tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. to be at what I'm sure wasn't going to be a very large Expo.) The money that I would have spent in travel costs will be better applied elsewhere.

Specifically, it went into the $50 entry fee that I spent today for the February 1st Rocky Raccoon 50-Mile Endurance Trail Run. Yes, I'm in! I may get my ass handed back to me, but I've got the best friends in the world to call upon when I'll need them. (And both Karen and Bill said that they would log miles with me there, if needed.) But I've got to get ready for this as my own thing.

One of my other very good friends - and we've had a rough spot or two because we're probably so damn alike in different ways - Rick Cook finished in the same time as me three years ago at the Chevron Houston Marathon. (Oh, it was still hp then.) We're in the same finish line shot! But Rick has worked his ass off - and it showed in Kingwood on Tuesday - and will make us all proud in June when he finishes Western States 100 (or die trying). I need to get closer to where he's at and if I do that, that'll get Bill back in the game.

I've got 29 days to get ready for Rocky. It's 5:10 p.m. and I'm off to the gym.

After winning Run Thru The Woods on Thanksgiving Day, Flower Mound's Andrew Cook told me after I was done interviewing that it was "good to see that I had a number on". I can do better. There's no reason why I can't be a better runner, who also happens to be a journalist.

(I sent e-mail to Kelly Liljeblad and Brian Sell early this morning to get responses for the RunHouston Chronicle blog. Nothing in my e-mail as of yet.)

Book Buying

I hate to let a gift card or two .. or three ... sit around and burn a hole on the desk. So this afternoon, I was off to Barnes & Noble and Borders in The Woodlands to redeem them.

The potential opportunity was $87.01 at Barnes & Noble and $30 at Borders. The plan at Barnes & Noble was to get about five or six paperbacks - ranging in price from about $14 to $16.

After I had the prospects picked out (books by Lou Holtz, Mike Schmidt, Bill "Spaceman" Lee and a few others), I decided to go to plan "B" and get three hardbacks - those that I normall wouldn't buy with my own money - and a paperback. The selections were:

+ Breaker Boys: The NFL's Greatest Team and the Stolen 1925 Championship by David Fleming
+ Twelve Mighty Orphans by Jim Dent
+ Meat Market by Bruce Feldman
+ About Three Bricks Shy ... And The Load Filled Up by Roy Blount, Jr.

All four - ironically - are football books. The first is on the Pottsville (Pa.) Maroons - a story that I had read about in a book review and decided that I'd get. I'm really looking forward to reading this.

The Jim Dent book is about the football program at the Masonic Home School in Fort Worth in the 1930s and 1940s. Given that it is about Texas High School Football, and especially since the school has since closed, I thought that this will be a good read as well.

I heard "Meat Market" referenced during the USC vs. Illinois Rose Bowl game, and, of course, "About Three Bricks Shy ..." is about the 1973 Pittsburgh Steelers team that failed to reach the Super Bowl.

So with my Barnes & Noble discount, the total came to $82.05. Subtract a $27.01 in-store credit on a return book, a $25 gift certificate and another $35 gift certificate, I was left with $4.96 on the current card.

When Waverly and I went to Borders, I figured that I'd break the mold of the complete sports realm, especially when there was a "buy one paperback and get the next paperback half off" offer. So I got the following three books for a grand total of $1.38:

+ The Word Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century by Thomas L. Friedman
+ Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Coleman
+ 2003 The Best American Sports Writing edited by Buzz Bissinger

The latter came from the bargain rack, but the other two are current topic books that I probably need to be reading more of as I tack on another year on the age counter in a few days.

Texas Marathon, Kingwood, TX Race Report

J.D. said it best on his blog, "Jon Walk was also out running because he had nothing better to do. That's Jon..."

As I mentioned earlier, I was going to be out at the Texas Marathon regardless. It is just the place to be on New Year's Day if you're a runner here locally.

However, with the temperatures that we had yesterday, it was a no-brainer that I'd just go ahead and run it. It would have been silly not to. Right Bill?

Even though my finishing time was 5:22:21, I wasn't disappointed at all. I'll do my best to try and explain why.

Mile 1 -- 11:44.46
Mile 2 -- 10:49.20
Mile 3 -- 10:58.08
Mile 4 -- 10:22.66

(Ran the first four miles with Team In Training - The Woodlands coach Carol Steele. We really tried to keep things slow the first couple of miles. Carol reminded me early that I wasn't going at a 12-minute per mile pace. I told her that I knew and that I was trying to slow it down. Her husband, Don, was waiting for her at the 4-mile marker and I sort of headed off to do my own thing.)

Mile 5 -- 10:55.30
Mile 5-6.55 -- 16:25.98

(The first loop went down in 1:11:13.68 for 6.55 miles. Looking back, if I had maintained that, it would have been an almost PR of 4:45. However, I knew going in that I didn't quite have the miles underneath my legs or did I?)

Mile 7 -- 4:51.22

(Miles 6-7 went for a total of 21:17.20 or an average of 10:38.40. Even though this course is a dreaded four-looper, you do get to see everyone multiple times in that you get to encourage others and they encourage you.)

Mile 8 -- 10:30.70
Mile 9 -- 10:34.87
Mile 10 -- 12:14.62

(I really don't recall anything special about mile 10 to where I might have slowed down at any length, unless I took some extra time at both the water stop that occured right after mile 9 and the turnaround. Also the markers could have just been slighly off too.)

Mile 11 -- 10:49.34
Mile 12 -- 10:58.47
Mile 13 -- 11:33.86
Mile 13.1 -- 1:11.52 (2:23:58)

(I remember the left side of my back tightening up as well as the upper part of my left hamstring. When I flashed my bib number to the race officials and circled the orange cone, I then stopped and purposedly stretched while getting fluids. I know that Bill walked out with me and I remember saying to him that I had blown five minutes. Therefore, my mile 14 time (.9 miles of 12 minutes) may have been better - as far as pace went - because I ran it to keep the time to what it was.)

(Loop 1 was in 1:11:13.68. Loop 2 came in at 1:12:44.60. Bill made a comment about me being "Mr. Steady" at that point, and he actually was right.)

Mile 13.1-14 -- 12:00.35
Mile 15 -- 10:51.05
Mile 16 -- 12:39.34

(Somewhere where you could see the tee box and flag on the golf course, I got off the trail and relieved myself. I'm sure you really wanted to know that kind of detail. This might have been close to two years ago where Rick defecated on a Post Properties hat that he suggested might still be decomposing out there today.)

Mile 17 -- 12:23.47
Mile 18 -- 17:19.73

(Ah ... the vaunted "green can penalty". Yes, for the first time ever in a road race, I had to relieve myself. After I crossed the mile 17 marker on the backside of the loop around the lake, I started to wonder if the next aid station had a port-a-john. I thought to myself, "Certainly they did." They did. I had already resolved myself that I was going to have to walk until I found the next one. Yes, that's how bad it was. So I got some fluids while waiting for the two port-a-potties to become free, and then did my business. I noticed, while looking in the mirror, that I needed to begin taking some more fluids as I had salt begin to collect on my face.)

(At about this time, Rick, who really ran a nice marathon, passed me as I was headed to the mile 18 marker. He said something about "running him in". Ha! Yeah right. When I talked to him on the phone today, he said he did the last loop in like 8:45 per mile.)

Mile 19 -- 11:48.40
Mile 19-19.65 -- 9:28.95

(Loop 3 came in at 1:26:31.29. Without the delays, which I didn't separately time, I might not have been too far off my first two loops. If so, then even though running on the treadmill isn't helping with the pounding that you take on the roads, it may be helping the pacing a little bit.)

Mile 20 (to) -- 3:09.95
Mile 21 -- 12:02.35

(Mile 20 was 12:38.90 and mile 21 is what you see there. Not too bad at that part of the race, although I was starting to get a little gassed and I was looking forward to see the turnaround.)

Mile 22 -- 13:00.20

(In this mile, I saw the leader and I started to count the minutes that Andrew Perry - a good friend of Rick, Bill, Kim and myself (and others) - was behind and that I was going to try and communicate to him. However, I got past the mile 22 marker and through the aid station before he made it there. It was at least four minutes. Maybe even five.)

(Mile 22 was starting to hurt a little bit. At this point, I had 4:18 on my watch. I thought to myself that without the delays that I had a pretty respectable time for just going out and running it. I had a good friend, Becky Spaulding, in front of me that should have kept me motivated to push, but I just decided that I'd save my legs for Houston and that I'd get caught up on fluids and brisk walk it in.)

Mile 23 -- 15:50.71
Mile 24 -- 14:55.37
Mile 25 -- 14:52.22
Mile 26 -- 15:44.28
Last .2 -- 2:17.70

(I started to run it in once I hit the mile 26 marker. No more than 150 meters out, Bill decides he's going to run the rest of the way in with me. I chuckled. His new nickname, "Mr. 100 Meters"! I'm sure he'll make me pay at the TIR. We should bet something on the Captain's Leg at the TIR. That way he'll be ready by then. Actually, he and Karen have both said that they would help out on the third loop at Rocky Raccoon 50-Miler if I choose to do that the first weekend in February.)

It was marathon No. 16 for me - all since October 31, 2004. I should have more on the books since then; however, I've gotten off course a bit. 44 half marathons since November 1, 2003 isn't too bad in that same time frame. I've had a lot of fun and have earned the respect of many. The two of them make me happy.

I won't mention the person that sent me this e-mail, but the best part is saved for last. This is what I had in my e-mail yesterday afternoon:

"Anyway, for well over two hours we watched after the race winner came in, Waverly was diligently handing out finisher medals and monkeys to all of the participants. I don't think that she took a break the whole time we were there, and the runners sure appreciated her help and attention. That is so cool for a young volunteer, please pass on our thanks."

Yes, Dad's proud of her! (She's going to work the Finish Line Sports water stop at mile 23 and then run in the last 5K with me. Just like the first time two years ago at the Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans. I can assure you, regardless of what kind of day that I'm having, it'll be special.)

The two of us worked packet pickup before the race, and that's because we think Steve and Paula Boone are great people and I am now a member of the 50 States Marathon Club as I turned in my application and check on Tuesday!