2008 Results / Calendar

Please remember that the RunHouston Chronicle blog can be found here!

This is where I'll keep up with my results for the year as well as an upcoming calendar. I've decided to do some grading to my results to maybe keep me motivated to work on improving them. If I'm within 2.5% of my PR, I'll give myself an "A". Five percent? A "B" and so on. ("PD" = Pacing Duties)

My PR's are 28:17 (5K), 58:30 (10K), 2:09:58 (Half) and 4:47:32 (Marathon).

2008 Results
1/1 - Texas Marathon (Kingwood) - 5:22:19 (Marathon No. 16) "F"
1/13 - Chevron Houston Marathon - 5:18:37 (Marathon No. 17) "F"
1/26 - Run The Woodlands 5K (The Woodlands) - 30:50 "D"
1/27 - 3M Half Marathon (Austin) - 2:15:31 (Half Marathon No. 45) "B"
2/2 - Rocky Raccoon 50-Miler (Huntsville) - 13:46:21 "A+" Because I finished!
2/9 - Run The Woodlands 5K (The Woodlands) - 30:02.81 "B-"
2/17 - Run The Line Half Marathon (Texarkana) - 2:18:38 (Half Marathon No. 46) "C"
2/23 - Ramp Romp 17 5K (College Station) - 31:18.18 "N/A"
2/24 - Armadillo Dash Half Marathon (College Station) - 2:25:05 (Half Marathon No. 47) "D-"
3/1-2 - Texas Independence Relay (Gonzales to La Porte) - 31:42:36 "N/A"
3/9 - Seven Hills Running Club vs. The Woodlands Running Club 5K (Huntsville) - 37:09.88 "PD"
3/22 - Resurrection Run 5K (Houston) - 30:31.75 "C-"
3/30 - Austin American-Statesman Capital 10K (Austin) - 1:05:59 "F" (Wasn't racing; Ran with Michele Quintin)
4/5 - Eisenhower Half Marathon (Abilene, KS) - 2:20:10 (Half Marathon No. 48) "C-"
4/6 - Go! St. Louis Half Marathon (St. Louis, MO) - 2:27:00 (Half Marathon No. 49) "F"
4/17 - Rock Solid Run Solid Stampede 5K (Fort Worth, TX) - 31:01.42 "D"
4/18 - Run, Walk or Crawl 5K (Aledo, TX) - 30:49.59 "D+"
4/18 - Four-Alarm Chase 5K (Pilot Point, TX) - 32:33.92 "F"
4/19 - Rise and Shine 5K (Dallas, TX) - 30:50.49 "D+"
4/26 - Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon (Oklahoma City, OK) - 5:08:30 (Marathon No. 18) "C"
5/24 - Run The Woodlands #201 5K (The Woodlands, TX) - 30:39.79 "C-"
5/25 - Med-City Marathon (Rochester, MN) - 5:35:48 (Marathon No. 19) "F"
5/31 - David's Dream Run 5K (The Woodlands, TX) - 30:25.06 "C"
6/8 - Scott & White Community Wellness Half Marathon (Temple, TX) - 2:49:04 "F" (Half Marathon No. 50)
6/28 - Run The Woodlands #203 5K (The Woodlands, TX) - 30:53.16 "D"
7/4 - Stu's Country Mile 5K (Centerville, TX) - 34:01.38 "F" (Wasn't racing; Ran with Ken Johnson)
7/12 - Toughest 10K in Texas (Lampasas, TX) - 1:03:34.18 "F"
7/13 - 3rd annual Bat Run 5K (Austin, TX) - 30:56.88 "D"
7/19 - 30th annual Lunar Rendezvous Run 5K (Houston, TX) - 32:35.83 "F" (Wasn't racing; Ran with Sarah Graybeal)
7/26 - Run The Woodlands #205 5K (The Woodlands, TX) - 30:27.18 "C"
8/23 - Run The Woodlands #207 5K (The Woodlands, TX) - 31:15.95
8/24 - Hottest Half Marathon (Dallas, TX) - 2:43:07.45 "F" (Half Marathon No. 51)
8/30 - Nowhere 2 Run 10K (Milano, TX) - 1:05:44.60 "F"
8/31 - Nike Human Race 10K (Austin, TX) - 1:11:54.24 "F"
9/ 1 - The Woodlands Adventure Race (The Woodlands, TX)
9/ 7 - 11th annual Sioux Falls Half Marathon (Sioux Falls, SD) - 2:20:13.89 "C-" (Half Marathon No. 52)
9/20 - Country Roads 10K (San Marcos, TX) - 1:02:51.16
10/4 - West Texas CrossRoads Marathon (Odessa, TX) - DNF at Mile 23
10/18 - Marathon 2 Marathon (Alpine to Marathon, TX) - 6:07:30 "F" (Marathon No. 20)
10/25 - Stay on Track Fun Run 5K (Lufkin, TX) - 29:31.48 (Guessing course was short)
11/ 1 - Pearland Area Runner Club Monster Dash 5K (Pearland, TX) - 29:53.96
11/ 8 - Rocky Raccoon 25K (Huntsville, TX) - 3:23:51
11/16 - Rock 'N' Roll San Antonio Marathon (San Antonio, TX) - 5:45:17 "F" (Marathon No. 21)
11/22 - Super Cooper Heart Run 5K (Lafayette, LA) - 29:02.66
11/23 - 27th annual Ole Man River Half Marathon (New Orleans, LA) - 2:19:18.63 (Half Marathon No. 53)
11/28 - 4th annual City of Conroe Turkey Trot 5K (Conroe, TX) - 32:29.9 (3rd AG)
12/ 7 - Austin Runners Club Decker Half Marathon (Austin, TX) - 2:19:29 (Half Marathon No. 54)
12/13 - 3rd annual Willis Wildkat 5K (Willis, TX) - 28:45.14 (4th AG)
12/13 - 12th annual City of Livingston Jungle Bell Fun Run 5K (Livingston, TX) - 30:07.63
12/14 - Chevron Jingle Bell Run 5-Mile (Houston, TX) - 48:20.60 (Course was short; 4.76 miles)
12/21 - 21st annual American Bank Half Marathon (Corpus Christi, TX) - 2:21:06.36 (Half Marathon No. 55)

85 races of 13.1 miles or more (1 50-miler, 21 full, 55 half, 2 30K, 1 25K road, 3 25K trail, 1 15M, 1 50K)
21 marathons since October 31, 2004 (12 states)
55 half marathons since November 1, 2003 (23 states, 1 province)

2008 Miscellaneous Activities
4/12 - Davy Crockett Bear Chase, Groveton, TX (Public Address Announcing)
10/11 - Huntsville Half Marathon, Huntsville, TX (Finish Line P.A. Announcing)
10/26 - Moonlight Bike Ramble, Houston, TX (20 miles)
10/26 - Light The Night Walk, The Woodlands, TX (Start Line P.A. Announcing)
11/ 2 - Tour de Donut, Katy, TX (28 miles)
11/27 - Run Thru The Woods (Finish Line P.A. Announcing)

2008 Missed Races
3/16 - Germantown Half Marathon, Germantown, TN (Paid; Ugh!)

2008 Social Appearances
3/ 8 - Bayou City Classic 10K, Houston, TX
3/29 - Lone Star Distance Triathlon Festival, Galveston, TX (To watch Cassie's first triathlon)
4/26 - Texas Roundup 10K, Austin, TX
5/10 - Conroe Family YMCA Trail Run 5K, Conroe, TX
5/18 - Silverlake Sprint Triathlon, Pearland, TX (To watch Katy's first triathlon)
6/14 - Run The Woodlands 5K, The Woodlands, TX
8/ 9 - Kiwanis Kids Triathlon, The Woodlands, TX
8/17 - Ironbabe Sprint Triathlon, Houston, TX
8/29 - Friday Night Lights Invitational Cross Country Meet, The Woodlands, TX
9/27 - HARRA Cross Country Relay, Houston, TX
10/12 - United Space Alliance 10-Miler, Houston, TX (Rode the course)
10/26 - Koala / Luke's Locker Houston Half Marathon, Houston, TX (Rode and walked parts of the course)
11/ 9 - HMSA Classical 25K, Houston, TX (Rode the course)
11/15 - Ten For Texas, The Woodlands, TX (Worked water stop)
11/29 - Montgomery County Triple 5K, The Woodlands, TX (Co-race direct)
12/ 6 - Sunmart Texas Trail Endurance Runs 50M/50K, Huntsville, TX
12/14 - Lakes of Williams Ranch 30K, Sugar Land (Rode the course)

Busy December 31st

Even though Waverly and I made it in from Pennsylvania last evening and slept in this morning (being on vacation), I still got a lot done today.

I met with Dana-Susan Crews and Lauren Arnold with the City of Conroe at Carl Barton, Jr. Park to talk about the course for the Bill Crews Remission Run 5K to be held there on Saturday, January 31, 2009. Please give this event your utmost consideration. (Friends of the Running Community will be the bib sponsor for this race. I'm planning on ordering 400 bib numbers.)

I worked a little bit of packet pickup - maybe two hours - with Ron and Karen Berglund today in Kingwood for tomorrow's 10th annual Texas Marathon. I haven't had the luxury of spending that much time with Ron and Karen and enjoyed working with them immensely. In about 9 hours, we'll be out there on the same course having a blast as we kick off the New Year running.

I stopped by my sister and brother-in-law's house to give a Penn State t-shirt to each of my nieces from my trip to see my grandparents in Pennsylvania the last few days.

I registered for the 3M Half Marathon - the price goes up from $64.99 tomorrow - on Sunday, January 25.

I received an e-mail from my good friend from the Philadelphia area, Rob Jones, stating that he is back running again and may be down for the Rocky Raccoon 50. (Its been 8 years since he's run a race down here. I really credit Rob for inspiring me to start this crazy adventure that I've been on.)

I will probably be going to Jackson, Mississippi on Friday - not for work - but to run the half on Saturday of the Mississippi Blues Marathon. Yes, I know. I'm crazy.

Nonetheless, Happy New Year!

TIR 2009 Battling Bloggers of the Texas Republic

Please check out the new TIR team blog at http://battlingbloggers.blogspot.com/.

Probable
Joe Carey* (Paid $66.66, as of 3/24/08)
Holden Choi* (Paid $66.66, as of 3/31/08)
Karen Felicidario* (Paid $66.66, as of 3/24/08)
Sarah Graybeal* (Paid $66.66, as of 3/24/08)
Keith Kelleher*
Katy Lampson* (Paid $66.66, updated 6/6/08)
Adrienne Langelier*
Cassie Mondragon* (Paid $66.66, as of 3/24/08)
Edwin Quarles* (Paid $66.66, as of 4/4/08)
David Smart* (Paid $66.66, as of 3/17/08)
Tommy Stunz*
Jon Walk* (Paid the $800 entry fee!)

Mr. Quarles has a $51.89 credit and Mrs. Lampson has an $18.56 credit.

(Note: There is no requirement to pay early; but if it looks like you can't do the event, then try and let me know ASAP as well as identifying a suitable replacement.)

Definitely Interested / "Count Me In"
Jessica Alexander (TIR '08 refund processed and received)
Barbara Boone (TIR '08 refund processed and received)
Erin Foley
Christy Gonzales
Manny Mondragon (Paid $66.66 as of 3/24/08)
Becky Spaulding (Paid $75.00, updated 6/6/08)
Norman Langwell
Ken Johnson (Paid $75.00, updated 6/6/08)
John Maloney (Paid $75.00, updated recently)
Jeremy Webb
Gary Kunkel
Jill Boston (Tentative)

(Note: There'll be no requirement to pay until a second team has been fully developed.)

Injured Reserve
Nick Bellnoski
Niki Bellnoski (Has to work at Luke's in Katy on race weekend)

Tentative
Jakeb Stunz (As his father said, he's 15 - a year away is an eternity!)

Alternate
James David Dykas (Can't commit until after Disney '09; TIR '08 refund processed)

2009 Texas Marathon Numbers

We're just a little more than a day away from the 10th annual Texas Marathon in Kingwood on Thursday morning. The latest glance at the event website reveals the following numbers:

438 total entrants
303 marathon
135 half marathon

48 will be attempting their first marathon
43 are members of the 50 States Marathon Club, including the 50 States Marathon Club's newsletter editor Lois Berkowitz (maybe Bill and I can get our picture taken with her)
28 states, including Texas, will be represented
4 foreigners - 3 from Canada and 1 from Germany

More later! (We're in Philly waiting for our flight back to Houston!)

Penn State Campus Shots from Saturday

Waverly by the Lion Shrine

Beaver Stadium. On game day, it is the fourth largest city in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

How many other college head football coaches have their name on one of the school's libraries?

Waverly by the Paterno Statue.

We're Here: You've Got A Friend in Pennsylvania

Staying near Valley Forge this evening (well, make that morning Eastern time) and will be in Tyrone - my hometown - by noon, I hope.

Christmas Day Bike Ride - 15.71 Miles

Woo hoo! Two days in a row!

Well, I won't be able to do any in Pennsylvania the next five days, but I plan to get some biking done on New Year's Eve -- and maybe squeezing in a race that day.

My route today was 15.71 miles that took 65 minutes, which included two stops at intersections near I-45 (Holzwarth and 2920). That equates to 14.5 mph, but it was a leisurely ride that spanned from Steubner Airline at its farthest point west all the way back to Hardy Road on the east.

Waverly and I are currently sitting (6:40 p.m.) at IAH waiting to go to Philadelphia tonight.

My grandparents still don't know we're coming!

Christmas Eve Pictures

My cousin, Matthew Shoemaker, and his fiance, Brooke.

My parents, Nancy and Will Walk

My two nieces, Haylee and Hunter Munsinger, and Waverly

Christmas Eve Bike Ride

Between when Waverly left to go with her Mom to see her grandparents and when she got back, I decided to get in a bike ride since I hadn't done any physical activity since Sunday.

I got three (3) loops of 4.02 miles in our subdivision, Hannover Forest. The route is here.

I don't have a bike computer. I'll probably break down one day and get one. But until then, I do this the old fashion way - with my running watch!

Loop 1 -- 16:10.07 (4.02 miles - 14.9 mph)
Loop 2 -- 15:30.75 (4.02 miles - 15.5 mph)
Loop 3 -- 16:39.32 (4.02 miles - 14.5 mph)

Total -- 48:20.14 (12.06 miles - 14.97 mph)

This includes stopping at stop signs when there were others around and slowing down at other times when I needed to. Otherwise, I did try to push a little bit in the middle loop.

Twas the afternoon before Christmas ....

Just seven short hours before she found out that she'll be flying this evening to Pennsylvania to surprise my grandparents for Christmas.

More Craziness: Saturday Night Music, Sunday Morning Ride

I took a nap yesterday afternoon so I could make the drive last evening from Corpus to McCoy.

For a long time, the only thing McCoy I could tell you would have been the "Hatfields and the McCoys" and Neal McCoy, the country singer from Jacksonville, Texas.

But McCoy, Texas is the home of the Wildcat Grill & Saloon - and it is where my good friend Rodney Hayden was recording a live acoustic album (or CD, in reality) last evening.

I got there right at 8 p.m., saw Rodney, talked a little bit with Jason Allen (who could pass for Vince Gill), met Rodney's dad, Richard, and sat with him, Rodney's sister, Rodney's wife and other folks that they know. (Their hometown of Pleasanton is not too far from McCoy.)

A local band from Pleasanton - the Most Wanted Band - played for about an hour or so. They were pretty good. They feature a chiropractor (Dr. Jimmy Zuniga), a county judge (Joe Vickers), the newly elected county commissioner and two other members.

They were followed up by Hallyanna Finley - a college-aged girl from San Marcos - who had a pretty good voice, but didn't seem to be able to win over the crowd that was there probably more to just hang out on a Saturday night than even to see Rodney. Plus the Cowboys collapse was in the making on the big screen TV while she played.

Then Rodney played for a little more than an hour. He wasn't at the top of his game I don't think. They had some equipment issues. His guitar was popping and he had to use Finley's for the entire set. I had to leave at about 12:30 a.m., but he was playing his next to last song - the song that he wrote about his Mom who passed away last fall - as I was headed for the truck.

I drove back to Corpus, through some thick fog, and got in to bed at about 2:30 a.m. There are times where I'm really glad that I don't drink.

I was up at 7 a.m. and on my way back to downtown Corpus Christi, close to where we started the half marathon yesterday to get in a bike ride.

It was a little bit of a tour of Corpus. I thought that I might be able to go up the shoreline to the north, but you couldn't go any farther north than the Harbor Bridge. Then I just started to go where the road was as good as I could find and the traffic was light.

I would rate Corpus as a bike-friendly town. Wide streets. And on a Sunday morning, it is great because pretty much everyone is still asleep. I suspect that this is because - and I don't like to stereotype - the area is predominantly Catholic with its Hispanic population and many attend Saturday evening Mass. I went by a number of churches and there just wasn't a lot of activity for early morning Sunday services anywhere.

I started at 7:43 a.m. and by the time 9:18 a.m. rolled up on my watch, I couldn't have been happier to see my truck.

I was heading south on Ocean Drive and an hour had just passed. The wind coming in from the Gulf was getting pretty strong. I thought about going as far as I could - all the way towards the Naval Air Station - and then turning back around. I went for about five minutes and then made an executive decision to head back towards where the truck was.

It was a pain in the butt figuratively to get back without getting blown off my bike. The winds were that strong! Most of the time a crosswind, but sometimes a headwind.

The headwinds didn't bother me so much, but the gusty crosswinds started to blow the bike over. I tried once to find a parallel street where the houses could break some of the wind, but that didn't work too well.

So the last four miles that I ran in yesterday's half marathon might have been tougher biking it today because of fighting the gusty winds.

I'd guess that I did 13-14 in the first hour. I don't know that I was working as hard as I did when I did the Tour de Donut with Manny and Cassie, but I wasn't sloughing off either. The last half hour, I probably was lucky to have covered 5 miles with all of the winds.

Oh, and the temperature was 57 degrees when I started and had dipped to 51 degrees when I got back. Nice. Glad I had brought a pair of gloves with me or there wouldn't have been any ride whatsoever.

So it looks as I might now do the Guaranty Tour de Houston (70 miles) on Sunday, March 22 and The Space Race (80 miles) two weeks later on Sunday, April 5 -- which is two weeks before MS150.

There you have it. Back from breakfast, need to get a shower and head north back to Houston. Two days in Jackson, fly home Wednesday morning and start a vacation until Monday, January 5th.

21st American Bank Half Marathon Race Report

This was one of those races that Bill Dwyer would like -- and run!

It was put on by the Corpus Christi Road Runners, whose biggest endeavor every year is the incredibly popular Beach to Bay Marathon Relay. And it was very simply done, which isn't a bad thing at all.

The race starts in front of the corporate headquarters of American Bank and basically goes 6.55 miles down Shoreline Boulevard to the north and back. As simple as it gets. You either run on sidewalks or on the wide asphalt shoulder of Shoreline. For those of you who have done Beach To Bay, it is parts of legs 5 and 6.

The finish of Beach To Bay is at Cole Park, which sits in between mile 11 and 12.

My only complaint about this race is that the first two water stations could have been between mile markers 2 and 11 and 4 and 9. On the way back, as I was trying to target 10:30 per mile, I bypassed the water stop before mile 9 to be able to post a decent split.

I know that water stops are setup to where they are the most convenient for volunteers, but that is my only gripe. And for a $25 entry fee for a half marathon ($20 if you did it early), you can NOT beat this at all. But, Huntsville comes very, very close. :)

How did I handicap myself today? Well, I ran an hour on the treadmill Friday afternoon from 4:45 to 5:45 p.m. after not doing anything all week - to spend a little time with Waverly before vanishing out of town for the weekend - and then, of course, there was the four hour drive last evening and not getting to sleep until 1 a.m. or so. Start time was 7 a.m.

Weather conditions were high 60's and humid with a cool breeze when we started. The humidity stayed as did the breeze through most of the first 9 miles, but the sun didn't come out until after we finished. The truck theromometer read 78 when I put in a post-race call to Bill.

Here are the splits:

Mile 1 -- 10:11.91
Mile 2 -- 10:37.32 (20:49.23)

Unfortunately, the negative thinking started to kick in, "This is going to be a long day."

Mile 3 -- 10:41.04 (31:30.27 - included taking on water)
Mile 4 -- 10:41.11 (42:11.38)
Mile 5 -- 10:52.64 (53:04.02 - included taking on water)
Mile 6 -- 10:14.28 (1:03:18.30)

Not sure where the last mile came from because I'm assuming that the course was laid out by veteran measurer Clent Mericle.

Halfway -- 6:21.28 (1:09:39.58)
Mile 7 -- 5:00.76 (11:22.04 - 1:14:40.34)

Before I started the race, Bill tried to give me a mental target of 2:17. The weather conditions - nor my training (what training?!) - weren't set up for a 2:17 today. I was more thinking along the lines that the 6 yesterday afternoon and the half today might be more like Rocky 50 training.

Nonetheless, I did the math based on 10:30 miles. At 7 miles, it would be 1:13:30 - therefore, I was 70 seconds over.

Mile 8 -- 10:39.62 (1:25:19.96 - 79 seconds over)
Mile 9 -- 10:31.54 (1:35:51.50 - 81 seconds over)
Mile 10 -- 10:53.04 (1:46:44.54 - 104 seconds over)

Well, given that I could hold it at mile 10, I knew that 2:17-anything wasn't going to be in the cards.

Mile 11 -- 11:19.67 (1:58:04.21)

I'm thinking to myself, "Ok, maybe I should have stopped to taken the fluid replacement."

Mile 12 -- 11:19.25 (2:09:23.46 - took on water here)
Mile 13 -- 10:54.07 (2:20:17.53)
Last .1 -- 48.83 (2:21:06.36)

I think the better effort came in mile 13 instead of the last tenth of a mile. For a half, I rarely drop anything less than 54 seconds in the last tenth of a mile.

1:09:39.58 on the front half. 1:11:26.78 on the back half. Not too shabby there.

There you have it. Career half marathon no. 55 is in the books!

Oh, I ran the first marathon in Texas in 2008 and the last half marathon in Texas in 2008. There has to be a prize for that right? Wait, maybe I - and now you - are the only ones that know those two events go together that way. :)

Notes -- My last four half marathons in order -- 2:20:13 (SD, Sep.); 2:19:18 (LA, Nov.); 2:19:29 (TX, Dec.); 2:21:06 (TX, Dec.) It was my 18th best out of 55. And it was my 11th half this year to go with six marathon finishes and a 50-Miler. Not a bad year and I will NOT be able to squeeze another one in in 2008.

Rule of Thumb Regarding Sellouts

I received an e-mail with the following subject line: "USA Fit Marathon & Half Marathon - 95% Full".

I don't believe any race that states this unless I can see an online confirmation database and that I can fully query it.

There's so much marketing hype in our sport(s) right now, it is flat out silly.

It is why I like races like the Texas Marathon in Kingwood on New Year's Day, any of Joe Prusaitis' trail races, such as Rocky Raccoon 50M/100M, and the like. They're transparent.

Seen on Politico.com: Funny, but Wrong

12th annual City of Livingston Jingle Bell Run 5K Race Report

After the 3rd annual Willis Wildkat 5K, I drove back to the house in Spring to get a shower, change clothes and begin the journey to Livingston for the 1 p.m. 5K there.

I drove north to Conroe to Loop 336, took 105 over to Cleveland, got on Highway 59 and continued north until we reached the Highway 190 exit to Livingston. Ken Johnson had told me earlier in the morning that the downtown square would be easy to find, and for the most part it was.

I navigated around the downtown Christmas festival that they were having until we found what would be a suitable place to park to keep from being boxed in from any of the town’s post-race activities.

Registration was really, really simple for the 12th annual City of Livingston Jingle Bell Run 5K. It was simply sign your name and address to a sheet of paper (so that they could mail you a flyer in future years) and you were handed a small envelope with two sheets of paper with race instructions, a colored sticker (5K runners had yellow) and a wrist bracelet with real little jingle bells.

I’m certainly one of – and for - good cheer, but the bells were not race day equipment.

The course was two loops. The first one, which included an extra city block to circle, was a little longer than the second one.

Shortly after getting registered and returning from the truck, I saw fellow Seven Hills Running Club member Jan Parks of Point Blank. This was her first race after foot surgery.

A few minutes later, I saw that Ken had finally made it as well as another Seven Hills member Don Ortloff, who I’ve only met a couple of times.

The race would start in the middle of a city street. We would head west to begin and basically follow a course that was a west-to-east rectangle. (I guess you could say east-to-west too.)

The course was a little hilly. I’m not sure which course was tougher: Willis or Livingston. I think Ken said that he thought Livingston was, but I’m not sure myself. I do know that the Livingston course was definitely right on and in fact, it could have been slightly long. When I mapped it at mapmyrun.com, it came out to be 3.11 miles.

I ran OK. I did the same thing that I did in Willis. I tried to run the entire race at a quicker pace than what my cardio was letting me. It was like running a 5K in a series of 800-meter intervals with short recoveries in between. It was primarily good, but a little frustrating.

My finishing time was 30:07.63. (I think I left the two loop splits at home in Houston – as I finish this up in the office in Jackson.)

It had to be a first that I was the first finisher at a race where there was more than just two Seven Hills Running Club members! (When Jan gets completely healed, she’ll be back finishing ahead of me.)

Waverly and I socialized a little bit with Ken and Jan and it was time to head south. I had needed to get the two back tires replaced on my Ford F150 and when we stopped to take a look at an old school building along the main drag in Livingston, I received my final reminder notice.

The back right tire was starting to go flat.

There was a tire store across the street, but they closed at 2 p.m. and it was 2:13 p.m. I remembered that there was a Wal-Mart near Highway 59 and Highway 190 so I made it there without any problems.

As the service writer worked up my order, he said that he didn’t have any tires in stock. Uh oh.

He said that there was a Tiremax along the feeder road of Highway 59.

We made it there and luckily they had what I needed in stock (or I might still have been there.)

Waverly and I went to get a bite to eat for lunch. We had planned to get something a little bit nicer than fast food, but those plans changed.

Once we made it back, the truck was done and we were off to Finish Strong Sports on Washington Avenue in Houston near Memorial Park to register for the Jingle Bell Run.

There I saw the Striders’ Nancy Drago, who was doing work for Run Far and making sure entries got in to the chip timing database OK, and Finish Strong’s Raymond Cooper, but really didn’t have an opportunity to talk or visit too much.

We were both pretty tired and looking forward to the Lakes of Williams Ranch 30K.

TIR Teammates This Weekend

Ken Johnson after the Willis Wildkat 5K

Norman Langwell at the Lakes of Williams Ranch 30K

Holden Choi at the Lakes of Williams Ranch 30K

25th anniversary Chevron Jingle Bell Run Race Report

The one person that I knew I would see there was retired 30-year Chevron employee - and TWRC member - Mike Mendeck. Mike didn't disappoint and ran well.

It is always, but delightfully so, interesting to account for who I saw out there while running or milling around before hand. The roll call went like this:

+ Finish Line Sports' Walt Yarrow
+ Al Lawrence Running Club's Lisa Tilton-McCarthy
(Second Sunday in a row that I've seen the two of them)
+ James Spencer of the Seven Hills Running Club
+ Chevron Houston Marathon race director Brant Kotch
+ Houston Dynamo president Oliver Luck (who I remember more for the Oilers and West Virginia University)
+ One of Kim Hager's triatheltes, Chris Gause and her husband.
+ All of the Bayou City Road Runners who were volunteering for the event.
+ Talked to Knox Junior High speedster Emily Jensen, who was second at Ten For Texas. She'll run at College Park HS next year. Wow!
+ TWRC member Kristin Collins and her McCullough Junior High girls cross country team.
+ Cheered on Peggy Yetman as she was kicking all of the women's rear end - and a lot of the guys too.
+ Lea Carruthers and Stacy Holden - two excellent female runners in the greater Houston area. I'd probably put Lea in the top 5 with Heidy (because of her long distance work), Yetman and Andrea Bookout.

Now on to the race, which I was given a heads-up early this morning that the course was probably going to be short. BCRR president Eddie Rodriguez told me that they had to move the course over one street and that it would probably affect the distance. He said, at a minimum, that the mile markers were probably going to be off. Yep, they were.

The Jingle Bell Run is one of those races where people run for the only time all year and put their tennis shoes away. Therefore, lining up according to your pace isn't a novel concept. I moved up farther than I normally do and ended up being just fine.

So how much do I think the course was off? Maybe a quarter of a mile.

Here's what I mapped out on MapMyRun.com:
http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/tx/houston/731513497636

I came up with 4.76 miles, but I really kind of ran this one for fun anyway. I really had hoped Waverly had gotten herself in a position to have done this race so I could have done it with her.

Even though my time wasn't so hot, 48:28.60, I was OK with things (but I would have been happier if that had been a 5-mile time.)

My weekend went like this:
1.) Friday night treadmill for an hour.
2.) Drive from Spring to Willis for Willis Wildkat 5K.
3.) Drive from Willis back to Spring to shower.
4.) Drive from Spring to Livingston for the City of Livingston Jingle Bell Run.
5.) Drive from Livingston - after putting on two new tires there on the back of my truck - to Finish Strong Sports to register for the downtown Houston JBR.
6.) Drive from Finish Strong Sports home.
7.) Drive Sunday morning from Spring to Sugar Land.
8.) Work the 30K by riding my bike on the course for two hours.
9.) Stopped and had lunch at 12:15 p.m. at Double Dave's Pizza across Highway 59 from Lakewood Church (didn't seem to affect me much).
10.) Ran the Jingle Bell Run downtown and drove home.

My mile splits were like this:

Mile 1 -- 9:41.98
Mile 2 -- 9:57.94
Mile 3 -- 7:59.30
Mile 4 -- 10:52.51
Mile 5 -- 9:56.97
Overall -- 48:20.60

My cadence has improved, but it is pushing me a little bit and tiring me out on the short stuff. All in all, it was a good run for me.

My third Chevron Jingle Bell Run is in the books. :)

Lakes of Williams Ranch 30K Leading Women

#1 Heidy Lozano - 10th consecutive HARRA Fall Series overall or masters win (Will run the marathon at Houston.)

#2 Adrienne Langelier - 2008 winner of the Surfside Beach Marathon and two-time defending champion of the Huntsville Half Marathon. Earned the Chevron Houston Marathon local invited runner spot and will run the marathon there.

#4 Jessica Armenteros-Word - Met the qualifying standard. (Ran the Rock 'N' Roll San Antonio Half Marathon.)

#5 Jen Brown - 2008 winner of the Marathon 2 Marathon Half Marathon

#6 Michelle Friedman - 2007 winner of the Mardi Gras Marathon

3rd annual Wills Wildkat 5K Race Report

This race (the Willis Wildkat 5K) is put on by a really great guy, Willis High School cross country coach Dana Fossmo, and it supports the Willis High School cross country program.

I've made it out each of the three years now that it has been run. The first two years, the race started and finished at the Anchorage Marina in Willis. The race was originally scheduled to start there this year (now renamed the Palm Marina), but within the last month there was a change in location to the Stow-A-Way Marina. It seemed like we were closer to New Waverly than Willis.

I signed up on Monday, after I wrote about the race in my column in Tuesday's paper.

Waverly went with me and I took my road bike with me to ride a little bit before and after the race. I probably didn't help my chances much last night by running an hour on the treadmill, but I was behind in physical activity during week. However, I felt pretty good as I got started. Plus the 15 minutes of biking out around Lake Conroe before the race didn't seem to hurt me at all.

We started at the front of the C0rinthian Point subdivision and ran the entire race within its confines. Nice, tough course. Really, really nice weather. I wore a short sleeve shirt, but ran with my gloves on the entire time.

I'm trying to map the course because Fossmo said that it was like 3.05 miles. We crossed the main road and made a loop at one point; however, I can't see it on the Google Maps at all.

I ran a pretty good race - nailed every single tangent where I could and passed a few people doing so - with a time of 28:45.14. If it was .05 of a mile short, then my time would be in the 29:10-29:15 range which is still pretty decent for me right now.

Early in the race, I thought I was running a little bit of the course from last Sunday at the ARC Decker Half Marathon in Austin. Ugh!

Ken Johnson (33:57) and True Cousins (34:40) from the Seven Hills Running Club were there and the Mazones - Jacob (16:17), Joseph (16:28) and Ben (18:33) - represented The Woodlands Running Club.

On the way north, and before I got off at an exit to get something in my stomach, there was an Explorer-type vehicle that had a 140.6 sticker on it that I passed on I-45 North before I got to the College Park Road exit.

After I went by it, the vehicle tried to speed up to stay with me. I thought to myself that it was a little odd. I let the vehicle and its driver pass me, but I ended up passing it again on the left. I asked Waverly if she recognized who it was and she said that she didn't.

There was a little bit of jockeying, like a race, for awhile, but nothing dangerous. At one point, the vehicle tried to let me in, but I'm having problems with a turn signal light and I wasn't sure that they'd see me trying to signal (if it wasn't working). Therefore, I let them go on.

I recognized an attractive woman wearing a Lonestar Multisports singlet on, but I didn't know who they were at all. If they're attractive, that's an almost guarantee that I can't keep up with them ... :)

After the race, and after I got in a little bit more of a ride while the kids race was going on, she introduced herself as fellow TWRC member Dr. Kristi Chandler. It turned out that she was the driver coming up the freeway because she asked if I lived in The Woodlands - largely because of the TWRC window decal that I have on my truck!

We talked for a bit and it turns out that her sister, Kellie Anderson, (or maybe sister-in-law ... but there was a resemblance), who she ran the entire race with, is the daughter of the owners of the Marina that we were running at! However, Kristi said that she wouldn't have known about the race unless it was in "Deer Tracks". (Bill: Kristi ran 25:31.)

Of course, Coach Fossmo feted me twice - once at the start and once at the awards ceremony for being with The Courier. I had one of the best triathletes in Montgomery County walk up and introduce himself - 59-year-old Michael Dwyer. He only finished in 19:14!

He told me that next year, of course, he is "aging up" and will look to one of three Half Ironmans - St. Croix, Virgin Islands, Kona or Buffalo Springs - to try and qualify for a spot at Kona in October. It will be fun to see if he makes it! It's awful flattering for people to walk up and introduce themselves like that, especially when they are such talented athletes.

Waverly and I left right about 10 a.m. so we could drive back to Spring, shower, and make the trek to Livingston.

Five Favorite Sunmart 50M/50K Pictures

Niki Bellnoski had a big smile on her face as she was getting ready to barrel down the path to finish her second Sunmart 50-Miler. I also knew that Ken Johnson had just gone by me and it hadn't been his best Sunmart 50K. I told her a little strong as she approached to "go by Ken easy". I specifically had in mind the leg 23 passing during TIR with me and Bill and she handled it -- the exact same way. Great job!

I knew she was out there, but I hadn't seen her all day long. Who is "she" and "her"? Runner's World columnist Kristin Armstrong. Yes, Lance's ex. And just when I spotted her bib number, she was running right past me and where I was standing. Running with her was Nancy Allen from Austin.

Ironically, Jim Braden knows the Armstrongs as he and Karen (his wife), I believe, did a lot of work for Lance's Foundation over the years. This is a great picture of Jim that is almost like the Uncle Sam military recruiting posters.

The first of two stud runners. Donna Paliska from Kentucky via Norristown, Pennsylvania. I learned before the race after Evan Guy introduced me to her coach, Gary Brimmer, that she was a Penn Stater. Guess what I was wearing? A Penn State sweater!

She ran in the Foot Locker national championships twice -- both times finishing one spot above 2008 U.S. Olympian Amy Yoder (Begley) and she is still in the all-time Top 10 high school times in the 10,000 meters. On this date, she jumped from the 50K to the 50M because of ....

... Wendy Terris, who won the Sunmart 50K for the second straight year. What is incredible about this picture - besides the fact that she ran in the Olympic Trials in April on a Sunday and than ran Boston in 3:02 or 3:03 the next day - is the shape that she is in. Rock-solid abs and the muscle tone in the legs are incredibly impressive.

I'm an ISFJ and What It Means?

Does this sound like anybody you know?

The dominant quality in their lives is an abiding respect and sense of personal responsibility for doing what needs to be done in the here-and-now. Actions that are of practical help to others are of particular importance to ISFJs. Their realism, organizing abilities, and command of the facts lead to their thorough attention in completing tasks. ISFJs bring an aura of great warmth, caring and dependability to all that they do; they take their work seriously and believe others should do so as well.

Usually I scoff at personality tests, except when they probably nail me to a T.

The “I” stands for Introvert and it represents how I get my energy. Meaning I don’t get it from having to be around and feeding off of other people. (There were ten questions and all ten of them were in the “I” category!)

The “S” is for Sensing and it is how I take in information as opposed to being Intuitive, which would have been an “N”. (This was the second strongest where the questions lined up 15 for the “S” and 5 for the “N”.)

The next two weren’t so widespread, but enough to be significant, I guess.

The “F” is for Feeling as opposed to “T” for Thinking in how we make decisions. That kind of surprised me. As did the “J” versus the “P” for Judging and Perceiving.

I would have thought that I fit this question better: “Are you objective, impersonal, interested in goals and ideas (Thinker)?” But it says that I lean more this way: “Or are you more friendly, personal, interested in others, and are comfortable with deep emotions (Feeler)?” Now that you put it *that* way, perhaps I would agree.

Here’s the “J” and “P” questions: “Are you organized, work-comes-first, decisive person (Judger)?” or “Or are you an adaptable, spontaneous person who prefers to explore the possibilities (Perceiver)?” I guess I think that I’m a little of both, but the “Judger” makes more sense of who I am.

So the Meyer-Briggs system pegged me.

If you know of any of this, the other managers are ESFJ, ENFJ (2), ESTJ, XSTJ, ESXJ (S) - that is, of those employees of the hospital that I'm working at/with.

Thinks Races Should ...

... keep their websites up to date as it relates to registration!

If you go to the Jingle Bell Run's main website, it says "Click Here To Register". When you get to the page on active.com, it says that registration closed on Sunday, December 8.

I've got no problem with that, but change the damn website!

The folks with the Fort Worth Zoo Zoo Run did that earlier this year. They knew they were sold out, but couldn't find the time to change it.

Makes one much more thankful everyday for Roxanne Davis and the South Montgomery County YMCA.

Tuesday's Courier Column: Locals excel at ‘Sunmart’ competition

After the early morning chill wore off, this past weekend produced some of the most pleasant conditions for training, racing or just cheering on trail runners at the 19th annual Texas Trail Endurance Runs Saturday in Huntsville State Park.

Otherwise known as “Sunmart”, over 40 runners from Montgomery County and Spring completed the multi-loop course covering either 50 or 31 miles.

Although veteran ultramarathoner Allen Wrinkle (8:47:28), 44, of Spring, posted the best time of the area’s six 50-mile finishers, it was The Woodlands’ Les Ellsworth who posted a 9:45:57. Ellsworth was one of three runners in 2008 to finish the longest distances at the four trail races held at Huntsville State Park.

Ellsworth, 54, ran the entire race with Houston’s Kimberly Pilcher and was less than a minute ahead of former Spring resident, 62-year-old Joe Barry, of Houston, who finished in 9:46:42. The trio also finished the Rocky Raccoon 100-Miler in February, the Hog’s Hunt 50K in April and the Rocky Raccoon 50K in November.

The Woodlands’ Pat Shannon, 57, who will participate in the 2009 Western States Endurance Run 100-miler next June, was second in his age group with a 9:44:13 finish.Magnolia’s John Powers, 45 (10:08:58), Spring’s Dawn Craig, 36 (10:41:34) and The Woodlands’ Lynnor Matheney, 49 (11:42:23) rounded out Saturday’s 50-mile finishers.

Craig covered 181 miles in three of the four Huntsville trail races as she also finished the Rocky Raccoon 100 and the Rocky Raccoon 50K.

In the 50-kilometer (31-mile) race, Spring’s Carlos Ortegon, 45, and a pair of 44-year-old residents of The Woodlands, Jim Harrington and Jerry Hayley, were the area’s first three finishers. Ortegon posted a sub 5-hour time of 4:57:01 while Harrington and Hayley followed in 5:02:33 and 5:14:31, respectively.

Hayley’s 20-year-old daughter, Amanda, won her age group in 6:14:22 as did The Woodlands’ Jim Braden. The 73-year-old, who stopped the clock in 5:55:57, was one of 11 men and women aged 70 and older to complete the 50K event.

Spring’s Sabrina Hurst, 29, and Mary Citro, 49, recorded book-end times around Hayley for the top three local women’s finishes. Hurst, who broke four hours at October’s Marine Corps Marathon, finished in 5:38:08 while Citro ran the entire way with Spring’s Gordon Mishler, 49, finishing in 6:15:44.

Hurst was third in her age group as was Porter’s Dora Topham. Topham, 63, finished in 7:12:35, just three minutes behind her husband, Lee.

The Woodlands’ Joel Barr, 56, was fourth in his age group with a time of 5:30:00 while Montgomery’s Joe Martinez, 39 (5:39:51), Spring’s Evan Stein, 49 (5:44:21) and Magnolia’s Daryl Lazauskas, 44 (5:53:42) all finished in under six hours.

What makes most runners happy is an accurate and safe course, the race to start on time, a pleasant, upbeat atmosphere, some post-race nourishment, quick results and, yes, a good-looking T-shirt.

Saturday’s third annual Willis Wildkat 5K and 1-mile Kids Fun Run, which supports the Willis High School Cross Country scholarship fund, is all that – whether you’re a competitive runner or the consummate recreational weekend race warrior.

The latter fits me, and that’s the reason you’ll find me at Saturday’s start at the Stow-A-Way Marina in Willis.

Race director Dana Fossmo hopes that the race’s change in venue won’t hurt this year’s turnout.

“It is a very nice course with many views of the lake,” said the Willis High School cross country coach. “It has some hills, so that will make it challenging as well.”

The race, which is currently $20 online and $25 on race day, had 48 finishers in the 5K and 15 youngsters in the Kids Run a year ago.

Entry fee for the kids run is just $3.

Montgomery High School assistant cross country coach Tim McGuire and former Sam Houston State classmate Richard Griffin teamed up to finish third in the men’s division on Sunday in Austin at the Decker Half Marathon Relay. The duo covered the hilly course in 1:32:51.

Former Diboll cross country coach Zach Johnson, 24, of The Woodlands was second overall in 2:16:38 at Saturday’s Jingle Jog 30K in Pearland while Porter’s Ashley Blackmon, 22, finished third in her age group at Saturday’s Baton Rouge Beach Marathon with a time of 4:21:51.

The Woodlands’ Pamela Paling, 41, just missed winning hardware after finishing fourth in her division with a time of 1:54:35 during Saturday’s Cajun Country Half Marathon in Lafayette, La.

ARC Decker Half Marathon Race Report

I must say that I'm once again pleased with a good half marathon. I always wish the time was a little bit better but given the Austin Runners Club Decker Half Marathon course, I'll take a solid 2:19:29 effort.

While it was my 54th half marathon since November 1, 2003 (yes, that's just over 10 per year), it was my 14th sub-2:20 half and six (3M, Texarkana, Kansas, St. Louis, Sioux Falls and Decker) of the top 16 have been in 2008.

This was a hilly course and it is probably as tough or tougher than Huntsville. It is the first three miles of the News and Sentinel Half Marathon in Parkersburg, West Virginia repeated four times. When you think you've just finished one hill, here comes another one. And I ran better on it than I did on either one multiple times.

Granted, the weather was a major factor in all of this, but it was still 13.1 miles.

Mile 1 -- 9:24:58
Mile 2 -- 10:42.96 (20:07.34)

Obviously, these miles were way off as mile 1 had an uphill in it early. Sheesh!

Mile 3 -- 10:27.75 (30:35.09)
Mile 4 -- 10:09.93 (40:45.02)
Mile 5 -- 10:45.89 (51:30.91)
Mile 6 -- 10:39.49 (1:02:10.40)
Mile 7 -- 10:26.38 (1:12:36.78)
Mile 8 -- 10:17.74 (1:22:54.52)
Mile 9 -- 10:52.13 (1:33:46.65)
Mile 10 -- 11:21.76 (1:45:08.41)

Even though this was the toughest mile on the course (reminded me half of mile 21 in the Alpharetta Marathon in Georgia), I was still at 10:30/mile. But I didn't know that we still had some more hills left to contend with.

Mile 11 -- 11:08.70 (1:56:17.11)
Mile 12 -- 11:05.00 (2:07:23.11)
Mile 13 -- 11:09.52 (2:18:32.64)
Last .1 -- 57.30 (2:19:29.93)

I'm setting the '10 3M Half Marathon as a goal to break 2 hours.

Inside the Travis County Exposition Center before the race, I saw Seven Hills Running club member Mary Patterson, Lisa Tilton-McCarthy (Al Lawrence Running Club) and Walt Yarrow (Finish Line Sports) and TIR teammate Jessica Alexander.

Walt finished in 1:39:14. Lisa was third in her age group with a 1:45:39 showing. Jessica wasn't far behind in 1:47-even while Mary finished in 2:48:20.

When I went to sign up a little more than an hour before the race, the guy at the registration table recognized my name and associated it with the Chronicle blog. It turned out that he was Tim Green, the editor of the newsletter for the Austin Runners Club (one of my counterparts) in Inside Texas Running. So after the race, he and I had a chance to talk for a little bit.

I also saw and talked to Steve Elenniss of Cedar Park (1:52:26) - and Jenny, his wife - who did the pre-TIR in October '07 with Jay and Joy Hilscher, myself, Mike and Sarah Burton and her dad, Joe Ross.

That's pretty much it. Up at 3 a.m., leave at 3:30 a.m. to take Waverly to my parents so she could go to Sunday School and church and then make it to the race location by 6:35 a.m.

Later this evening went to The Woodlands Running Club holiday party/general membership meeting. Not too much to report from there.

Sunmart 50M/50K Event Report

To be completed.

I had a very long report here ... that Blogger just ate (on Tuesday evening.) Ugh!

Montgomery County Triple 5K Event Report

To be completed.

City of Conroe Turkey Trot 5K Race Report

To be completed.

Run Thru The Woods Event Report

To be completed.

Friday Night El Stinko Run

Miles are miles, right?

Put down 4.25 miles for Friday night, December 5, 2008, but it isn't what I would have liked.

The 4+ mile loop that I run in my subdivision includes 1.77 miles to Spring Steubner and another 2.48 back to the house for a total of 4.25 miles.

The breakdown looked like this:

1.77 miles - 18:36.4 - 10:30.7/pace
2.48 miles - 26:40.7 - 10:45.4/pace
4.25 miles - 45:17.0 - 10:39.3/pace

But it is better than nothing.

My dinner table this evening at the Sunmart Pre-Race Dinner included Ken and Marilynn Johnson, Norman Langwell, Jr., Bill Dwyer, Misty Graham-Baugh and Robert Duncan and his sister and her friend from Baton Rouge.

Bill and I stayed to listen to the current 3,000 meter and 5,000 meter American record holder Bob Kennedy of Indianapolis, Indiana. Good speaker, but I think he could have been a little bit more prepared to try and focus in on something stronger that was relevant to ultrarunners.

Before I left, I noticed other Seven Hills members J.C. Guzman, Christopher Wilson and Felix Montelongo.

It should be a great day for runners tomorrow. I, in the meantime, am going to have fun out there myself. :)

Couple of Familiar Faces at Sunmart Packet Pickup

The Woodlands Running Club's Jim Braden taking a look at the new course map.

The Nestle Bunny with Kingwood's Ron Berglund

Hanging Out at Sunmart Packet Pickup

I've been at the Sheraton North for about an hour at 12:30 p.m. and here is who I've seen or talked to:

+ Joe and Missie Martinez of Montgomery
+ Sandy Wollangk, former president of the Houston Striders
+ Jim Harrington, defending 50K champion from Michigan (He'll probably take off at the start as if it were a 5K again.)
+ Rick Ames, Team In Training The Woodlands coach
+ Ron Berglund, Kingwood (Karen is working. Ron just came in from Denver.)
+ Joel Barr, Conroe
+ Jacqueline O'Brien-Nolen, Kingwood
+ Roger Soler, Sunmart race director from San Antonio (I had never met Roger before.)
+ Raul Najera, Run-Far from Austin
+ Ann Leoni and Carlos Ortegon, The Woodlands Running Club
+ Misty Graham-Baugh's friend who passed me in the last two miles of San Antonio
+ Wendy Terris, of Milwaukie, Oregon, who ran in the U.S. Women's Olympic Marathon Trials and then turned around the next day and ran the Boston Marathon

There's a group of runners here from Saskatchewan, Canada.

I just had a good conversation with a woman from California who is doing the 50-Miler, but needed sight-seeing tips. She's planning on going to the Bush Library in College Station on Sunday, the Galleria and the Museum of Fine Arts on Monday before flying back.

I need to check her name - to cheer for her, of course - because there can't be too many 50-milers from California. (Update: She came back down from her hotel rooms to buy another pair of shoes from Roger Soler's table, and she was wearing a Harvard Crew sweatshirt. Turns out that she is Francesca Stone, who was an All-American in lacrosse at Harvard and is in the school's Hall of Fame.)

Run Thru The Woods Pictures

Ten For Texas winner Melissa Henderson of Houston
Erin Foley's club teammate with the Al Lawrence Running Club

Ironman John Laskowski taking second place in the Clydesdale division
Also a Texian Road Warrior ... and a good guy!

The Woodlands' Ron Longtin and Conroe's Mike Mendeck

Misty Graham-Baugh and Gena Alvarez (the latter being another Texian Road Warrior)
I'd run Sunmart tomorrow just to finish ahead of Misty (after San Anontio), but I'll still pass.

First Weekend of December / TIR Update

My work has been kicking me in the rear end. I've taken over as the Interim Manager of the Medicaid unit at the hospital that I'm doing consulting work at.

Just trying to make sure that claims are getting sent out the door, denials are getting worked and followed-up on and money is coming in the door. This hospital has collected over $40 million a month the last three and there has been a $50 million increase in cash the last 12 months versus the previous 12 months. Amazing what working smarter will do for you. :)

Nonetheless, I've been exhausted. Waverly got a little sick after last week and weekend's activities. Therefore, she didn't go to the gym with me this evening.

I got in a nice and steady hour long run on the treadmill while reading Masters Athletics and Trail Runner magazines. I had Running Times ready to go. (I need to repeat the hour run at about mid-day on Friday.)

So ... Sunmart is Saturday. Am I running it? I'm not ready for it, but I've never let that get in the way of some fun. However, I think that I am going to spectate it and cheer runners on. I get a lot of joy out of that and will have a lot of pictures to put in Facebook albums for people to see.

However, I'll probably go to Austin to run the Austin Runners Club Decker Half Marathon on Sunday morning.

In other news, our TIR teams are beginning to shape up a little.

Here's the latest:

1.) We lost Nick and Niki Bellnoski to take us down to 22 runners. Nick was hurt and had surgery done on one hip - and Niki said he was due to have surgery on the other in February. Niki works at Luke's store in Katy and, of course, their being a sponsor and that store being open for the race, Niki will have to work. I hoped that she would be able to dodge it, but it wasn't to be.

2.) I had extended an invite to June Vidrine once we lost Nick, but I didn't get around confirming things with June on Thursday that she would not be able to fulfill that spot.

3.) In the meantime, Jill Boston had inquired about the open spot. However, I couldn't commit anything to her until I heard from June. I sent Jill an e-mail today. She responded, said that she was still interested and would have to check on a scheduling conflict with her work with Team In Training.

4.) All the while, I had a recommendation from Ken Johnson about Texas A&M University professor, runner and triathlete Gary Kunkel. I think Gary is in his 50s. Here was a note that I got from him today, "I just ran the New York City Marathon on November 2. My time was slower than I had hoped, but as is typical for me. I was undertrained for that distance (one 20-miler, longest weekly mileage of 35 miles). I did 4:01:59, after conking out around mile 18 or so. My next race is the half marathon in Austin (the one associated with the marathon in mid-February.) Two years ago, I did that in 1:38. Maybe I can make it in 1:40??"

By the way, Gary has accepted our invitation and will fill that number 23 spot. Jill would get us back to 24.

I have had one notice from a team member about a potential injury that may preclude them from participating. I'm going on the record that the next open spot will go to Jakeb Stunz, Tommy's son.

I have also asked to see if Edwin's wife, Donna, would be interested in driving one of the vans. (Edwin on one team. Donna driving a van for the other team!)

It's time to get excited about this again!