The Quiet One Speaks!

Tomato - 1 Month

2010-05-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

Tom is growing just fine after a month in the pot. We decided it was
time for a little support.

Chad's Great Tomato Adventure - Day 1

2010-04-26T18:23:00.001-07:00

I'm actually attempting to grow my own food. I bought this little
tomato plant this weekend for $1. In just about 70 days we may have
something to put on a sandwich

Self Employment

2010-02-05T14:50:00.000-08:00

Long time, no blog.

I just ended my first week of self-employment. After 13 1/2 years working in the same office, at the same desk, I've gone out on my own to start my own construction company. I'll be doing the same type of work (commercial remodeling and tenant-finish work), but now I'll be doing it with my name on the letterhead.

It's taken about two months to get my company set up with all the things I need to do business, but I've finally worked through most of them. It's a pretty slow time right now for commercial construction, but hopefully the customer base that I've built over the last 13 years will help get me through the slow times and set me up to be ready when the market returns. It's good to know that all my existing customers have been very receptive and excited by what I'm doing.

Dickies 500

2009-11-11T15:27:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of the start of the Dickies 500 that we went to last
weekend. If you've never been to a Sprint Cup race, you would never
believe how loud it is when they start up the engines.

Portland Marathon - Race Report

2009-10-12T15:49:00.000-07:00

Time to catch up on some blogging.

I learned at the Portland Marathon that I know how to train myself for a marathon. It only took 6 years and 17 marathons to figure that out.

Since Sadie's Rogue group was running Portland it made sense for me to run too. Work was really busy for me this summer and my training group was focused on other things, so I decided to go it alone. My training mainly consisted of easy runs through our neighborhood and the Town Lake Trail. I did very little speedwork. Only a few MGP runs of 4-5 miles on the trail. I did get my long runs in and was able to do 5 runs of 20+ miles, peaking at 25 miles about 4 weeks out from the race.

The main thing I tried to do was simplify my training. I didn't feel the need to go find a track and do 1000/1000's or 5k/10k pace work. I didn't feel like I needed (or wanted) to go do some extremely high mileage program. I just concentrated on getting my miles in and running at an easy pace and as the summer went on, tried to make that easy pace a little faster. During my neighborhood runs I always made sure to include some hills. My weekly mileage peaked at around 50 miles/week.

Going into the marathon, I didn't know what to expect, but I felt good. My stated goal was just to break 3:15 because that would keep me eligible to run Boston for two more years. Deep down I thought I probably could run 3:10 or less, but I still had doubts on whether I had trained hard enough. I came up with a simple race plan that would give me some flexibility. I started behind the 3:10 group, but ahead of the 3:15 group. The plan was to begin the race running between 7:10-7:25/mile. Hopefully 7:10 would feel pretty good and I would hold it through Mile 17 when we reach the top of the St. John's Bridge, the highest point on the course. At the bridge I would assess how I was feeling and either pick it up or hold where I was.

Race morning came with perfect weather and me feeling strong and rested. I started out as planned and it felt easy. I was able to immediately get on 3:10 pace and ran without any problems. 10K split was at 7:10/mile. Halfway split was 1:34:27. The funny thing was I was on 3:09 pace and the 3:10 pace group was way ahead of me, obviously going out too fast.

I made the long climb up to the bridge at Mile 17 and still felt good. My pace has slowed to 7:17/mile overall, but we had been good up some hills. I think I also got lulled to sleep on a couple of the boring flat miles around a bunch of warehouses. I decided to hold my pace where I was and wait for the big downhill section at Mile 21 to start kicking it in. I had a couple moments in the next 4 miles where I started to feel bad and have some doubts, but I was able to fight off the bad feelings and run through it. I thought back to the Team Rogue pre-race meeting that I crashed the day before. Steve told everyone to make a list of reasons why they were ready to have a good race. I came up with one: I'm pretty sure I ran more in 100 degree weather than anyone there. Most of my training runs were in the afternoons when I got home from work. While they weren't fun, I knew it was helping me learn to deal with the suffering that you face during a marathon. That's what I focused on when I started feeling bad at the end of the race.

At Mile 21, I picked up the pace but was only able to do 7:08. Faster than I had been running but not enough to pick up much ground on the 3:10 group. I figured I was about 1 minute behind them so I needed a strong finish. With about 2 1/2 miles to go, we crossed the Broadway Bridge and I picked up the pace again ready to run as fast as I could to the end. I ran off the bridge and made the sweeping righthand turn down to Naito Parkway that takes us to the finish. This is where my only course complaint is. As I made the turn I looked ahead to see some train tracks with the gate down. To my left I could see a train coming about to block off the course. Without much thinking I ran as fast as I could, slipped around the side of the gates, dodged a guy trying to block my way and ran across the tracks. I really wasn't that close to the train, but I think I would have been stopped if I was 10 seconds slower.

After that I could feel my heart pounding and just felt grateful that I has been far enough along not to have to wait for the train. I though about how mad I would have been to have trained for 6 months, have been running a good race and then get stopped by a train. That would have been awful. I kept running but I think I just lost focus from there on in. While Mile 24 had been 7:10, the next two were 7:27 and 7:38 even though I didn't feel like I was struggling. With a mile to go I knew I wasn't beating 3:10, so the last .2 was pretty slow. Finish time: 3:11:52.

Overall I'm pleased with the race. Another Boston qualifying time and a race where I really felt pretty good the whole way. It seemed easy compared to Nashville where I walked a bunch. Of course, it doesn't matter how fast I run, I normally always feel like I could go faster. Looking back I probably should have tried to pick up the pace earlier. I just had the fear of bonking hard in the back of my mind so it lead me to be a little bit conservative. After struggling towards the end of my last couple marathons, I really wanted to feel strong at the end of this one and to be able to enjoy it. I think I accomplished that.

Lunch in Portland

2009-10-06T12:42:00.000-07:00

Lucky Bamboo

2009-10-02T08:44:00.000-07:00

In February 2003 as I was getting ready to run my first marathon, I received a package in the mail from my sister. In it was a good luck present for the race, a "Lucky Bamboo" plant. It was a great gift and a perfect plant for me. It didn't require a lot of care or attention. Just add water when it starts to run out. Since then I've always thought of it as a marathon good luck charm.

My lucky bamboo has lasted all this time and has been with me through 4 houses now. It originally had 3 stalks, but over the years a couple of them died and I removed them. The last stalk hung on until this week when it turned yellow, just as I am getting ready to leave for Portland for my 17th marathon. I sure hope that doesn't mean anything!

I don't know if turning yellow means it is dead, or not. After doing some research, I see that lucky bamboo is not supposed to be in direct sunlight, which it is, of course, sitting in the window. I don't remember that being in the care instructions. I'll have to pull it out of the window, give it some fresh, clean water and hope it revives itself.

Mystery Sticks

2009-09-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I came home from work early and was rummaging around the hallway closet and discovered something I hadn't seen in quite some time. Way in the back, stuck behind the vacuum cleaner and a bunch of coats was this tall blue bag with a bunch of metal rods sticking out. I was curious so I crawled into the closet and pulled this mysterious bag out into the hallway.

After the cloud of dust settled, a closer inspection revealed about 14 of these sticks of varying lengths. The shorter ones had shiny, metal extensions attached to the end and seemed to be set at different angles. The taller sticks had these large hats on the ends that were covering larger, rounder metal extensions. The shortest stick in the bag had a squarer "head" attached to it and didn't look anything like the other 13. They all had these strange words like "Mizuno" and "Taylor Made" stamped on them, along with different numbers. What could these strange instruments be? What are they used for? Why do the numbers start at 3 and stop at 9? Why does one say "P"?

Searching for clues, I started looking through the bag. One pocket on the side had several small, white balls tucked into it. Another had a bag of tiny wooden stakes in it. Without thinking I took one of the balls and balanced it on the end of one of the stakes. As I did, old memories began rushing back into my mind. I could see people hitting the balls off the stakes with the metal sticks that were in the bag. They seemed to be advancing the balls towards these small holes set in the middle of a field. Some were walking. Some were riding in little mini-cars. A few people seemed to enjoy hitting off the freshly cut grass that extended as far as the eye could see. Many others looked like they preferred playing amongst the trees and sand.

It all came back to me know. These were tools used to play a game. Instinctively I threw the bag into the back of my truck and set off towards 620 where I recalled seeing people using these objects. Mr. Tee's Driving Range, that's the place. I forked over $10 inside the office and set off for the lawn with a big basket of balls. They were just like the ones in the bag except they were yellow and had stripes on them. I found a nice level spot, did a few stretches and started hitting the balls out into the field with the clubs. Nice and easy. The first few were a little crooked. On a couple I made more contact with the ground than the ball causing big patches of grass to go flying.

Pretty soon though, the balls started going in the direction of my target. I determined hitting the ball with the middle of the club's face produced a much better result than the edges. I worked my way through all the clubs in the bag from shortest to longest. The longest one was the most fun to hit, but it also was the hardest one to hit straight.

As I hit the last few balls it occurred to me what this was. This is golf (or at least some form of it). My old friend that I hadn't seen in a while. This may be something I'll have to do again.

25 (almost) big ones

2009-08-31T14:24:00.000-07:00

I got to tag along with Sadie and her Team Rogue group on Saturday for my long run, so I guess I'm obligated to blog about it. :)

Since I've been so busy with work the last few months and my running group was focusing on track meets and other races, I decided I would just train by myself this summer. It's really been a nice change of pace. I run when I want to and take the day off when I feel like it. I spent the first part of the summer just running easy, but lately I've been adding hills when I can. That's pretty easy to do in our neighborhood. The worst part has been the heat because I run after work. I think at one point I had a string of 7 or 8 runs in a row above 100 degrees.

Long runs have been harder because I've worked a lot of Saturdays and it's hard to get out of bed early when you're not meeting up with anybody. I had managed to get in a 16 miler and a 19+ miler, but I knew I needed to get in a few runs above 20 miles in order to keep Portland from being painful. That's why I jumped at the chance to run with Rogue on Saturday when Sadie suggested it. It was their 2nd of 3 Soul Buster or Race Prep runs. (Basically, 20 miles with 1 "fast" mile and 9 miles of MGP, followed by 6 miles on the track progressing from MGP to 10k pace.) I figured that this run would give me a good idea of my fitness level, but I also figured with my lack of training (compared to their training), the 6 miles on the track was an injury waiting to happen. Instead I elected to just run another 3 miles on the trail when I got to the track.

So what happened? I had a good run. I don't know what my fast mile was because the auto-splits on my Garmin weren't in sync with the track, but I felt like I gave it a good effort. The first 5 miles of the MGP, I seemed to be staying right around 7:00-7:05, except for the mile I had to stop and ask Jon and Keith for directions. The 2nd section I picked it up a little and averaged about 6:55/mile. That was my first MGP work of the summer, so I was pleased to be able hold those paces for 9 miles.

After that we ran up Red Bud Trail and into Westlake for some hills and finished it off on Stratford. While everyone else broke off to the Austin High track, I finished off the 3 mile loop for a total of 23 miles. Garmin said I had a 7:47/mile average. I thought that sounded like a good days work.

It was starting to get hot when I got to the track to watch Sadie finish up her run. She must have been 3-4 laps in when I got there, so I had around 20 laps to relax and stretch and get re-hydrated before we would leave to go back to the car at Barton Springs. I watched her run for a couple miles and then all of a sudden she runs by and I hear her say "Do you have any energy left?" I knew what that meant. She wants me to run with her. I could have said "No, I'm tired" or pretended to not hear her, but all I could manage to say was "Maybe....Why?" as she ran past. I knew what I had to do so I cut across the field and met her on the other side of the track just to make sure she wanted me to run with her.

From there I ran another 7 laps of the track taking a few laps off to let Sadie run by herself. So my long run turned out to be 24 3/4 miles. That's the longest I've ever run at one time without being in a marathon. The crazy thing is that I'm not really that sore. I guess the extended break before I hit the track probably helped that.

Jury Duty: Day 4

2009-07-23T08:16:00.001-07:00

It's 10:00 and we haven't started yet. We're waiting on them to
complete a list of the charges before we go into the courtroom. So I
sit here and wait.

The most entertaining thing has been a guy yelling at his lawyer out
in the hall. I can also watch a basketball game being played on the
roof of the jail across the street.

Thank you, whoever invented the iPhone.

Did you know...

2009-07-22T11:32:00.000-07:00

Did you know that the 353rd District courtroom has .....

Approx 1,500 sq ft
374 ceiling tiles
16 parabolic 2'x4 lights
12 sprinkler heads
13 speakers
Poorly done woodwork (you can see all the nail holes)
Uncomfortable jury chairs
2'x2 Armstrong "Dune" ceiling tile in fineline grid
4 a/c grilles
It's own restroom
A temporary judge
Cheap blue carpet

And yes I am paying attention. There a just a lot of pauses in the
action.

Jury Duty

2009-07-22T06:53:00.000-07:00

I'm in Day 3 of jury duty. They say it is supposed to be done
tomorrow. This one has been semi-interesting so far, but I can't say
much about it until it's over.

They give is 1 1/2 hours for lunch. Yesterday I walked over to
Wahoo's. Today might be The Screaming Goat.

At the game

2009-07-04T18:41:00.000-07:00

Rangers v Rays, July 4

My trophy

2009-06-03T15:24:00.000-07:00

Just got my award from the Texas Independence Relay.

At Cheeseburger in Paradise

2009-05-11T22:04:00.000-07:00

The View

2009-05-10T17:22:00.000-07:00

Maui Day 1

2009-05-10T17:15:00.000-07:00

Just a nice easy day in paradise. We got up for an easy 45 min run on
the path by the beach followed by breakfast. Spent the morning on the
lawn getting some sun and watching the waves crash on the beach. I
took a walk on the beach along the edge of the water while Sadie read
her book.

Did a little shopping and had lunch at the Barefoot Bar. Now we're
back on the lawn and I may go get in the ocean or pool. Tonight we're
going to Lahaina for a luau.

Vacation is rough.

Aloha from Hawaii

2009-05-09T18:25:00.000-07:00

Shoe Issue

2009-05-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

On my run today I couldn't figure out why the shoes that I ran a
marathon in a week ago felt so tight. I thought my feet might be
swollen, I had on the wrong socks, or somehow I had picked up Sadie's
shoes and squeezed my feet into them.

I figured it out on the drive home. I guess it's a good idea to take
the original insoles out before you put in the replacements.

The Expo

2009-04-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

How often do you get beer and wings at a marathon expo?

Greetings from Music City

2009-04-24T08:21:00.001-07:00

Sadie and I arrived in Nashville last night, along with a bunch of her
Rogue teammates, for the Country Music Marathon. The flight was nice
and had no problems.

At the Nashville airport, Sadie spotted Kevin Nealon (actor/commedian)
walking ahead of us. Our first celebrity sighting of the trip.

We're all staying near Vanderbilt at the Embassy Suites. After
breakfast a big group of us went out for a short run. It's pretty
warm already and there seems to be a bunch of short rolling hills.

Off to the Expo for packet pickup and to drive the course.

Going to The Masters

2009-04-10T18:54:00.000-07:00

We have our passes. On Saturday I finally get to see Augusta National
and The Masters. I'm glad we had a glass of wine with dinner because
I wouldn't be sleeping well tonight.

Goals for our day at The Masters

2009-04-10T07:28:00.000-07:00

1. I want to see Tiger hit a few shots up close.

2. I want to walk the entire course.

3. I want to hear a "Masters roar"

4. I want to "Boooo" Weekley.

5. I want to hang out at Amen Corner for a while.

6. Sadie wants Adam Scott to see her.

On the way to The Masters

2009-04-10T07:22:00.001-07:00

Well we're on the way to The Masters. Currently we are sitting in the
Atlanta airport waiting to make our connection to Columbia, SC. We'll
be staying there and making the drive over to Augusta in the morning.

It's probably going to rain this afternoon, but tomorrow looks like it
will be perfect. I can't wait.

Hello Win Column

2009-04-06T15:50:00.000-07:00

Rangers 9
Cleveland 1

This is the first time since 2003 that I can say the Rangers are
undefeated.

Best TV Sports Week

2009-04-06T06:32:00.001-07:00

For me, this is the best TV sports week of the year. Final Four.
Baseball opening day. The Masters. That's 9 days in a row of my
favorite events.

One thing that will be different this year is that on Saturday Sadie
and I will be at The Masters instead of watching at home. :) More on
that later.

Syracuse 59 SFA 44

2009-03-20T11:09:00.000-07:00

Well that didn't go very well. But at least our mascot doesn't look like this:

Syracuse: Prepare for a Jack attack!

2009-03-20T08:43:00.000-07:00

My school made the NCAA tournament for the first time in its history and is about to play Syracuse in the first round. It's been fun to see SFA talked about on ESPN and to see stories written about them since its not exactly a school that's well know nationally. Maybe today can be the big upset of the tourney.

TIR 2009: Wrap Up

2009-03-19T06:50:00.000-07:00

I received a wrap-up email from the race directors of the Texas Independence Relay. Apparently we are the winners of the Open Mixed division. Somehow that is different than the "Overall Mixed Champion" which was won by another team.

I had fun during the race and I think most everyone else did too. Despite being rookies and having a few mishaps along the way, we managed to come in under our predicted finish time. Our time would have gotten us 2nd overall in 2008, but the teams were a little stronger this year. The most incredible thing was the 6-man team that finished 2nd overall and smoked us by more than an hour.

Finish Results

2009-03-10T07:39:00.000-07:00

The finish results can be found here.

We finished 6th overall in 23:17:48. That put us 2nd in the Open Mixed category.

6:53/mile for 202 miles sounds pretty good to me.

Our Finishers Medals

2009-03-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

After the Race

2009-03-09T08:35:00.000-07:00

After Jean-Marie crossed the finish line, we all walked together down to the San Jacinto Monument to receive our finisher medals and to take picture. It's kind of a parade of teams as everyone finishes and walked the last 1/4 mile or so. They announced all the teams as they approached the monument.

Afterwards Mac set up his tent and we sat out on the lawn eating pizza. There weren't any results posted or awards ceremony that we saw. Since the finishing times are all so far apart, I'm guessing it might take a day or two to see how we did. We're guessing 2nd in the Open Mixed category.

Our overall time was about 23 hours and 20 minutes. That was in line with our goal at the start. Last year that would have put us 2nd overall, but it looks like there were a few more strong teams this year.

Special thanks goes out to Mac's mom who was there along the way for us and got the hotel room for us in Houston that allowed us to clean up and get a little rest.

The Finish

2009-03-09T06:43:00.000-07:00

Linda ran Leg 38 and it was one of the toughest legs that I got to witness. It was long (6.5 miles), had more turns than any other leg and was really hot. So hot she had us fill up her water bottle after a few miles. She managed to stay on course even though several of the guys ahead of her missed or made wrong turns. We were able to get one guy to turn around, but the other two we saw looked determined to run to Louisiana. We were in Pasadena, not the most scenic part of Houston.

Nora was next and had a short 3.3 mile leg. She was moving fast and well over halfway by the time we were able to catch her in the van. I think her split was right at 20 minutes.

Jean-Marie ran the last leg (in my shirt :) ) and looked like he killed it. It was 5.3 miles through beautiful oil and gas refineries and warehouses. If we hadn't left for the finish early we wouldn't have beaten him there because of the traffic at the monument. Here he is approaching the finish.

Leg 37

2009-03-09T06:19:00.000-07:00

I ran Leg 37 starting in Mason Park. I think this one was a little payback for getting the fast downwind leg yesterday. This leg ran out of the park into the neighborhoods. It made 4-5 turns in the first couple miles and then goes straight on Galveston Rd for 2.4 miles. Straight into the wind. I could feel myself fading but I kept seeing slower runners in the distance and just tried to reel them in. The wind was just killing me and I knew I was slowing down. I didn't want to look at my Garmin to know how fast I was going. I just wanted to catch the people I could see.

I could see the finish from quite a ways off. The adrenaline helped me pick it up some and catch the Boy Scout team. I handed off to Linda (one of the few times I saw her during the race) and was ready to get in the van. The watch said 4.4 miles at 6:48/mile.

This was a hard leg for me because of where it fell in the race. Earlier in the race it wouldn't have been that bad. I know some of the others had much more difficult legs. It wasn't too long and didn't have many hills in it, but the miles and paces I had already run and the lack of sleep combined to make it feel pretty tough.

I also ran this one in Jean-Marie's shirt because we got them mixed up at the last rest point. We had all rinsed out our shirts and hung them to dry. I grabbed the wrong one when I left. I like my shirts a little bigger, so I knew something was up when I put it on and it was pretty tight. I had a little chafing going on during my run.

Catching up on the last few legs

2009-03-09T06:04:00.000-07:00

The sun came out and the heat went up as we made our way into Houston. Mac picked up Aaron and me to take us out to our last few legs. We met Manny at the end of Leg 34 in Memorial Park where he handed off to Mac. Manny told us it was getting really hot and it was getting pretty tough. Mac's route took him through the park and into downtown Houston via a long trail system. It looked like a pretty nice run even though it looked a little hilly.

At the Leg 35 exchange we caught up with the Governor's team. He was there taking pictures and hanging with the Runtex guys and APD running team. We could also see some of the tall buildings that still had broken windows from the hurricane last year.

Mac handed off to Aaron and took off towards the Toyota Center. We jumped back in the van and took off for the next exchange point where I would run my last leg.

We're Here

2009-03-08T12:01:00.000-07:00

We've made it to the San Jacinto Monument in just a little over 23
hours. Jean-Marie is running the last leg.

Hey Sadie. I'm D-U-N!

2009-03-08T11:02:00.000-07:00

Downtown H-town

2009-03-08T09:39:00.000-07:00

We're in downtown Houston. Everyone is getting their final legs in.
Aaron is running now. I'm next followed by Linda, Nora, & Jean-Marie.

It's pretty hot now and the sun is out. I'll probably run with water.
We're basically restricted to sidewalks now.

Leg 28: sun's coming up

2009-03-08T05:23:00.000-07:00

We've made it through leg 28 finishing at Luke's Locker in Cinco Ranch
on the outskirts of Houston. Jean-Marie just killed a short 3.5 mile
leg.

I ran my longest leg of the race at 6.5 miles. It followed hwy 1030
for 5 miles before turning into a subdivision. I finally got to get
my fishing pole out and was able to reel some people in. I think I
passed 7 teams.

Now we're off to another rest stop before we close it out on Houston.

Waking up & Crisis averted

2009-03-08T03:15:00.000-07:00

We narrowly averted a disaster at the Jr high. The group that was
running made up a lot of time and called Mac to say they would be 30
minutes early. Mac couldn't find Aaron & me in the gym. The ringer
was off on my phone so we couldn't hear his calls. Luckily Manny was
running first, so Mac ran him out to his start and then came back for
us. Meanwhile I woke up, saw the messages and missed calls and
started frantically throwing stuff in bags. Keri, Nora & Travis came
running in and helped us get out.

We're starting to pass a lot of teams now, so it should feel a lot
less lonely out there.

Time to rest

2009-03-07T22:01:00.001-08:00

Back on the rest bus. Manny, Aaron, Mac & I are headed to a school in
Wallis that is opening the gym to let people rest. Our van really
stinks right now, so getting out for a couple hours will be nice.

Through Aaron's leg out of Columbus we're 4 min ahead of our projected
pace. We're starting to pick off some of the slower teams ahead of
us. During the last leg we passed one girl that apparently got
clipped by a car. Paramedics were with her.

Into Columbus

2009-03-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

I just finished my 2nd leg from Borden to Columbus. My split was
38:35 for 5.88 miles. It rained on me which felt good.

It's a little weird running in the dark down an empty highway. You
hear sounds and imagine all kinds of crazy things.

Back on the road

2009-03-07T20:05:00.000-08:00

We've swapped buses back to the active van. It's Aaron, Manny, Travis
& me.

It's very dark on the road between Weimar & Borden. We somehow have
fallen about 20-30 minutes behind the other groups we started with.

Weimar

2009-03-07T18:16:00.000-08:00

We're here in Weimar at the exchange point and we're waiting for the
other van. Governor Perry just finished his leg and was taking some
pictures. My picture was too blurry.

We're just hanging in the van and listening to the music. It's varied
from George Strait to Ratt to "Car Wash".

Dinner

2009-03-07T17:26:00.000-08:00

We stopped in Schulenberg for dinner and had a great veggie pizza at
Mama's Pizza Kitchen. Sorry for the blurry picture

Splits thru 6

2009-03-07T16:13:00.000-08:00

Leg 3: Jean-Marie 54:05 (2:05:08)

Leg 4: Mac 31:09 (2:36:17)

Leg 5: Kerry 18:09 (2:54:26)

Leg 6: Chad 25:58 (3:20:24)

On the rest bus

2009-03-07T15:43:00.000-08:00

Nora, Jean-Marie, Travis, & I are now on the rest bus. Mac had a
tough hilly run. He handed off to Kerry who had a fast 2.5 mile run
to the Shiner Brewery. I took it from there and had a good 4.14 mile
leg that was all downwind. 25:58 for my part. I'll have to update
everyone's splits when we get back I'm the active van.

I'm thankful I got the downwind leg. It's howling out here.

Waiting for Jean-Marie

2009-03-07T13:56:00.000-08:00

Splits thru 2

2009-03-07T13:46:00.000-08:00

Prologue: Nora 7:04

Leg 1: Nora 32:23 (Total 39:27)

Leg 2: Travis 31:36 (1:11:03)

Jean-Marie is on the course

Sam Houston Oak

2009-03-07T13:11:00.000-08:00

At the 3rd exchange

TIE 2009: 1st Leg (Oops)

2009-03-07T13:06:00.000-08:00

The first leg is over, but we had a little mistake. Nora and the guy
ahead of her took a wrong turn and got off course. The wind blew a
sign over that was marking the way. The course official made us wait
at the exchange for a little bit as a penalty

Travis is out now and closing on the guy ahead. He has 5 mile run
straight into the wind on hwy 95

The Start

2009-03-07T12:23:00.000-08:00

And the fun begins. We started with a cannon blast at 2:02pm in
Gonzales.

Nora took off with Travis pacing her. The rest of us tagged along
behind.

Now we've split up into the two vans. The active bus is following
along the course and the rest bus is headed to Shiner. (that could be
trouble).

Restrooms

2009-03-07T10:59:00.000-08:00

They've converted some trailers into porta-potties.

(Note: I can only vouch for the Men's trailer, but this seems like a pretty good idea. They had real sinks with running water. Ours had this big long urinal trough that could accomodate a lot of guys at once. I thought a picture of it would be in bad taste.)

TIR 2009: We're Off

2009-03-07T09:30:00.000-08:00

It's 11:30 and we're headed for Gonzales. Here are the vans

Texas Independence Relay: Preview

2009-03-05T14:01:00.000-08:00

This year Team Mac is running the Texas Independence Relay . The race is a relay starting in Gonzales and ending at the San Jacinto Monument on the east side of Houston. The total distance is a little over 200 miles.

We have 12 people on our team, so we each have 3-4 legs to run. Each person will run a total of 16-19 miles. I only have 3 legs, but they are all between 5.5 - 6.5 miles each. My first leg, starting at the Shiner Brewery, will be sometime Saturday afternoon. Leg 2 for me should start around 10:45PM Saturday night. My 3rd leg should be around sunrise Sunday morning.

This should be a new and fun running experience. The website lists our team as one of six that could be competing for first place. The teams start in 2 minute intervals in reverse order of predicted finish. We'll be the third to last team off starting at 2:02 Saturday afternoon.

Through the magic of the iPhone, I will try to post updates here as we go.

Jones!

2009-02-25T15:07:00.000-08:00

It looks like my Aussie brother has his hands full.

Mobile Posting

2009-02-24T13:14:00.000-08:00

I'm updating my blog from my phone. I hope it works

2008 St George Marathon

2008-10-13T20:24:00.000-07:00

Well, St George wasn't as good to me this year. Last year I ran what I felt was the perfect race setting a huge PR and finally qualifying for Boston. The weather was perfect, I was in great shape and I had one of those days you dream about where running just felt easy. That was not the case this year.

Race day greeted us with a strong headwind and a good soaking rain. The rain started on the bus ride up to the start and really didn't stop that much until I was done running. The temps were in the low 50's to start which wasn't too bad. Sadie, Tara and I rode the buses together up to the start where the race organizers set up small bonfires to help keep the runners warm. Everyone at the start is either waiting in one of lines for the toilets or standing around the fires.

The cool thing for me is that my predicted finish time qualified me for elite runner status. I had access to the elite starting corral which has it's own fires and restrooms. While Sadie and Tara waited in the long lines for the "regular" toilets, I excused myself, strolled over to the fenced off elite area and had my choice of clean porta-potties with no lines. I thought about just sitting in there until the race started to stay dry. I didn't know about the elite perks last year until the start, so I was happy to take advantage of it this time.

My race plan was the same as last year, but with a lower goal: sub-3:00. At mile 7 I should be ahead of pace so that I could slow a little through the next 5 miles which are mostly uphill. At the half I wanted to be around 1:30 or even a minute or two slower. From that point the course goes screaming downhill and I felt like I could go faster than MGP (6:52). Last year I had a 4 min. negative split and felt like I eased up towards the end. This year I wanted to see what I could do if I pushed it.

Just before the start it seemed like the rain picked up a little. The gun went off and we took off running into the wind and rain. My first two miles were slow (7:10, 7:19), but I wasn't too concerned. It was dark, I was trying not to run into anyone and a little uphill. I started trying to draft off other runners as much as I could.

The next three miles started the first good downhill section and I tried to get into a good rhythm. Looking back, I think this is where I lost my goal. Miles 3-5 only averaged 6:59. Seven seconds slower than MGP. I needed to be a little faster here to make up for the first two. Miles 6-7 were better as we descended into Veyo (6:40, 6:41), but that's where the uphill section starts.

The longest, steepest hill on the course is at Mile 7 coming out of Veyo. It's about 1/2 mile long and feels like some of the steeper sections of Scenic Dr. I knew I would be slower for the next 5 miles as we climbed out of the valley, but I was more off pace than I intended. I felt like I was working, but the wind kept beating on me and my shoes were getting heavy. My mile splits were all between 7:41-7:19. I didn't know exactly how slow I was, but I could feel it slipping away.

I crossed the half at 1:34:45, ten seconds faster than last year but with a lot more effort. My math skills were a little off at this point and I told myself I could still break 3 hrs if I ran the 2nd half 4 minutes faster (just like last year). That made me feel better until I realized I couldn't add very well. I really need to negative split by 8 minutes. That didn't sound very easy, but I told myself to give it a shot. I really had nothing to lose. I started down the hills and made a big effort to pick up my pace.

Mile 14 was only 7:07. Uh oh. Mile 15 was 6:49. Better but not enough. Mile 16 was 7:07 and I knew I was in trouble. I gave it one last good effort over the next couple miles but all I could get was two 6:55 miles. My right foot was bothering me, I was soaking wet, I was sick of Powergel and I'd had enough. My sub-3:00 goal was out the window so I decided to slow down and try to enjoy the rest of the race. The area around St George is very pretty and I tried to soak it all in.

I kept up with my splits though and I was still averaging around 7:30 mile. I was more relaxed than I had been before and going down some sweet downhills. I just wanted to finish. The 3:10 group blasted by me around Mile 20 and I just watched them go. I just wanted to break 3:15 and extend my Boston-qualifying through 2010.

The funny thing was at Mile 24 my total time was 2:53:25 and I could see the 3:10 group getting closer. They had been completely out of sight before, but I was gaining on them. I realized with a little effort I could still beat 3:10. I picked it up a little and started reeling them in. I turned the last corner and they were about 30 yards ahead. I started chasing them down. They beat me to the line, but I was focused on the clock. I was running as hard as I could through the finish chute and staring at the numbers. I crossed the finish line as the clock changed to 3:10.

Official finish time of 3:09:46.

I have to be happy with that time. It took me 5 tries to break 3:10 in a marathon and now I had just done it on a bad day in bad weather where I had backed off the pace with 8 miles to go. It wasn't what I wanted, but it was a nice consolation prize.

In the finish area I finally started feeling cold. It could have been the ice cream sandwich I was eating, but more likely because I was soaking wet. After a quick picture with my sandwich I set off to find my bag with dry clothes and wait for Sadie and Tara to finish.

Six Days To Go

2008-09-29T08:58:00.000-07:00

Race week has finally arrived and with it, all the little phobias you get before a marathon. I'm paranoid that I'll catch a cold from someone, so I wash my hands about 100 times a day. Anyone that coughs or sneezes near me makes me want run away. I take little baby steps when I get out of bed so that I don't stub my toe or run into anything. Any little tweak or twinge in my legs immediately becomes something to worry about. I guess this is normal after you train for months for something you only get one shot at. I've run enough of these now to know that these are all normal thoughts, but it still doesn't relieve the paranoia that much.

We have a few more runs to do this week and then Sadie and I will be off to Utah on Thursday. I'll spend the next three days getting my projects at work under control so that I can be gone for two days, hydrating, getting my clothes ready, and hopefully sleeping.

The weather forecast is showing pretty cool temps at the start, warming up to near 60when I should be finishing. We could have some pretty good winds in our face or across us though. It probably won't be as perfect as last year, but it should be just fine for a fast race.

Silicon Lab Marathon Relay

2008-09-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

Sunday was the Silicon Labs Marathon Relay and once again Team Mac was there to race. I was on a team with Aaron, Travis, Stuart and Jeff competing in the Open Men's division. We also had an Open Women's team and a combo team. Our team came in 10th overall and 4th in our division (8 secs off the podium). The girls dominated and won their division.

Since St. George is getting so close, Mac had me run one of the 5k legs. I had planned to run hard without hurting myself. 13 days out from a marathon is not a good time to go injure yourself. I kept telling Jeff he was going to have to run extra fast to make up for my leg. Apparently, I'm in pretty good shape because I ended up running 5k in 18:49 (6:03/mile) according to Run-Far's time for my leg. That's a PR by 35 seconds. It felt good to run like that without feeling like I was on the edge.

I'm still amazed by people that don't run the tangents in races. What part of the word "race" do they not understand? The object is to finish as fast as possible, which in my mind means running the shortest distance the course gives you. I saw so many people running wide around curves or following the lanes like they were in a car.

6 Months

2008-09-15T20:37:00.000-07:00

Six months ago today something pretty great happened.

A Lot of Running

2008-09-14T15:33:00.000-07:00

Today marks the end of two of the highest mileage weeks I've run and I'm happy to say that I'm still feeling strong.

Last week I ran 62 miles which was a new personal high. In the past I've always felt like I started to break down when I approached the mid-50's, but last week I felt great the whole time. I was very surprised considering it came on the heels of racing the Zilker Relays and running the Nike Human Race 10k pretty hard. The week was capped off with a 20 miler on Sunday that I ran with Travis. We made up a route that included Mt Bonnell, Balcones and Barton Hills and we both felt strong enough to drop down to MGP in the last few miles.

This week was our peak week and Mac had us scheduled for 70, but that included a 5 miler on Friday that I decided I wasn't going to do. Sixty-five miles would be enough with a 24 miler on Saturday. I didn't feel near as good this week as I did last week. My legs started hurting and I was feeling the normal aches and pains that I feel during peak weeks.

Tuesday we did 6 mile repeats at 30secs below MGP. Two were on the track, two were on the trail, and two were on the grass at Zilker. I managed to keep them all below 6:20/mile with a couple at 6:00/mile. At Zilker we ran into a little trouble because some guys playing soccer decided to use Mac's cones for one of their goals. When Mac ran over to take his cones back, this one loser soccer player got mad and started getting in Mac's face about disrupting their game. His argument was that we shouldn't leave cones on the field and if we did, he was going to use them if he wanted to. He couldn't get it through his small little brain that they were not his cones and that they were marking our course.

Saturday was my longest scheduled run of the season. We did 24 starting at Gateway and ending at the Rock. Due to the different distances everyone was running, I did most of this run by myself. I figured it would be a good character builder. I felt pretty strong for about 20 miles and then just had to gut out the last 4. Part of that was heading west up Enfield from Lamar into the strong winds that Ike gave us. I was definitely slower the last 4 miles, but still managed to average 8:04/mile for the whole run. That's just about right where I wanted it.

I sure thought today's 8 miles was going to suck, but I really didn't feel too bad. I was a little tight for 1/2 mile, but ran pretty well for the rest of the time. It was great to finish knowing the worst was behind me and having set a new personal high (65 miles). I've never felt this healthy 3 weeks out from a marathon, so I'm hoping it's a sign of good things to come.

Tiger walks on water

2008-08-22T10:36:00.000-07:00

Nice shot, but unfortunately he's going to have to add a stroke for grounding his club in the hazard before he hit it.

The Olympics

2008-08-11T18:20:00.001-07:00

We've been enjoying watching the Olympics the last few days. The pictures have been pretty awesome in HD, especially the Opening Ceremonies. I guess we're going to be staying up late since all the swimming finals seem to be between 10-11PM.

Here are few things we've seen that I think are funny:

1. After the U.S. won the 4x100 relay last night, Garrett Weber-Gale called France's relay team "The Frenchies".
2. Hearing the theme from Baywatch being played during the beach volleyball matches.
3. After one of the gymnasts wipes out on their dismount they still have to stand back up and raise their hands like they are saying "Ta DAAA!".
4. This just in: Did you know that Dara Torres is old and has a couple kids? I just wanted to make sure everyone was aware of that. The TV guys never mention that.
5.

(to be continued)

Moonlight Margarita Run

2008-08-07T20:12:00.001-07:00

Mac had us all run the Moonlight Margarita Run tonight as our Thursday night workout. Most of the group showed and seemed to run well.

My goal was to run as close to 19 minutes as I could. I've only previously run 2 5k's in my life, so I'm still figuring out how to approach them. It's hard to start slow enough where you have something left for the finish, but fast enough that you aren't losing too much time in such a short race.

I lined up with Chris and Aaron at the start and we were probably a little bit farther back than we should have. It didn't matter too much because the road opened up really fast and we were able to get going. I was trying to hold back but it was hard to judge how fast we were going. The three of us stayed pretty close together until Chris ran past us just before Mile 1. The first mile was 6:05 which was right where I wanted to be. I wanted to hold that pace and then try to pick it up the last mile through the finish.

I pushed a little up the hill on Cesar Chavez and then made the turn-around. Chris stayed about 30 yards ahead of Aaron and me. I missed the Mile 2 split but felt like I was still moving pretty good. I was breathing and working hard, but still felt pretty good. About the time we were passing the track at Austin High I started my push to the finish. I ran over one of the speed bumps and pushed off on the backside to get a little boost. I was gaining on Chris a little, but not enough to catch him. My Mile 3 split was 12:45 (for Miles 2 & 3).

I finished in 19:30 (6:15/mile). That was good enough for 14th overall, but only 8th in my age group. Once I got home I figured out I was 6 seconds off my PR at the Bun Run last year. Not bad for a 90 degree, evening race after working all day (I'm sure I can think of some more excuses). It was a good workout.

I figured out after the race that I must have started out fast and slowed down into my 6:05 first mile. I then held the pace that I was doing at the marker. That's why the next two miles were slower than I thought.

Congrats to Sadie for setting a new PR by 46 seconds. I'm proud of her for running so well.

(I also just found out that it was 103 at the start of the race)

Watches

2008-07-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

I've been a little running-watch deficient lately since my trust Timex Ironman went kaput a few weeks ago. Sadie gave me that watch for our first Christmas together . It's the first watch I had that I could store my workouts in so that I didn't have to erase them each day. I got in the habit of keeping my previous marathon mile splits in it until I ran the next one.

I wore it pretty much every day until a few weeks ago when the strap finally broke. I thought it would be an easy fix until I realized that the strap and watch were basically all one piece. You can't just go out and buy the replacement strap. You have to mail it off to Timex and have them replace it for you. I managed to hold it together for a couple months with a combination of dental floss, super glue, and electrical tape, but it all finally came apart. At about the same time, the watch started acting up when I got sweaty during a run. I had recently changed the battery and I guess it must not be sealed perfectly. I took that to mean that it was time for a new one.

For my birthday, Sadie gave me a sweet new Garmin 405. It's a cool new toy to train and run with, especially on long or easy runs, but it doesn't quite work well on some of our track workouts. Mac has us do a lot of workouts where we stop for our recovery. A lot of the time my Garmin goes into sleep mode because it's inactive for too long. Then I have to restart it and acquire the satelites again before I run. It works, but it's just a little easier to have a standard watch on those runs. Plus, I can't really wear my Garmin to work. I have a couple dress watches that I don't like to wear to work either, so I really needed a new Timex.

Check out my new watch. It's the same model as before, but it has the regular brushed chrome case instead of the blue one. 150 lap memory and hopefully an improved band.

Entering A New Age Group

2008-07-03T11:14:00.000-07:00

Dang, it's been a long time since I posted anything.

Well, today is my 35th birthday, so it should be an eventful weekend. I just had lunch with Sadie, my mom and my boss, Larry at the Iron Cactus. This evening Sadie and I are going to dinner with my Dad and Marta. Tomorrow we may go downtown to see the annual fireworks show the city has every year in my honor. On Saturday we're going up to the winery and out to dinner again in Marble Falls.

Here's a list of things that change now that I'm 35:

I'll be in a new age group in all my races.
My Boston qualifying time is now 3:15 instead of 3:10.
I can now run for President.
I'm closer to my 40's than my 20's.
If I was in the NFL, NBA or MLB I would be a grizzled veteran.
If I was on the PGA Tour I would be entering my prime.

Chad Vader

2008-05-09T17:15:00.000-07:00

I just ran across this on YouTube.

Boston 2008 - Race Report

2008-04-27T19:13:00.000-07:00

The start of the Boston Marathon is pretty cool. It's about 1/2 mile walk from the Athlete's Village to the starting corrals. Along the way we dropped off our clothing bags at the school buses that corresponded to our bib numbers. Everybody seemed really excited. Duane and I chatted with a guy from Austin that happened to be in the crowd with us.

Here's some pictures showing the big crowd headed for the start of Wave 1. It seemed like there were 100 buses lined up collecting all the bags.

Once we reached the starting area, Duane and I ran into Murray and chatted about the race. I had to use the restroom one more time, but the porta-potty lines were too long. A bunch of guys were peeing on the side of the library building in Hopkinton, which didn't seem to amuse the guy next door. I ended up going over there too, but used a bottle so that I wasn't leaving anything behind.

Once we got into the starting corral (#3), we met up with Ken and Thomas and got ready to go. After the national anthem and a flyover that was partially hidden by the clouds, they shot off the gun and we were off. I was finally running the Boston Marathon.

My race plan was to have as much fun as possible. I thought I could run around 8:00/mile and feel comfortable. Duane and I were planning to take it easy, hit the beer stops, take some picture and try to enjoy the race.

I knew the the start was going to be downhill, but I had no idea it was going to be so steep. We cruised along letting everyone go by as much as possible, but it's really impossible to run slow when there are thousands of people around you running fast. The first mile was between 7:30-8:00/mile including a stop to use the restroom again.

Here's a couple picture's of Mile 1. Travis us passed when we stopped to let Duane use the woods. I got some weird looks from some people when I started walking and taking pictures.

After that we settled in to a good pace for the next several miles. As much as we tried to slow down we alway seemed to be running between 7:30 - 7:44. Around Mile 6 I started feeling my Gu belt loosening. I reached down and it came completely off. It took some time to get it put back together while I was running. We stopped in Framingham to use the restroom again and I was able to secure it.

We started looking for Sadie and Jennifer because we knew they would be out there somewhere. We finally spotted them in Natick in Mile 10. It was kind of fitting because that's where I waiting for Sadie when she ran in 2006. As soon as we saw them we cut across the runners behind us to give our wives some big hugs.

Here's what it looked like.

After that we took off into the hills. It was cool running through Natick and seeing the same things I saw in 2006, but from the runner's perspective. In 2006, there was an Elvis impersonator singing in the back of a truck. This year he was Johnny Cash.

After Natick the hills began and my pace started to slow. We went from mostly sub-8:00 miles to 8:12 & 8:43. Pretty soon though we started into Wellesley and started hearing the girls. You can't help but run faster when enter that wall of noise. Check it out.

We didn't stop for any kisses, but I did manage to high-five as many as I could while running and taking pictures.

Pretty soon afterward I really started to feel my lack of training. By Mile 15 I started to notice Duane pulling away and then slowing down to let me catch up. I finally told him to stop waiting for me and to keep going. From here I was in survival mode, trying to just finish. I kept on running but really slowed down. The sun was out and I felt really hot. We were approaching the Newton Hills and I was determined to run through them. I did take the time for a video.

I knew my mom and Jim would be in here somewhere and I was really looking for them. I needed and excuse to take a break and I wanted to give them my camera because it felt like it weighed 20 pounds at this point. My back hurt, my hamstrings were tight and it felt like I was crawling. The crowds were getting huge and were really loud so I was starting to worry that I would miss them. I finally saw them between 19 and 20, ran over to see them and ditched my camera. I was so glad to see them. While I was talking to them, John from training group ran by and said hi. It surprised me because I expected him to be way down the road. I ran to catch up with and he wasn't having a great day. After a little while he started walking and I went on.

I managed to run through the big hills and make it over Heartbreak Hill. Kate was on the side of the road with a big yellow sign so I ran over to say hi. I wanted to stop for a little bit but they kept yelling at me to run. Kate joked that Lance Armstrong was just ahead of me.

The last 6 miles became a run/walk-athon. I should have kept my camera because I was moving so slowly. I started walking through water stops and trying to drink as much as possible. I could feel my legs cramping all over whenever I pushed too hard. Despite all of this I was still enjoying myself. I just tried to soak in the atmosphere and check out the runners and the crowds. I stopped to stretch occasionally. People in the crowd would urge me on and make me start running again. A lot of people would see my hat and yell "Go Texas" or "Hook em Horns". They all helped keep me going.

I had known for some time now that 3:30 was out of the question, but it never dawned on me until about Mile 22 that I wasn't going to beat 3:37, Sadie's 2006 Boston time. I did some quick calculations and realized I had no chance at that. I felt good about it though. She worked her butt of that year training for Boston and gave it a whole lot more effort than I did. She deserves to be the fastest Boston marathoner in our family.

The last few miles were tough and a lot of it was a blur. I remember seeing Mac on the sidelines and stopping to talk to him for a few seconds. I remember passing Fenway where my Rangers were getting kicked around by the Red Sox again. I remember thinking I needed to hustle to beat 3:50.

With a mile to go I was walking along, trying to keep from cramping up, when I looked over and saw a guy sitting against the fence with an oxygen mask on being attended to by the EMS. I said to myself, "At least I feel better than him" and figured I ought to be running. From there I ran all the way to the finish.

When I made the final turn onto Boylston I could finally see the finish. It seemed like a million people were lining the streets. I just ran and smiled. As I neared the finish line, I actually felt myself tear up a little. I had just run the Boston Marathon. 3:48.

Boston 2008 - Almost to my Race Report

2008-04-23T20:46:00.000-07:00

Monday was a day I had been thinking about for 4 years. Every time I tried and failed to qualify for Boston made me want it even more. My Boston Marathon race day was finally here and I was ready to soak it all in.

I knew when I signed up that this wouldn't be a fast race for me. There were too many missed workouts and long runs due to our wedding and honeymoon, along with a foot injury, to put me in peak shape for a hard race. Of course, I wouldn't trade our wedding and honeymoon experience for anything, so it didn't bother me at all. Duane's training was about the same as mine because of his work, so we decided to run Boston as an easy long run and to try and have as much fun as possible.

I woke up at 5:30 AM so that we could catch the charter bus at 6:45AM for the trip to Hopkinton. There were a lot of other Austin runners there including Travis, Ken, Chris and several members of my Rogue group. We all got to talk about our plans for the race and give each other a little grief.

In Hopkinton, they take you to the Athlete's Village where everyone waits for the start. I got out to get some fresh air, use the restroom and take some pictures.

About 50 minutes before the start they called Wave 1 to head toward the start. Along the way we dropped our bags at the school buses and walked in a huge mass of runners to the starting corrals.

(To Be Continued. I want to go to bed)

Boston 2008 - The Expo

2008-04-23T19:26:00.000-07:00

After the Olympic Trials, Sadie and I had some breakfast and headed to the Expo at the Hynes Convention Center. On the way we stopped by the marathon finish line for a few pictures.

It's kind of similar to this pic from 2006.

The Boston Marathon Expo is huge. It seems like any company that has anything to do with running is there. The first stop was to pick up my race packet and number.

It seems like I've seen this one before too.

After we got my packet, we made our way through the crowds to see all the booths. First stop was the Adidas booth to see all the official clothing. I ended up buying a jacket, a sleeveless shirt, a short sleeve shirt and new cap. My favorite hat for the last two years has been my red 2006 Boston Marathon cap that I bought at the expo when Sadie ran Boston. It was a cool feeling to get a new cap, this time in black, that had my Boston year on it.

The expo was extemely crowded, so we basically pushed our way down each aisle getting free samples and tasting food. I was glad that I wouldn't be racing hard the next day because we spent a lot of time there and used up some energy. We both love Nike clothes and bought a few hats and a shirt at their booth. Kate had called earlier to see if we would get her a Red Sox cap that they only sell at the expo. Sadie and I both got them in 2006. It's Nike's featherlight running cap styled like the Red Sox cap. We managed to get her one of the last 3 that they had.

At the New Balance booth, we ran into one of Sadie's friends, Jill, and her husband Dick Beardsley, who had the famous duel with Alberto Salazar in the 1982 Boston Marathon. They were both extremely nice, congratulated us on our wedding, and wished me luck in my 1st Boston Marathon.

Pretty soon we were tired of the expo and ready for lunch. We met up with Duane and Jennifer in the lobby and went to lunch across the street. At lunch, we all made our plans to meet up the next morning for our big race.

Boston 2008 - U.S. Women's Olympic Trials

2008-04-22T20:37:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, the day before the marathon, we woke up a little early to watch the U.S. Women's Olympic Marathon Trials. As luck would have it, the course actually ran right below our hotel room window. Here's a picture of the leader coming by on the 1st lap.

After we got dressed, we went outside to watch the rest of it. We found Ken & Kate and were able to cheer on the 4 Austin runners. They had the course set up so that you could stay in one spot and see them all go by about 8 times. Deena Kastor ended up winning after holding back for the 1st part of the race. It was cool to see the difference after she picked up the pace. Here are some more pics:

It was a lot more fun to watch then I had expected.

2008 Boston Marathon: Pre-Race Report

2008-04-21T15:54:00.000-07:00

Today I, Chad Jones, ran the Boston Marathon. And it hurt really bad.

I figured out that even if you run slowly, it is still 26.2 miles to the finish.

List: New Things I Ate in France

2008-04-18T21:08:00.000-07:00

We had a great time on our honeymoon in France. I'm sure most of you have read about it on Sadie's blog . She has all the pictures.

Here's a list of things I ate in France that I had never had before.

Pork Terrine - I didn't order this, but the waiter brought it to me anyway. I ate it because it was easier than trying to explain it to a French guy. It kind of looked like canned cat food.
Pain au chocolate - the French sure now how to cook pastries.
Coq au vin - apparently this is an old rooster cooked in wine broth. It was really good.
Beef jaw - I ate this at one of our nicest meals in a small restaurant in Saignon. I knew it was beef, but didn't know exactly what it was until Sadie told me. Of course, she knew what I was eating all along.
Duck - this was served in a sort of pastry and was probably the best thing I ate.
A pizza with an egg on it.
Crepes - I had a couple with Nutella and one sucre citron crepe. And no, they're not little bitty pancakes.
Nougat - "Nu-gah" - our hotel had a basket of these little candies in the lobby along with jars of marshmallows and gummy candies.
Club Sandwich
Pomme frites - "real" French fries. mmmmmm!

Off to Boston

2008-04-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

Well tomorrow we're off to Boston. I'm looking forward to having a good time with this race. Since I basically took a month off for the wedding/honeymoon/work as we peaked in our training, my race plan is to run an easy pace and to just try and soak up the whole Boston Marathon experience. Duane has the same plan, so we should be running together. Murray may join us too.

It's kind of nice not having a goal time. I would kind of like to keep it under 3:30, but I really have no idea how I'm going to feel at Mile 20. I just want to keep a nice steady easy pace, cross the finish line and get that medal.

We're starting in Corral 3, so we should see Ken at the start and then see a lot of the other Austin runners as they pass us by. Hopefully, for their sake, we won't see them until the end.

2008 Capitol 20,000

2008-03-31T08:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the 4th annual Capitol 20,000. Yes, the 20,000. For the last 3 years Duane, Toby, and I have run two laps at the Capital 10,000. We've been joined by some others a couple times (Sadie, Jennifer, Duane's dog Maverick).

This year's addition was the hardest ever for me since it came less then 36 hours after returning from Sadie's and my honeymoon in France and also because I had run a total of 35 miles this month. That's not exactly the best way to peak for Boston.

Toby and Dan decided to do their extra lap before the race this year. Duane joined them and thus completed the 1st Cap30k. I kept with tradition and did the race first and the easy lap 2nd.

The race was really tough due to the humidty and my fatigue. It really helped that it rained off and on throughout the race and kept us somewhat cool. Duane and I ran the race portion in 44:12. I felt pretty good the first few miles, but by the time we got to Mopac I was starting to work real hard. I slowed down a little but was able to run a respectable time considering my training. After the race, we met up with Travis for the 2nd lap. He had a good race running sub-40/min. It was pretty tough getting started again, but we took off up Congress Avenue again.

The 2nd lap is always cool because the streets are deserted, but still closed off for the most part. It's mostly people taking down the waterstops and band setups. We usually catch the last place walkers somewhere on Enfield around Lamar. Once we do that we slowly start catching the masses of walkers. By the time we get to Cesar Chavez it gets really crowded and you start weaving through everyone. It's weird to be running through a big crowd of walkers.

The 2nd lap was really hard for me. I think we were running around a 9 min pace, but it seemed much faster. The hills took a lot out of me and by the time we got to Mopac my foot was hurting. I must have laced my right shoe too tight, because the tendons on top were really sore. We stopped at water stops and took it pretty easy. We stopped at the S. 1st St bridge so that we didn't cross the finish line a 2nd time. The 2nd lap was unnofficially 55 minutes including some stops for water and loosening my shoes.

This was the toughest version of the 20k, but I'm glad we kept the streak going.

I'm A Married Man

2008-03-16T22:28:00.001-07:00

Sadie and I were married on Saturday. I couldn't be happier to be sharing the rest of my life with such a wonderful woman. Our wedding seemed to go just as it was planned. I was a little overwhelmed to see how many of our family and friends came to celebrate with us. I'm not used to being at the center of attention (Sadie was THE center of attention, of course), but I managed to get through our vows without messing up and was able to dance without tripping.

We tried to take it all in so that we could remember our wedding with some clarity. In the short time I have to write this, a few highlights that I remember were:

Our vows that seemed to go on forever. Sadie and I both got the laughs during out turns.
Walking in at the start of the ceremony. Everyone seemed to be staring at me since Sadie hadn't entered yet. I tried to smile and make eye contact with as many people as possible.
Seeing so many people from different parts of my life all in the same room. There were family members, running buddies, golf buddies, college friends, work friends and people I know through Sadie all together.
Our first dance. We danced to George Strait's "I Cross My Heart". I can two-step okay, but I was too nervous to try any spins or twirls. We just kept moving in a big circle and I tried to stop stepping on Sadie's dress.
My dance with my mom. We danced to "Rhinestone Cowboy" and it sounded like everyone was singing along and having a good time. This was one of my favorite songs when I was a little boy. There's a good back story to why we picked it.
The champagne toast. Duane gave a wonderful toast that nearly had me crying. I had no idea what he was going to say about me, but it left me feeling great to have such a good friend.
Our exit. Everyone lined up with sparklers and we ran through them to our car. It was a beautiful ending to a great night.

All in all it was a great day. It started with a round of golf with two of my college friends and teammates, Clay and Brian, along with Brian's dad Tim. The middle of the day was spent getting ready for the wedding and hanging out in the Groom's House with all the guys and my family. It finished with the perfect wedding to my new wife Sadie. The newest Mrs. Jones. She's the love of my life.

2008 AT&T Austin Marathon

2008-02-18T13:42:00.000-08:00

Pacing the marathon, instead of racing it, was a lot of fun. This was my 6th year in a row to run the Austin Marathon, but my first time to be a pace group leader. Duane and I were the leaders of the 3:20 group and kept up the tradition of Team Mullet. Sometime in the past, the 3:20 group leaders started wearing mullet wigs during the race. Here's a picture of what mine looked like.

As a pace group leader, you really get spoiled. They gave us a couple shirts, a 1/2 zip pullover, a pair of shorts, and a pair of shoes. In addition, Rogue kicked in another 1/2 zip for helping them out on some practice pace runs. Of course, we also have the responsibility of running 26.2 miles at a certain pace. 3:20 works out to 7:38/mile. That's a nice pace for me, but certainly not an "easy run" pace.

Race day turned out really nice. It was cold at the start and gradually warmed up throughout the race. The start on Congress Avenue was nice and smooth. We ran under the fire works on the bridge and were able to get on pace pretty soon. The first couple miles were a little slow because of the crowd and the hills, but we made it all up easily on S. 1st St. In fact, we got about 30-40 seconds ahead of schedule and just held it there for most of the race. We had a really large group with us at the start and we all seemed to stay together through about 18. From there we slowly dropped some people while some others ran on ahead. By the last few miles we only had 4-5 left, but it felt good to see them finish and meet their goal time.

I felt pretty good most of the way, but started feeling some tightness in my left hamstring around Great Northern. It wasn't enough to slow me down, just bothersome enough to irritate me. The last few miles were pretty tough for both of us but we kept up the pace. Since we were still 40 seconds fast, we slowed down the last couple miles and kept urging people to beat us to the finish. You could see the pain on some people's faces when we would catch them. It would have been nice if they could have kept up with us, but normally when the pace group catches you at the end of race you're toast. It's a feeling I'm really familiar with.

The finish on Congress Avenue was really cool with some large, loud crowds. We slowed a little and yelled at the guys behind us to hurry up to beat 3:20. Duane fell in with a couple guys and pulled them to the finish. I pulled off my wig and started swing it around to get the crowd to yell. It looked like we were going to time the finish perfect, but our official finish time was 3:20:03.

This was my 12th overall marathon, 6th in a row at Austin, and my 1st time to complete the Distance Challenge. Other than St. George, it was probably the most enjoyable marathon I've run. It felt great to have people come up afterwards and thank us for pacing them, even the ones who didn't finish with us. Hopefully I'll get the chance to do it again next year.

Random Postings

2008-02-15T12:35:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted anything in a few weeks, so ....

Sadie and I will be getting married one month from today.

This weekend is the AT&T Austin Marathon and I'll be a pace leader for the 3:20 group along with my friend Duane. We'll be wearing our mullet wigs and trying to get as many people to the finish line as possible. A few guys from my Boston training group, and possibly Travis, will be jumping in to run with us as well. It should be a lot of fun.

My cat and my recliner have gone to live with Sadie as we start the merger of our two houses. I need to do some painting, install some new carpet and complete some small projects in my house so that I can get it ready to sell. I'm admittedly way behind in doing this.

Anyone looking to buy a nice 2 bedroom, 2 bath townhome in the Great Hills / Arboretum area?

Pitchers and catchers have reported for Spring Training. I'm hoping to get tickets for the Rangers-Red Sox game in Fenway while we are in Boston for the marathon.

Sadie fixed my first vegan Valentine's Day Dinner last night. Everything was very tasty, especially the Strawberry-Plum crisp that we had for desert.

If all goes well on Sunday, I'll complete my first (and probably last) Distance Challenge. They're giving out a Brooks jacket to all the finishers this year.

3M Half Marathon

2008-01-28T10:35:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty proud of my race yesterday at 3M. Despite starting too far back and having my legs feel a little lifeless, I still managed to push through for a 40 second half marathon PR.

I didn't want to battle the traffic or parking so I decided to run from my house to the start. It's a little over a mile if you cut across a few parking so lots, so it was a nice warm up for the race. I must have left my house about 5 minutes too late because by the time I got there and dropped off my clothing bag at the bag drop, the starting corral was packed. I ended up squeezing in towards the middle, but it still took nearly a minute to cross the starting line after the gun went off.

After a slow first mile, I tried to pick up the pace but it felt like a lot more effort that it should. I ran the 1st half of the race around 6:50/mile and kept thinking this might be a bad day. I was obviously still feeling the effects from the fast 22 mile run from last weekend. Around Mile 7 on Burnet Road I decided I either needed to slow down and just run it on in or I needed to pick up the pace and actually see what I had left. I chose to pick it up and see how long I would last until I blew up. To my surprise, I kept up my faster pace all the way to the end. My last two miles were my fastest two of the race (6:22, 6:15). My finish time was 1:27:56 (6:43/mile).

I'm glad I decided to pick it up because it turned a bad race into a good one. I would have liked to run faster, but I managed to get as much out of the day as I could and still ended up with a new PR. This will be a good race to remember when I get into some tough races in the future.

List: A Few Things I Can Do This Week

2008-01-23T14:29:00.000-08:00

Since Sadie is off in Cancun until Sunday, I realized yesterday that there are a few things I can do this week.

Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki sandwich at Subway with red onions and the sweet onion sauce. That was great for dinner last night.

ESPN on my TV 24/7.

Full control of the XM Radio in my truck.

I'll post more if I can think of any.

Of course, it will be better when she is back.

ARA 30K

2008-01-10T07:35:00.000-08:00

I ran the ARA 30K on Sunday. This was the 4th 0f 6 races in the Distance Challenge. It was tough, but fun race through the hills around the Barton Creek and Lost Creek neighborhoods.

My main goal for this race was not to hurt myself. I didn't want to try and push it too hard through all the big hills and and hurt my chances of running the Austin Marathon. That is especially important now since I get to be one of the 3:20 group pace leaders now and I'll have people depending on me.

The hills begin right at the start so I just lined up more towards the middle at the start and just tried to run comfortably. Unbelievably, there were people starting up front that started walking almost immediately. After dodging them I settled in to a good rythmn. The first few miles are generally uphill and I managed to stay around 7:55/mile or better. The first major downhill was on Barton Creek Blvd around Mile 5. Sadie's dad and stepmom were out there to see me run by. I slowed down to talk to them and saw Murray running up behind me. We ended up running the rest of the way together. It made the race a lot more fun having a friend to talk to the whole time, especially on the big hills and windy parts. We kept a nice steady pace the whole time and started passing a lot of people the closer we got to the finish. Sadie was at the corner of Barton Creek Blvd and Southwest Pkwy, so I got to see her twice on the most boring part of the course.

The last couple miles have some of the steapest hills, so we passed a lot of people walking in that section. Finish time was 2:28:19 (7:58/mile). I was pleased with that pace on a hard course.

Looking at the results and our 10K splits, I was 74th overall. I had the 89th fastest 1st 10K, 78th fastest 2nd 10K, and 65th fastest 3rd 10K. I liked the fact that I was better at the end than I was at start.

Only 2 more races and I will complete my first Distance Challenge. 3M will be fun.

2007 Year In Review

2007-12-31T14:38:00.000-08:00

2007 is a year that I will always look back on fondly.

Obviously, the biggest thing that happened was getting engaged to Sadie. On the two year anniversary of the day we met, I popped the question at the top of Mt. Bonnel and she said yes. Most people (Sadie included) wondered what took me so long. I just thought the 2 year anniversary of us meeting was the perfect time to do it.

The next thing was qualifying for the Boston Marathon. I ran 3:06 at the St. George Marathon in Utah. I finally made it after failing on my previous 4 attempts, but I guess the failure just made the success that much better. It was great knowing that I had finally accomplished my goal and even better seeing how happy my family and friends were for me.

Sadie and I took several trips this year.

In April we visited New York City to visit Tara. We spent 4 days there and covered nearly all of Manhattan. A few highlights were seeing a game at Yankees Stadium, going to the top of the Empire State Building, seeing the WTC site, running in Central Park, and eating at several great restaurants.
In August we went to Chicago to see Sadie's friends Erin and Mike. We toured around a little and saw the Shedd Aquarium, Michigan Avenue, Millenium Park and the Forest Park area where they live.
In October, we spent a few days in Utah after the St. George Marathon. We toured and hiked in Zion National Park for a couple days and saw all the beautiful scenery. After that we drove to Las Vegas and spent a day there. Those are two very opposite places. I think we both enjoyed Zion a lot more.

Work was very busy and kept me moving all year long.

Decker Challenge 20K

2007-12-02T12:57:00.001-08:00

Today I ran the Decker Challenge 20k, the 3rd race in the Austin Distance Challenge. I've always like Decker because of the hills, but this is the first time I have run it in 3 years. I always seem to hurt myself at this race, so I've been skipping it.

I've been missing a lot of workouts lately and I haven't been feeling good the last couple days, so I didn't quite know what to expect. I lined up a little farther back them normal to keep from starting out too fast. It apparently didn't work since Mile 1 was 6:49. A little bit quicker than I planned.

The first half was spent passing people on the uphills and getting passed on the downhills. Around Mile 7 I decided to press a little harder and finished out the rest of the way pretty strong. Sadie was at the top of the last big hill with Lilly around Mile 10 and gave me a little boost to get to the finish. I finished in 1:29:32.

The weather was a lot warmer than usual for this race, but I thought it was pretty comfortable.

Scary Sight

2007-11-20T09:34:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, Duane and I met up for a long run on the greenbelt. We were on the south side of the creek west of Mopac when we ran up behind a guy carrying a spear.

Distance Challenge

2007-11-18T18:34:00.000-08:00

I really didn't set out to run the Distance Challenge this year, but somehow find myself in the middle of it. I've completed all the races but one a couple of times, but I've never finished the entire series. Hopefully I can do it this time without affecting my Boston training. I'm trying to take it fairly easy, but I really can't be trusted to do that when I pin a number on my shirt.

Race Report: Run for the Water 10 Miler

2007-11-13T14:57:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday I ran the EAS "Run for the Water" 10 Miler. The course consisted mainly of the Scenic Loop that we all run so often. I had planned to take it pretty easy since I haven't done any training for the last month.

My preparations for this race weren't exactly ideal. Sadie and I went to a wedding in Kerrville on Saturday and didn't get back into town until late. My pre-race dinner consisted of chips and salsa, tamales, rice and wedding cake. On Sunday morning I nearly left my race number on the kitchen counter. The only reason I didn't drive off without it is that Sadie wanted me to get the course map for her. We arrived at the start about 15 minutes before the start.

I met up with Travis at the start because we both said we were going to take it easy. Since I was late arriving the starting corral was already full so I had to snake my way through a bunch of people to get to where he was. Along the way I stepped in a hole and twisted my ankle.

After apparently hearing the Burundi national anthem (sung by Gilbert, I think) we were off. So much for running easy! First mile: 7:06. Mile 2: 6:57. We finally slowed down at Mile 3 because we were going uphill: 7:24. I tried to conserve as much as I could through the hills so I would have something left. 7:15, 7:13, 7:13, 6:58. At mile 7, Travis said he was feeling good and took off. I told him to go for it. I picked it up and finished the last 3 in 7:02, 6:43, and 6:45.

Finish time 1:10:38. 7:04 pace. Not a PR but a whole lot faster than I planned or expected. I'm now 14th in my age group in the Distance Challenge.

Training for Boston

2007-11-08T10:42:00.000-08:00

After a month of laying around and enjoying my finish at St. George, it's finally time to start training for Boston. My training group starts this Saturday.

Lists: Halloween Costumes I Saw

2007-11-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

1. Spiderman
2. A sexy pirate
3. Used car salesman
4. Several witches
5. Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Carribean) driving a Toyota.
6. Clown
7. A box of Kleenex
8. Tony Romo
9. A kitty
10. A banana
11. A priest and a nun
12. Ronald McDonald

St. George Marathon: Race Report

2007-10-22T19:26:00.000-07:00

I think long-distance runner's are always looking and hoping for that perfect day. The kind of day when the weather is nice and cool, you're feeling strong, and the course is fast. It's rare when all of the variables line up at the same time. I've been fortunate enough to experience these kind of days a few times on the golf course, but never in a race until the St. George Marathon.

Sadie and I headed to St. George, UT on Thursday since the race was on Saturday. There are not many flights into St. George, so we flew into Las Vegas, rented a car (PT Cruiser convertible) and drove up. Sadie ran this race in 2005 with great success (PR'd and qualified for Boston) so we decided to repeat her pre-race preparations.

The first thing we did after arriving was drive the course. Here are a couple of pictures from the start area. The first one is me reading the rules of the race that they have posted at the start line. The second one is the porta-potties that are lined up on the side of the road.

It was really windy and fairly chilly, but that's to be expected at an elevation of 5,000 ft or so. The drive back into St. George showed me what Sadie's been talking about for 2 years. This is one downhill course. After our drive we ate dinner at a local restaurant called The Pasta Factory, and then went to bed early.

On Friday, we slept late and then went for a run on the last two miles of the course. After that we cleaned up, went to the Expo for packet pick-up, and met up with Bruce and Charles.

The Expo was pretty nice and had the usual running gear for sale. When I picked up my packet, I discovered that St. George had me classified as an "elite runner". When I signed up, I think I must have put 3:00 as a predicted finish time. Apparently that makes you elite here. We had a little fun joking about my new status.

After the expo, we all drove the course again and Sadie was able to provide us all with tips and strategies that she used for running the race. Then we went back to The Pasta Factory for lunch where we stuffed our faces with pasta and breadsticks. After lunch and a nap, we all met up for a movie and decided to go back to The Pasta Factory for dinner. (It's a good restaurant and they let you create your own pasta there, so we all felt like it was the best option). Bruce, Charles and I made plans to meet at the buses the next morning.

On Saturday morning I woke up at 4AM so that I could catch the shuttle buses to the start area at 5AM. Sadie dropped me off and said she would see me at the finish since there aren't any easily accessible viewing areas for spectators. The bus area was crowded and dark and I was a few minutes late, so I jumped on board the first bus I could. I figured I would find Charles and Bruce up at the start.

The bus ride was rather uneventful except for the fact that I started feeling nervous. I don't know what it was, but my stomach started feeling a little queasy. That's never happened to me before a race. I guess I knew that this was going to be my best chance to qualify for Boston before I turned 35 and aged into it. After failing in 4 prior attempts to qualify, I guess I wasn't 100% sure that I could do it. My calves had been bothering me all summer and I wasn't sure how they were going to withstand 26.2 miles of pounding downhill.

Once we reached the starting area everyone huddled around the bonfires that they put out to keep us warm. I brought my camera along to record everything.

About 15 minutes before the race, I left to turn in my clothing bag. That is when I noticed the Elite Runner area. We had our area fenced off with a starting corral, porta-potties and bonfires. Why hadn't I seen this before? After showing my number and being let into this area, I went over and stretched near one of our fire pits.

This is where I was standing when the starting gun went off. I was kind of startled by this because they had been counting down the minutes to the start. The gun seemed to go off about 30 seconds after the "1 minute to go" annoucement. I quickly shed the long-sleeve t-shirt I had on over my race shirt and took off down the highway. I was now running the St. George Marathon.

My plan was stay conservative for the first half of the race and then try to take advantage of the dowhills over the final 13 miles. The first 7 miles are mostly downhill until you get to Veyo. From there you enter a 5 mile section that goes uphill gradually. The biggest hill is the one coming up out of Veyo, but we had measured it to be only 1/2 mile long at the most. Starting at Mile 12 you descend all the way to the finish.

The first mile has little hill in the middle of it, but you don't really feel it since it is dark. The crowd wasn't too bad since I started near the front. Mile 1 was a pretty easy 7:14. This was a few seconds over 3:10 pace, but I felt okay. Mile 2 was 7:19. It's fairly flat and I knew the downhills were coming, so I wasn't worried.

The downhills got steeper at Mile 3 and I started to settle into a nice pace that felt easy. My paces through here were:

Mile 3 - 7:03
Mile 4 - 7:03
Mile 5 - 6:57
Mile 6 - 6:58
Mile 7 - 6:47

It felt good to see sub-7:00 on my watch. I was running easy and feeling good. As we reached Veyo at Mile 7, I was prepared to take it easy for the next few miles. These would be the only uphill miles of the race.

Mile 8 includes the steep hill out of Veyo that we studied on Friday. To my surprise, several people started walking here. I trudged along and passed a bunch of people even though I had slowed considerably. My split at Mile 8 was 7:40. The next two miles were at a 7:36 pace and didn't seem too hard since we were still climbing slightly. Miles 11 & 12 were the last of the hills. I average 7:19/mile but I knew the fun was coming.

I passed the halfway point and looked at my overall time for the 1st time. 1:34:55. I could hear the 3:10 group talking behind me, but they hadn't caught me. The best thing was that I knew I could run away from them anytime I wanted. And that is exactly what I did. I picked up the pace and started clicking off miles around 7 min or better. Every split was between 6:49 - 7:03. I was feeling good, but tried not to think about Boston. I just wanted to think about the next mile.

There is a hill around Mile 20 that is the last test before the finish. It was uphill and into the wind and the only place where I felt uncomfortable. There was a pretty big guy up ahead of me, so I caught up with him and tried to draft as much as possible. We hit the hill and I just stared at his shoes until we reached the top. From there it was all downhill to the finish. There is one section where you go around a big long curve and you feel like you're in the middle of nowhere. Sadie had pointed it out to us and told us how she had struggled a little bit there. I decided this was her part of the course. I ran through it feeling great.

At Mile 20, I looked at my overall time for the last time. I know that 2:25 was a 3:10 pace. I was at 2:23. Knowing I had a two minute cushion was big rush. Any mile under 7:16 would be adding to it. When I ran Mile 21 in 6:26, I started to know it was my day. That was followed by 7:08 and 6:49. At Mile 23 you hit the edge of St. George and spectators started lining the road.

The city limits had been a mental milestone for me, so when I reached it I just started smiling. I was going to do it. I was still a little nervous about picking up the pace since I have a history of cramping in the last few miles, but I knew I was going to qualify. I couldn't believe how good I felt the last 3 miles. A few people in the crowd even shouted out "Congratulations. You're going to Boston." I managed to say "Thanks", but I was thinking "You're damn right I'm going to Boston!"

I started looking for Sadie during the last mile. The crowd was getting thick as I made the final turn, but I spotted her right next to the Mile 26 marker. I started waving and pumping my fists until she saw me and screamed. From there I just ran all the way to the finish line celebrating. Finish time: 3:06:18. I just qualified for the Boston Marathon. Finally!

Charles and Bruce came in shortly after me. Both ran Boston-qualifying times. Rogue was 3 for 3 at St. George.

I think St. George was the perfect race on the perfect day. We had cool weather and a fast downhill course. I nailed my pre-race routine and was fully fueled and ready to go. I stuck to my plan during the race and stayed in the present. My mind rarely thought about anything negative. When I did, I quickly got it out of my head. I felt so good that it almost seemed easy. As easy as 26.2 miles can be.

My Last Two Races

2007-10-17T10:38:00.000-07:00

I was looking at my running log and noticed something interesting. Here are the results from my last two races.

6/24/07 The Belt 30K 3:06:19
10/6/07 St. George Marathon 3:06:18

I know The Belt is on trails and was muddy (and probably not exactly 30K), but it is funny to think that I ran approximately 7-8 miles farther at St. George in the same amount of time.

I hope this trend doesn't continue if I run IBM this weekend. That would be a long 10K.

(My St. George Marathon race report is coming)

St. George Marathon: 3:06:18

2007-10-06T15:44:00.000-07:00

I JUST QUALIFIED FOR BOSTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5 Days to go

2007-10-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

In five days I will be running the St. George Marathon in St. George, UT. This will be my 12th overall marathon. St. George is supposed to be a lightning fast downhill marathon starting at 5,240 ft and finishing at 2,680 ft above sea level. Here is a link to the course map and an elevation chart.

Sadie ran this race two years ago and loved it. I hope I do to.

Lists: My TV Recommendations

2007-09-25T11:57:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of shows that I am planning to watch:

Heroes - (premiered last night) I just started watching this a couple weeks ago when Sadie bought Season 1 on DVD. We plowed through 23 episodes in time for the last nights start of Season 2. Very fun show.
Friday Night Lights - Great show, plus it's fun to try and pick out where they are filming in town. It's actually on Friday now.
The Office - probably my favorite. Easily the best comedy.
Survivor-China - one of the few reality shows that I will watch.
The Amazing Race - another show Sadie got me hooked on. I don't think it comes back until later on in the year.
Lost - This one also doesn't return until later.
24 - returns in January and then runs without repeats. I hope they can make it better than last year or I may have to drop it.
CSI - the original version is still better than the two spin-offs.

Of course, you also have to add in Monday Night Football, Sunday Night Football, the MLB playoffs, golf, and several other events where a score is kept. The magic of the DVR makes it all possible.

12 Days & Counting

2007-09-24T14:17:00.000-07:00

I guess I should post something about running.

I have 12 days left until the St. George Marathon on Saturday, October 6th. My training has gone fairly well, although I have had some nagging calf issues through most of it. Fortunately, they seem to be clearing up as we start the taper.

My #1 goal for St. George is to qualify for the Boston Marathon by finishing under 3:10 (7:15/mile). This will be my 5th legitimate attempt to qualify and hopefully the last.

If I have a good day, my 2nd goal is break 3:00 (6:52/mile). I've been training for this pace all summer knowing that the course is supposed to be smoking fast. If I'm feeling good, I want to be comfortable moving that speed and seeing those splits on my watch.

My plan is stay as comfortable as possible through Mile 12 where the 4-5 mile uphill section ends. After that it looks to be a screaming downhill course. If I run smart and conserve enough, I should be able to take advantage of the downhills and smash that Boston-qualifying time.

Mmmm! Pumpkin bagels are back.

2007-09-20T13:59:00.000-07:00

I was happy to find out yesterday that pumpkin bagels are back at Einstein Bros. Sadie introduced these to me a couple years ago (I guess I should add them to the list) and I've been looking forward to them every fall since then.

Ahoy, mateys!

2007-09-19T11:37:00.000-07:00

I would like to wish everyone a very happy International Talk Like A Pirate Day. For more information, check out this website.

Oh, and this is my sister's 34th birthday. Happy Birthday, Jana! Aarrr! Me hopes ye have a merry time with lots of grog.

Chad's ACL Review

2007-09-17T13:11:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Sadie and I attended the ACL Fest in Zilker Park. It was hot and crowded, but we still had fun. Here is my review:

FRIDAY
We arrived around 4:30 to see Joss Stone. I don't know any of her songs, but I think I remember seeing her sing the national anthem before a baseball game or football game. She was entertaining and put on a good show. Much better than the other "big names" that were there. Spoon was okay but not very memorable. A lot of those bands sound alike to me. The Killers closed out the night for us and also played the one song of the night that I recognized. I think it is called "Somebody Told Me". We also saw a few minutes of MIA, The Gotan Project, and Reverend Horton Heat during the down time between shows.

The food was pretty good at the festival. It was all local restaurants serving some pretty nice items. I had some fish tacos from Saba Blue Water Cafe. Sadie had a falafel sandwich from another place.

I tried to stay off my feet as much as possible because I had a long run (24 miles) to do the next morning at 5AM.

SATURDAY
After completing my run and resting up, we went back to the festival around 5:30PM. Sadie was very excited because Muse was playing at the end of the night. The first person we saw was Andrew Bird. He put on a good show and captivated us with his whistling ability. It was really cool to hear someone work that into their performance. After that we moved over into the shade and listened to Kelly Willis. It was nice to finally hear some songs I was familiar with. That's more my style of music. The Indigo Girls played next on a different stage. We had good seats for once and were able to see and hear them sing. I snuck off in the middle of it to get some food. I had a BBQ sandwich from Stubb's (pretty good) and I got Sadie a veggie wrap from Iron Cactus. Muse closed out the night and Sadie loved it. They had a good sound and put on a pretty good show. I was getting pretty tired by this time since I had been awake since 5AM, but I was still able to enjoy it.

SUNDAY
We thought about going early to see Robert Earl Kean, but he was playing at 2:30 and I don't think either one of us wanted to spend all day out there. We arrived around 5 or 5:30 again. Regina Spector was playing and all I remember is her saying the "F" word a few times and getting loud cheers. We saw Billy Joe Shaver on a smaller stage and settled down in the shade to watch him for about 30 minutes. It was fun to people watch from that spot. Towards the end we saw our only celebrity: the girl who plays Julie on Friday Night Lights (one of our favorite shows). After Sadie could't take it any longer, we move over to get ready for Ghostland Observatory. Wilco was finishing up on a close stage so we sort of listened to them. After waiting for about 30 minutes, we lasted through 2 songs of Ghostland Observatory. Their laser show was cool, but it was mostly a bunch of noise. The Decemberists were our next stop. Their lead singer had a voice I could understand better and sang some fun songs. Bob Dylan was the headliner of the whole festival and started right after The Decemberists finished. It seemed like the entire crowd came over to watch because it was packed at the start. We were so far away we couldn't see him (even on the screen) and we obviously couldn't understand a word he said. After 4 songs we hit the road along with everyone else.

RECAP
The festival was fun, but I don't think either one of us feels the need to go next year. Been there, done that. It might be fun to get a one day ticket if someone shows up that we really want to see, but 3 days is a little much.

Chad 37 Beans 23

2007-09-17T11:36:00.000-07:00

I've had this blog for a little over a week now and I have managed to accomplish one goal. My blog has more posts than Sadie's cat's blog, although it is close.

Of course, his paws make it difficult to type and he keeps getting distracted by the mouse, so I guess I have a built in advantage.

Lists: New Food In My Diet Since Meeting Sadie

2007-09-10T15:28:00.000-07:00

1. Rice
2. Subway
3. Sushi
4. Fish Tacos
5. Stir fry bowls
6. Miso soup
7. Mushrooms
8. Key Lime Pie
9. Sweet potato fries
10. Homemade smoothies
11. Yogurt

(Updated 9-11-07)