1/30/2009 New Plan..........for now.

Not much running over the last few days due to work but I got out for about 30 minutes today and put in some intervals. I don't really care for speedwork and it's never really been that important to me but I do think that it burns a lot of calories. Calories...........something I definitely need less of. I haven't started my strength training with the kettlebells yet because the money I was going to buy them with is going to all of my race entry fees. My running is much more important to me than the other. In the meantime I think I am going to do this. It's cheap and efficient. Once I get some of my races done then I can spend a little extra money on the kettlebells.
Ok, so I am going to put in a nice long run tomorrow before work and then slow it down big time for Rocky. Also I've been trying to get Zach to get out and run a little but he ain't done it yet. Oh, well, he'll just have to deal with his side stitches again! ha

1/25/2009 "I'm Board Man!"

This weekend brought some fantastic running weather along with it! Today was amazing! I put in a little over 10 miles out on 1585 with 68 degree temps with no wind. I really feel for the people that don't get out and experience that kind of bliss. In retrospect I probably should have put in about 20 miles since it was so gorgeous! Oh, well! I felt really good after the 10 and I'll put in another long run towards the end of this week then taper for Rocky.

Ok, so I know you're wondering why I titled this entry "Board Man," so here ya go. BOARD MAN, Defender of all that is Inflexible, Stiff, and ummmm, un-yogalike! That's me! My secret identity is blown! For the love of all that is pliable, would someone help me?? haha I really need to start doing some kind of stretching routine or yoga or something! If any of you know of a good program or video for runners, please, let me in on the secret! I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks, and Peace for now!

1/22/2009

Alrighty then, I didn't run at all while I worked, just too busy. I did, however, get out today and run an easy 8. The weather is just downright fantastic! A slight breeze and the temp is around 75 degrees right now. Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer! Crazy! Not supposed to be able to run shirtless in January.

So Rocky is coming up pretty quick. I am borrowing Aubrey's big tent for this run so Zach and I can be a little more comfortable. Plus we'll have running water there too which will be soooo nice compared to the wet wipe route. ha They've put in another one mile kid's run so Zach is entered in it again. He's ready to go. I'll post more about our plans as it draws nearer. Gotta put in a couple more long runs over the next week too so I need to get busy.

1/16/2009 Big Miles..........NOT!

Okay, so I ran a little 4 mile recovery run on Wednesday and then another 4 miler today. Yeah, yeah, I know, big miles!! I hopefully will be able to put in a longer run in the morning. I will get my run done early in the morning since I have to take a nap in the afternoon and work tomorrow night.

Man, I really need to get focused on my diet! I am wanting to really lean up this year but I am eating all kinds of crap lately, like craving Blizzards from DQ and that kind of stuff. That's really weird for me cuz I just don't really crave that kind of junk food. Just gotta get some more self discipline. Hopefully on this next paycheck I will be able to buy the kettlebells I want too, so that will help. Ok, so now you're updated! Have a great day! Peace!

1/13/2009 The 50 Mile Texas Style Grand Slam

Well, it's official..........I'm a freak! I've decided to commit proverbial hari kiri and get into the mix with the 50 Mile Texas Style Grand Slam. I was flipping through races yesterday and came across this thing. It starts with the Palo Duro 50 miler which I've already completed and then the Rocky Raccoon 50 is coming up next. Two of the other races on it were also on my agenda for this year so the only thing extra I have to add is the Cross Timbers 50 miler. The tough part about that is that Cross Timbers is only 2 weeks after Rocky Raccoon!! I think it'll be an absolute rockin good time! I will have to run The Grasslands 50 in March and then the Rocky Hill Ranch 50 in April. The awards for completing the Grand Slam will be presented at Rocky Hill which is obviously the last race in the series. Pretty cool that I happened upon it and that I had already completed the first one in the series and had 3 others from it on my list to do in 2009. Fate, ya know?

Okay, so on another note, I received my new copy of Ultrarunning Magazine in the mail today. It has the story and results from the Javelina Jundred in it and I'M ON PAGE 10!! Of course, I'm in the middle of a pack of runners, but still, it's cool! My kids looked at me like I was famous! haha

1/12/2009 Bandera 50K Race Report

Zach and I had a fantastic weekend! The Hill Country State Natural Area was absolutely beautiful and robust with trees, cactus, yucca, and various wildlife. We got there around 2pm and found a good parking/camping place close to the main lodge aid station. We just slept in the back of the Xterra. At 4pm Friday afternoon we sent the kids off on the inaugural One Mile Kids Run! There were 11 participants of various ages and Zach broke the tape first! He was completely winded but stoked! They had really cool awards for the kids, kind of a pewter iguana with a plaquard saying Bandera Endurance Run 1st place! Very cool! After the race we had a delicious dinner catered by a local restaurant. Spaghetti and Tortellini plus a salad. Pretty tasty! After a brief prerace meeting Zach and I headed off to bed. We watched 10,000 BC on the portable DVD player and then crashed for the night. Around 4am a strong wind started blowing and would continue to wreak havoc all day. The temp for the day was in the 50's but felt cooler than that due to the wind. Anyway, the race started promptly at 7:30am and the 100K, 50K, and 25K runners would all head off in different directions. It was so nice to not have to fight the cattle chute. Ok, so, the first 10 miles of the 50K course were the toughest by far. There was a lot of climbing and neverending rocks. Apparently they don't believe in switchbacks down there either. If you came to a huge hill you just had to go straight up over the top and then dodge rocks on the way down the other side. At this point I was thankful for the small amount of time I devoted to getting on the elliptical at a higher setting. I got to chuckling when Chris, a 6'8" runner from San Antonio, asked me how I liked the scenery and I told him that all I could see was rocks and horse shit! You really did not want to take your eyes of the trail for a second due to all the rocks. After the first 10 miles it leveled off and most of the course was on nice soft dirt trails and some beautiful wooded paths. However, one mile from the 50K finish, Joe put in a monstrous uphill battle with loose rocks thrown in. I heard several people cursing his name. I told him such and he just said, "Good!" haha Overall an absolutely beautiful and diverse place to run in. The aid stations, as usual with Joe and Joyce's races, were well stocked and manned by fun, helpful people. They had everything you might need! I felt pretty good for the whole race, and never had any ITB issues which was amazing! Yay! I finished the race in 6:37. Not the fastest time but good enough to land me right square in the middle of the pack. I was pleased with my performance. After I finished I went back to the Xterra and had to use wet wipes for my shower. No running water at the park! That part sucked but c'est la vie. Hopefully no one saw me in the front seat. ha After I got "sparkling clean" I headed back to the Lodge aid station so I could help out for awhile with the 100K runners and so forth. Also, once again, I got to meet some amazing new friends and catch up with some older ones. I saw Chris Harrison from San Diego whom I ran with at Javelina. She was doing the 100K. Dan Brenden was there for the 100K as well. I also met Matt Crownover and his wonderful family. Apparently, Zach and Makenzie had met his kids at the Palo Duro Trail Run and become friends with them. The Crownover's and their friends, the Teaster's, invited Zach and I over to their camp site for Taco Soup after the race. It was delicious and I also got to drink a Shiner. So good after running! Matt ran the 100K and bested his PR by over 2 hours! Awesome! He felt like he really nailed his fueling that day. That makes a huge difference. I also got to meet a fellow Lubbock runner, Jeff Key. A great guy who I hope to get to know better here in Lubbock. He had some Land Shark beers and I snagged two of them off of him while we chilled out and talked. Next time I need to take a cooler of my own! ha Zach and I headed to bed around 9pm or so and I was wide awake by 3am because the air mattress we were sleeping on decided to deflate in the night and I was sleeping on the hard floor of the car. It was freezing cold and windy and I didn't want to have to get Zach out of the car and then freeze my ass off waiting for it to air up so I decided to go ahead and git on home. I got up and shoved a sleepy Zach into the front seat and we took off. ha I hated to miss the breakfast but we would have had to wait around for several more hours in the cold and I am a puss when it comes to cold. Anyway, we got home around 10am yesterday morning. I went to see Hunter, my massage therapist, yesterday afternoon and I feel pretty good today. So, all in all, I am very pleased with this race, the course, the people, and my performance! I will definitely be back next year!

1/8/2009 Bandera 50K this weekend

Ok, so I head out for the Bandera 50K in the morning. My son, Zach, is going along with me. I think we are just going to sleep in the back of the Xterra instead of pitching a tent since I just don't feel like setting one up. ha I just got back from the store, picking up snacks for us and I have some new movies to take to play on the portable DVD. This is Zach's first time to work an aid station so he should have a lot of fun. He'll be working at the Lodge aid station while I run. I also volunteered to help out after I'm done running since there will still be lots of 100K runners on the course still. There is also a one mile kids run tomorrow afternoon so that should be a lot of fun. I'm hoping my base will carry me through this since I haven't been running a whole helluva lot lately. Work has been killer and I've been completely exhausted. The course is supposed to be tough too! Yay! ha I think we'll have a good time. I'll let ya know!

1/2/2009 My New Fat Loss Plan

Ok, so, I find it amazing that with as much time as ultrarunners spend on the road and trails training that we would have any fat at all, but some of us do. Having said that, being the age of 37, I do have some extra around my middle that I just cannot seem to get rid of! I have some friends that have been using kettlebells to their great advantage over the last year or so and I guess I am going to have to buy into it. They really work! I bought a highly suggested DVD that shows the appropriate workouts for building better muscle and burning fat! Next thing I need to do is buy some kettlebells. ha It is suggested that a typical male of decent fitness should start out with a pair of 35lb kettlebells, each of which cost around 48 bucks. Not too bad. The program is lined out so that you work a different area each day of the week starting out with 4 days a week progressing to 6 days a week. He suggests not doing any other cardio work AT ALL! Ok, he lost me there, cuz obviously I am going to be running a lot with all my races on the horizon. I do, however, think that they will complement each other nicely. I'll buy my kettlebells sometime in the next week or two and get started. Let'er rip! (Not literally, of course!)

12/31/2008 Last entry for 2008!

The weather around here is freaking nuts! Yesterday we ran in the afternoon and I started out in shorts and a long sleeve technical shirt. We only ran 6 miles but by mile 2 I was hot as hell! It was 79 freaking degrees out there! I ran the last 4 miles shirtless. Crazy! Today I had to wear pants, a jacket, gloves, and a beanie cuz it was only TWENTY NINE DEGREES!! Ridiculous! Oh, well. I got in a beautiful 12 miles this morning which was just fantastic! I work the next two nights and then off for one day. I will try to get in about 16-18 miles on Friday. At least that's the plan.
Ok, so everyone have a great New Year's Eve and be careful out there! I'm on duty tonight but don't really want to have to do anything! Peace and I'll talk to ya in 2009!

12/28/2008 On the Horizon

Today brought warmer weather with less wind so it was perfect out there. I may have dressed a little warmer than I needed but I felt okay. We ran a 10 mile out and back on 1585 and I am feeling strong and painfree. Good news since the Bandera 50K is less than 2 weeks away. I haven't had any ITB issues either which makes me extremely happy!! Thank the Gods for the discovery of the foam roller. Something so simple yet so effective! I'll probably run a little shorter tomorrow and then longer on Tuesday and Wednesday.
On another note, I have registered as a volunteer for the Gore-Tex TransRockies Run in August up in Colorado. Chris, one of the gals I ran with at Javelina, said that she had done it this last summer and it was loads of fun. So I will be hanging out in the Colorado Rockies for 6 days getting cool stuff from Salomon and Windstopper! Oh, and manning aid stations and such for a bunch of cool runners as well. They said that it will be hard work but lots of fun. Sounds great to me! I'm a little torn because the Lean Horse 100 is on August 22-23 and the TransRockies starts on the 23rd so I won't be able to run it like I'd originally planned. I figure the TransRockies Run will be a really good trade off though and I'm looking forward to it!

12/27/2008 Let's Get It Going!

Ok, so.........WOW.........thank the stars that all of that is over!! I feel like a fat freaking pig! Time to get busy now. I hit the elliptical yesterday for about 30 minutes on an easy setting and did a little bit of strength training and that was about it. Today Aubrey and I got out there and put in an easy 5 miles. I definitely could have gone longer but thought 5 was a nice number to start with. I have a few days off and the kids are with my parents until next Saturday so I can really focus on my running and my stupid weight. My "resolution" is to make my body weight 155 lbs a reality for this year, in which case I would have to lose about 15 lbs. Shouldn't be too hard. I am going to buy some kettle bells and get a training DVD and see if they are all they are cracked up to be. I hope so. Plus I plan on doing a LOT of racing this year.

12/25/2008 MERRY CHRISTMAS!

For today that's all there is to say. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOURS from Me and Mine!! I love you all!

12/23/2008

Work has had me by the tail the last few days. Tonight is my last night of five and it's gonna be tough to make myself go in. I've not gone and run at all the last few days simply because I've been exhausted (and it's been pretty fricking cold!). Hopefully tomorrow morning will see a little 5 miler or something but I doubt it. We have to travel to Amarillo for Christmas Eve with my family and then drive back home the same night. Anyway, I have a few days off coming up this weekend and I can put in some time running. I'm ready. My brain is really needing it. Running is to my brain as Roto-Rooter is to a stopped up toilet. It flushes the shit out!

12/18/2008 Spurring in the New Year

I thought about making this post a recap of the last year and as I was typing...........I got hand cramps. A LOT has happened this year! I'm just going to let the previous sentence suffice for all I have (or had) to say! I have even MORE stuff planned for '09 so I am primed and ready to go. Aubrey and I put in a nice, easy 8 miles this morning and had a great time. The weather was perfect! I head back to work tomorrow for a 5 night workfest which sucks big time. Again, I really hate work.
It's obviously the Christmas season so it will be busy for the next week and a half or so but I am hoping to keep the miles coming on a pretty regular basis. With Bandera looming on the horizon I feel that I need to put on the proverbial spurs and kick myself into a higher gear. YEE HAW, 2009, HERE I COME!!

I cannot wait to see this!

This movie comes out on May 1st! I am a huge superhero movie freak! I love seeing the characters that I read about as a kid come to life on the big screen! They are way too much fun! Luckily my wife and kids feel the same way. Nothing like a family of freaks!!

Oh, and no running today. Maybe tomorrow before work.

Don't I Wish!?!?!?

I always love having a little fun with Photo Shop! I got to playing around with it tonight and came up with this little farce! Cool, huh?

12/15/2008 Brrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!

The high was only like 32 today. We waited until this afternoon to get in a little 6 mile run. The wind was out of the northeast around 5-10mph so a big improvement from yesterday. It wasn't too bad once we got started since the winter clothes they make nowadays are just soooo good! You can be VERY lightweight but incredibly warm at the same time. So we're planning on a little further distance tomorrow. It's supposed to be a tad warmer so we'll see.

12/14/2008

I really wish that I could have gotten a picture of the wind today. It was gusting up into the 40+ mph range. The sand and dirt that were blowing would have given you a facial that Joan Rivers would be proud of! Anyway, Aubrey and I figured we would wait until the wind laid just a little. So around 5pm or so we headed out to 1585 and the wind was still about 20mph. But it wasn't too cold........yet. We planned on doing the same thing as yesterday by parking our cars 5 miles apart and then just running with the wind at our backs. However, my Xterra's battery cable had other ideas. It just didn't want to start once we got our there so we just called off the run for tonight. Also, about the same time, the cold front from up north blew in and we felt the temperature drop about 20 degrees while we were working on the car. We'll see what we can do tomorrow after I put in a new battery cable.

12/13/2008 Whoo Hoo

Ok, so Aubrey joined me this afternoon and we ran a fantastic 5 miles out on 1585. The wind was pretty outrageous so we parked his car at the first mile and then ran east to my car 5 miles down the road with the wind at our backs. It was really nice! My legs felt really good and so did everything else. I was actually able to kick it up for the last 200 yards to a 5:03 pace! Anyway, we are heading back out tomorrow for a little longer run for me and then Aubrey will catch on to the back side of my run. Hopefully 8 or 10 miles will happen for me. I'll let ya know. Hopefully I've beaten the African Sleeping Sickness! We shall see!

12/12/2008 Lazy Man Sittin!

I've had the last two days off................and haven't done shit but sleep! I've been completely exhausted! I'm wondering if we've had an outbreak of African Sleeping Sickness here in Lubbock!?!? Today marks the one week point since I've run. Last Friday I ran the 10 miler and then I went back to work. It's been really busy and I guess it's just worn me out! I am sitting here trying to kind of force myself out the door for a few miles before work tonight but it just ain't happening. I am just going to put it down to a "well deserved break" and not sweat it. I have Bandera coming up in a month!! I think that my base is good enough to handle any mileage jumps I may have to make in the next couple of weeks, which is good, because I am going to HAVE to make those mileage jumps. Aubrey says that he wants to run tomorrow so that will be a good motivator. He can meet me for the back half of my run, that way I can go longer. Anyway, the plan is to get back into it tomorrow! I have 6 days off after tonight so it should be doable. Now if I can just get over this damn guilt!