Hog's Hunt taper

Jakeb and I are ready for Hog’s Hunt this weekend. He has backed off some for a mini taper going into this weekend. We ran 12 together Friday before last and Jakeb had a really good run.

I signed up for the Rocky Hill Ranch 50k, so for training Friday I ran 11.5 with Jason Culverhouse (who talked me into RHR) and Greg Jones. We ran some roads and some single track. Then on Saturday Jakeb and I ran 8 together and I ran 2 more alone. I have not put enough time on my feet to run a 50k very well at Rocky Hill but I think I will be able to finish. The competitor in me may have a hard time taking it easy but I will try.

Here is my last week and a half of running:

3/21 – 12 w/Jakeb
3/22 – 7
2/23 – 5 (3 w/Jakeb)
3/24 – 5 (4 w/Jakeb)
3/25 – 5
3/26 – 5
3/27 – rest and strength
3/28 – 11.5 w/Jason and Greg
3/29 – 10 (8 w/Jakeb)
3/30 – 5.5
3/31 – 5 (3 w/Jakeb)

Jakeb ran some on his own during the time above. His miles alone are not listed. I ran 164 miles in March with two 42 mile weeks in a row.

Complain, so much easier ...

Jakeb has been out of town for the last couple of days turkey hunting with his Grandpa (Andrea’s dad). He was planning to run in the hill country while he was gone but I asked him about it when he got home and he said he had not ran at all. He had some lame excuse about it raining or something to that effect.

Last night I told him, “Get ready because in the morning I am dragging your sleepy rear end out of bed and we’re running three.”

So as promised at 5am I went into his room and shook him and said “Jake, get up and let’s go run.”

I heard a muffled “Uhhhhh ….” from under the covers.

I said, “I don’t think so, get up and let’s go run. While you’re at it put on a long sleeve shirt because it is a little cool.”

“Uhhhhh …”

He came down stairs griping about running in the cold and moaned as he put his shoes on. He said “ooouuuch” as we started the first stretch.

We stepped out of the house and started walking to warm up. Jakeb asked, “Can we start running now? It’s cold and I want to run to warm up.” What he didn’t say was that he wanted to start running so that the running would be over sooner.

We took off at a moderate pace running what we call the Oyster Creek route. As we moved through the run the pace got progressively faster. By the time we hit the 1st mile marker we were running at a decent clip, faster than my marathon pace. I didn’t start my watch so I do not have splits but I asked Jake at a mile and a half if he was okay with the pace and he said “yeah”. And that was it.

So we ran without slowing, on the sidewalk through the moss covered trees on Oyster Creek Drive, past an old man on his morning walk. As we turned the corner onto Sycamore a third of a mile from home I picked it up a notch and Jakeb stayed with me. We still aren’t killing it but after all of the complaining I heard before the run I was impressed.

About a hundred yards from the end of the Oyster Creek route Jakeb said “That felt awesome! Good run!”

I said, “HA! Now you see why I forced you to get out of bed.”

We got home and Jakeb took and shower and went back to sleep. - My son the paradox.

I woke up this morning with a funny taste in my head

My daughter Tori and I went to a concert last night to see Ingrid Michaelson, Sara Bareilles and others I had never heard of. It was a good concert when Ingrid and Sara were singing. There are a lot of interesting stories to tell but now is not the time. We stood in the same spot for a long time and my feet and back were hurting by the time the concert was over. I fell in bed at a little after 1am.

This morning the alarm went off at 6 am and I woke up Jakeb and we ran 10 miles. We had to get out early because Andrea’s dad was picking up Jakeb this morning to take him turkey hunting. Surprisingly the ten miles turned out to be good run for me. We ran around seven miles on concrete and about 3 miles on trails. The rest of the day has been okay but if I sit still for to long my eyes want to close.

I bought a pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8. I hated the 7s but I think it is because they are too narrow and hurt my feet. I bought the eights in a 2E for the additional width. I ran the 10 in them this morning and I think I am really going to like them. Ask me again what I think went I get 100 miles on them.

This week was a 40-mile week. It is good to run that many miles again.

Friday stuff

I ran 10 miles this morning at a comfortable pace. Jakeb ran the first four miles with me.

I had a root canal at 9:30. I didn't like it.

I ate Chinese food for lunch went shopping and got coffee, all with Andrea.

I went with Anna back to the dentist for her to get a cavity filled. She didn’t like it at all.

Jakeb had a birthday party tonight. He and his friends are gone now having an air-soft gun war.

Jason asked me if I wanted to run Rocky Hill on April 19th. He is running the 50-miler. I am thinking about the 50k. We would camp out Friday evening, run Saturday and come home Saturday night. I would have to take it easy but it sounds like fun to me.

More Bayou City Classic Pictures

Running

Finishing

Giving the Evil-Eye


















Walking in with my favorite woman in the world (Andrea)

Bayou City Classic Pictures

Jakeb, Tori, Peter, Mycaela

(l to r)

Mr. Evil

Andrea:
Only one number away from evil

Jakeb running

Tori and Peter
Doing something that is not running

Wilco and a 10k PR

Last night I went to see Wilco in concert. It was one of the best concerts I have ever seen. Wilco is such a great band musically and Wilco’s music makes more sense after you see them live. That’s why their CD Kicking Television is the best.

I got home at 12:30am this morning from the concert and I had to wake up at 4:30am to make it in time for us to pick up a timing chip and get ready to race the Bayou City Classic.

The weather was perfect for running but a little too cold for standing around. Andrea, Jakeb, Tori, Peter, Mycaela and I got our chips and went back to sit in the warm truck until the start. Jakeb was talking trash about how he did not know what time he would finish in but that he was going to beat me.

We got out and made one more pass by the porta-potties. A couple of kids had a video camera and saw that my race number was 666 so they interviewed me and asked about my interesting number. They thought it was funny that I was wearing red and had a goatee matching the satanic persona. That was not the last comment I got about having that race number. It was fun. I really am a nice guy but like everyone else I am capable of so much evil so the number was appropriate for one race.

The race started promptly at 8:00 and I started running. I felt really good from the start and pushed myself. It wasn’t that hardest I have ever raced but I felt like I was making myself work hard enough that I would be happy with the result.

Here are my splits:
1 – 7:16
2 – 7:15
3 – 7:11
4 – 7:34
5 – 7:27
6 – 7:45 (going up the bridge over the bayou was taxing)
.2 – 1:16

My watch says 45:47. The official finishing time on the race web sight is 45:45. That is a 10k PR by over 2 minutes beating my PR at last year’s Bayou City Classic.

Here’s how everyone else did:
Jakeb – 48:26 for third in his age group but not fast enough to beat me
Andrea – 1:34:28 walking
Mycaela – didn’t wear a chip but came in around 55 minutes
Tori – 1:19:13 walking and running
Peter – 1:18:45 walking and running

I don’t understand the difference between Peter’s and Tori’s time since they stayed together.

I think I have proven to myself that I run pretty well on a lack of sleep based on last weekend’s TIR and this morning’s 10k.

I had a nap this afternoon. It has been an awesome weekend so far.

TIR Photos

The Battling Bloggers of the Texas Republic

The place we lived for 31 hours +

The finish line is in sight

203.67 miles later ...

Me and EQ

Texas Independence Relay Epilogue

I don’t know how to write this post as a narrative without it being a short novel. I know there is no way to describe the weekend adequately in this format, or at all for that matter. So here are some words and phrases that for me describe the Texas Independence Relay:

Gonzales, new friends, competition, prologue, run, hills, heat, Shiner brewery, good and bad coffee, asphalt, run, buffets, small sometimes stinky vans (blogger 1 and blogger 2), best drivers ever, run, determination, exchange points, stories, sore muscles, painkillers, run, road kills, blinkies, “Where’s Bill’s team?”, run, sleeping bags in a field, dogs, run, 2 hours sleep in a hotel, rolling hills through the park, run, ranchero kolaches, ‘finally a Starbucks’, sleepy, downtown, run, San Jacinto Monument, epilogue, medals, pizza. FUN.

If you would have asked me on Sunday morning at 12:30 am if I would do it again I may have said ‘no’, but now that it is over, looking back it was a really cool deal and I would consider toeing the starting line in Gonzales again.

It is quite a task to get fourteen people to work towards the common goal of running and supporting a run of 203 miles over two days. It was an accomplishment we can all be proud of especially Jon Walk who did a great job of getting and keeping the team together. Jokingly I told him, “Thanks Jon for organizing this agony.”

My right calf hurts a little but otherwise I feel pretty good. I went to bed early last night and I feel rested. I am going to take a couple of days off of running and let the calf recover. This weekend is the Bayou City Classic.

Thanks bloggers for including me in TIR at the “last minute”. It was good to meet you all in person.

I may post some pictures later.