Merry Christmas

Just want to wish all my family and friends a Merry Christmas.

Also a great way to track Santa can be found at this site:

http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.htm

Random Musings

So it has been about two weeks since my last post, and you ask "So Tim what has been going on?" Well let me tell ya...

- I am out of all of my fantasy football leagues. What a bummer. Next year I think I am dropping back down to two leagues as three is just too much to keep track of. My brother, however, whom I invited into one of my leagues and helped out with draft information is now in the Super Bowl. On one hand I am happy and proud, on the other I think he is a little punk. Just kidding.

- I am officially injured as the doc told me no running for two weeks. A tear is slowly running down my cheek while I am secretly smiling on the inside.

- The Toadies rock.

- The newly redesigned Austin Music Hall officially sucks. Where they did a great job removing the annoying pillars they did not really address the restroom issues, sightlines, congestion problems, etc. Way to drop the ball on that one. I am hoping when it is completely finished some of these issues will be addressed, but I am not holding my breath.

- I have never been a fan of roller coasters but let me tell you the Austin weather lately has surely been one. One day it is in the 70s the next in the 40s then another 70s then another 40s. Woohoo hang on. Nothing like it.

- Holy cow it is only one week until Christmas.

- Come on SP get off your butt and offer Carri the job already.

- It is hard to fill a post with just ramblings, especially if nothing exciting has happened.

- Congrats Triscuit for graduating. Or as I think your Dad would put it...finally graduating. I had a great time at your bash, as apparently you did to since you had to go nighty night at 8 PM.

- Happy Christmahanukwanzakah to everyone, or Happy Festivus for the rest of us, if that is how you roll.

Decker 20K Race Report

Is it possible to run more and still get slower? If so I think I have perfected it. At the beginning of all this training I was on pace to run a 10 mile race in 1:28, a few weeks ago I missed that by 5 minutes. Then yesterday my predicted time for a 20K was 1:51 and I finished at 2:07 a difference of 16 minutes. Hmm, I thought this training was supposed to be helping me.

Ultimately my goal is to PR in the 3M half marathon. Looks like I am gonna have to refocus over the next 8 weeks and start running more during the week. Bummer.

Anyway here are my splits for yesterday.

Mile 1- 9:45 with a pee stop
Mile 2- 9:38
Mile 3- 9:22
Mile 4- 9:36
Mile 5- 10:03 with a water stop
Mile 6- 9:46
Mile 7- 10:07 with a water stop
Mile 8- 10:09
Mile 9- 10:06 with a water stop
Mile 10- 10:51 many hills on this mile
Mile 11- 11:15 with a water stop
Mile 12- 11:59 with some walking

Additional splits

5K - 30:30.3, 9:48/mile
10K - 1:00:54, 10:03/mile
15K - 1:31:37, 9:59/mile
20K - 2:07:25, 10:22/mile

So my takeaways are...
1. Decker is a really hard course.
2. Considering the farthest I have run leading up to this was 10 miles, adding another 2.4 was pretty hard. This is evidenced by my crap times the final three miles.
3. It is not supposed to be 80 degrees in December.
4. Luckily I will be in town the next few weekends to do the long runs.
5. Is it cycling season yet?
5. The 3M is gonna be cake compared to this.

EAS 10 Miler - Revisited

Last night on our run Shorey, Carri, and I were talking about how we seem to be all over the map in our runs. One mile is at our goal pace, the next is too fast, and then the next is too slow. Repeat over however many miles we are running. We also marveled at how Wiley consistently nails his miles within a few seconds of each other.

So today I was revisiting the EAS 10 Miler results page to get my time and input it into the pace calculator to figure out what I want to run this weekend, and I was greeted with this little surprise.

Time for the first 5 miles - 46:30.5
Time for the second 5 miles - 46:29.5

So not only did I run a very slight negative split but in an actual race I was really consistent. Very shocking. So here is what I have learned...

YES, I am slow, and I am fine with that, but at least I am slow at a consistent pace. Woohoo.

Not Your Typical Thanksgiving

Above you will find your not so typical Thanksgiving plate. While there is turkey in the middle that is all that I would normally find on my plate for Turkey Day.

Items on the plate:

Turkey
Chilled Octopus Salad
Warm Pasta with scallops, shrimp, oysters, etc.
Ahi Poke
Purple Potatoes
Sweet and Sour Pork
Pork and Peppers and Onions

BTW this was my second plate. On the first I did have some mashed potatoes, stuffing, and sweet potatoes for the traditional items but also had:

Kim Chi
Seaweed Salad
King Crab Legs

Rain, Rain Go Away and Come back on...Sunday?

Yes, it rains even in paradise. After only getting a short amount of time on the beach yesterday we decided today would be our beach day. A full on day of nothing but beach. Of course making plans only leads to heartbreak as it has rained off and on all day. So we made the best of it.

About 5AM local time I was awoken by some pretty loud and recurring thunder. Luckily I went back to sleep and we woke up at about 7AM to a light rain. After breakfast the rain was still falling so we decided it was a good time to go for a run since the beach was out at least for a bit. We did an out and back of about 4 miles, and luckily today's course was relatively flat and my calf did not flare up.

Got back to the condo and the rain was still falling so we decided to do a little reading as we sat on the lanai and finished the books we had been reading. Luckily we got a brief break in the rain and decided to head to the beach. Of course once we got there it started raining again, so back to the condo. After a few more of these to the beach, then rain, to the beach, then rain, we decided what the heck and just sat on the beach in the rain. Finally it cleared up a bit and I did a bit of body surfing, while Carri sunned herself.

Now it is about 4PM local time and it is raining again. I guess that means it is time for a Mai Tai.

Maui Invitational

When Carri and I first talked about coming back to Maui it was because she could use three vacation days and we could be here for 8 days due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Our second reason was because Oklahoma State was in this years EA Sports Maui Invitational basketball tournament. After some slight deliberation we decided to go to the arena and see if we could get tickets to OSU's game against LSU. We found a guy selling tickets for $10 below face and we were in.

The game was held at the Lahaina Civic Center and this venue is very tiny. Basically bleachers on the sides and a few at each end and that is it. We sat at mid-court and were about 10 rows up from the floor with only 2 rows behind us. So this is essentially a small high school gym. This makes for a great place to see your team up close and personal.

Oklahoma State had a huge halftime lead and was able to hold off a barrage of three pointers by LSU to come away with a 6 point win.

Apparently Texas is the Big XII representative next year for this tourney and I highly recommend using the excuse of coming over to see the Horns for a Maui Thanksgiving getaway in 2008.

Sunday is still about NFL, even in Maui

Sunday morning we woke up bright and early, 6 AM to watch NFL pre-game. That is the beauty of NFL in Hawaii the first game starts at 8 AM and the afternoon game begins at 11. We went to the Maui Brewing Company for some of their tasty beers. Nothing like watching two sets of games and being back at the condo at about 2:30 PM. After a short nap we had a great dinner on the lanai (porch/balcony) as we watched the ocean. Another fantastic day in paradise.

Pack your Bags We'll Leave Tonight

Saturday morning we got up bright and early. Me at 4, then 5, then 6, before finally getting out of bed at 6:30. After a nice breakfast we headed to the beach to soak up the sun and enjoy the perfect weather. After sunning for a bit we decided to go snorkling. We were very lucky to see a few sea turtles, and I was able to get a few shots of one...

I got two tickets to paradise

Aloha,

Carri and I arrived in Maui on Friday 11/16 at approximately 4:30 local time (HST is 4 hours behind CST) and headed for the Costco to get supplies for the week. After getting into the condo we had dinner of Ahi Poke and Udon soup. Very delicious. We also had some fantastic island inspired drinks. After the dinner and drinks it was hard to stay up until 10 PM, which was our goal to try to get somewhat accustomed to the time difference.

This is the view from our condo...

I wanted to post more but blogger is giving me errors and the stories are not as good without the pics. I will try again later. Mahalo.

EAS 10 Miler

Yesterday was the EAS 10 Miler. This was the first strictly running race I have done in over 3 years, but since it is still 2 months until the 3M Half and 3 months until the ATT Half, I was not sweating it. This run departed the flat lands on central Austin and headed into the hills of west Austin. The EAS was by far one of the toughest running races I have done as the hills really take it out of you. My goal going in was to running 9 minute miles. As the splits below will show I slightly missed my goal.

Mile 1 - 8.57
Mile 2 - 9.24
Mile 3 - 9.23
Mile 4 - 9.03
Mile 5 - 9.33
Mile 6 - 9.41
Mile 7 - 9.23
Mile 8 - 9.18
Mile 9 - 8.49
Mile 10 - 9.18

So overall I finished in one hour and thirty three minutes with an overall pace of 9.18 per mile. A little slower than I would have liked but considering the course and that fact that I am running 10 miles with 2 months to go until 3M, makes me very happy.

Viva Las Vegas

This past weekend Carri and I went to Las Vegas to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary, and we had a great time. We stayed at the Flamingo for the first time and upgraded to their new GO rooms. These rooms are only a few months old and are very modern with frosted glass bathroom doors, 42" plasma TV, nice sound system, a TV in the bathroom mirror, etc. We were thoroughly impresses. We were also on the 25th floor and had an excellent view of the strip. So the first night was typical Vegas get in and gamble until late.

Saturday we woke up pretty early and scouted around for breakfast, unfortunately we missed the cut-off by 10 minutes and had pizza and pasta for our morning meal. Then it was time for a little gambling. Then back to the room to change and get a couples massage, this was a nice diversion and was very soothing. Back to the room to shower change and go grab some dinner before going to see the show Spamalot. This show is based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and was very fun and probably the best show I have seen in Vegas. Then time to gamble most of the night/early morning away.

Sunday was all about football and more gambling, of course it should have been about eating something, but that is another story entirely.

Monday was another day of some light gambling and then the late night flight back to the ATX.

In all a fantastic weekend for both Carri and I - one wonderful year and we both came back with more money than we left with. Viva Las Vegas indeed.

The Bridge

Tonight I watched one of the saddest, most profoundly in-depth non-war documentary I have ever seen. It is called "The Bridge" and deals with those that take their lives jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge, which apparently is a suicide mecca. It focuses not on those who jump but the families they leave behind. It was not an easy watch and many times I had to stop the movie and get some hugs from Carri, but yet is one of the deepest insights into the human mind that I have ever seen. If you have the stomach and the heart for it I highly recommend it.

Austin Oyster Urban Adventure Race

Yesterday was the inaugural Austin Oyster Adventure Race. Carri and I have done the Urban Assault Race the last few years so we had a taste of adventure racing but in terms of physical activity the Oyster really bitch slaps the UAR. But we thought what the heck, let's try something new. So with our partner, Shorey we tackled this crazy adventure as the Mother Shuckers.

We started out with getting to the REI downtown location at a little before 6:30 AM to set up our transition area. It was a pretty crisp Austin morning and the wait for the 8:00 AM start seemed to drag on forever. Finally 8 AM arrived and we received our first passport. The passports tell you what you have to do on each leg, once you have completed the task (and can verify it) you get your passport punched and return to the transition area to get your next passport.

Passport 1: Picture This?

Running Leg. We needed to get our picture at three Austin landmarks: The UT "Mustangs" Sculpture, the Historic Austin Oaks plague, and the Stevie Ray Vaughn Statue. After a few minutes of consulting Google on the iPhone we found out where the plague we began our run and headed north to UT. Along the run to UT I found a $20 bill laying in the gutter, what a good start to the day. After a little confusion at UT (who knew they had so many statues) we found the correct one, and headed south. Since we all run the Hike & Bike we knew exactly where Stevie presides. A quick snap with him and off to Republic Square Park. After a pic with the plaque back to the transition area for a round trip of about 6 miles. We were all thinking if we have to run 6 miles every leg of the race it is gonna be a long day.

Distance: Run - 6 miles

Passport 2: Red Bum

Biking Leg. In this leg we split up into two groups: one of two and one solo. The team of two (Carri and I) had to go to the rowing dock and kayak out to Red Bud Island. Man, kayaking is pretty tough and it is a darn hard workout. Plus it seemed like Red Bud Island was miles away. We had a little issue but nothing that ingenuity cannot overcome and headed back to REI where Shorey was waiting for us. She had to go wade into Barton Springs pool and get a clue that we would use in a later passport.

Distance: Bike - 4 miles, Kayak - 1.7 miles

Passport 3: Oyster Fit Test

Running Leg. We needed to run to Pure Austin which is about 2 blocks away from REI and one teammate (me) had to lift 10,000 pounds, one teammate (Carri) had to run one mile on a treadmill, and one teammate (Shorey) had to bike 3 miles on a stationary bike. Carri and Shorey hopped on their respective equipment and I headed for the weight pile. Luckily I found a machine that I could do heavy weight and therefore low reps - the standing calf raise machine. I loaded that sucker up with 500 pounds and got to it. I busted out 15 of them before I thought my calf's were going to explode. A quick breather then 5 more and thankfully I was done. Waited for Carri and Shorey to finish and we were out of there. This is where things took a downward (literally) turn. As we were crossing the street back to REI Shorey stepped in a pothole and twisted her ankle and had a pretty nasty fall. I have to say she was very brave after a few minutes of walking it off she was hobbled but sucked it up and was ready to go.

Distance: Run - .5 miles plus 1 additional running for Carri and 3 additional biking for Shorey

Passport 4: Biking Bonnell

Biking Leg. Pretty self explanatory, we had to bike to Mt. Bonnell and get our passport punched. The distance of the ride was obviously not the challenge it was the hills that lead up to Mt. Bonnell. One upnote is at this point we were told we were the 4th co-ed team to the checkpoint.

Distance : 10.5 hilly miles.

Passport 5: Skatenger Hunt

Rollerblade, rollerskate, skateboard Leg. In this leg once again we broke up into a team of two and a solo team and had to rollerblade (Shorey), rollerskate (Carri), or skateboard (me) to various locations around town. Shorey with her bum ankle went to Whole Foods at get 3 locally produced items. Carri and I went to take our picture in front of the bat statue, and went to Runtex to simply get the passport punched. Skating for distance is really tiring and I was glad when the leg was completed.

Distance: 2.6 miles

Passport 6: Barton Springs Recall

Running, slogging Leg. In this we had to use the clue Shorey received from Passport 2 and we learned that we had to head out to Shoal Creek and do something. This something unfortunately turned out to be to wade through the filth that is the portion of the creek right behind REI. After off loading out electronics we jumped in and it smelled nasty (must be all the bum pee) and slogged through to an Oyster representative where we had to gather some rocks and help stem erosion along the banks. So good deed = nice, slogging through Shoal Creek = nasty.

Distance: too far.

Passport 7: Urban Challenge

Trick Leg. At the beginning of the race you are told to read all passports carefully and complete all tasks. This passport tested that theory. It stated that 1) we had to panhandle $1.40 in specific coin denominations, 2) collect 8 aluminum cans with specific sodas represented, 3) use the $1.40 to buy a beer at a specific bar and give it to someone there, 4) we could travel by any mode of transportation we wanted, 5) disregard everything we just read and simply get our passport punched.

Distance: 50 feet

Passport 8: Do you have a clue?

Biking Leg. We had to review all previous passports to find words with an * next to them and put those together to find our last location. The location was the new Alamo Draft House on 6th street. After biking there we were told we either had to find 8 bar specific napkins/beer brand coasters or a costume and return to REI. After a few minutes of looking for the napkins we gave up and headed for a costume/t-shirt shop along 6th. Unfortunately, there really costumes were $40-60. I spotted a tuxedo t-shirt and said I will be a groom. Bought it for $20, hmm just the amount I found earlier, and we raced back to REI for our final punch.

Distance: 2 miles

Post race we sat down, got out of our race clothes, had a few beers and some good bbq and waited for the awards ceremony. Of course we had no illusions of placing but since the awards were only about an hour after we finished why not...

And then it happened 3rd place in the co-ed division with a time of 4 hours 56 minutes, the Mother Shuckers. We were absolutely shocked that we placed, but I am glad that we did as the prizes were very nice: Three really cool medals, a $100 check made out to cash, a technical tee for me, 3 $30 REI gift cards, and a $10 gift card to Whole Foods. Woohoo what a haul. Time to head to Little Woodrows for another celebratory beer.

So overall I think it was a really fun race that breaks up the monotony of running and/or riding. I want to thank both Carri and Shorey for being great partners and making the day so much fun.

Total Approximate Distances:
Running: 6.5 miles plus some nasty slogging
Biking: 16.5 miles
Kayaking: 1.7 miles
Skating: 2.6 miles

Pumpkin Carving Fun

It has been a few years since I have carved pumpkins but while out shopping for some Halloween lights I saw one of those stencil books and thought it would be fun. So tonight Carri and I did a little pumpkin carving.And I wonder why Carri does not leave me alone with the cutlery.
Hard at work on the scary skull pumpkin while Wylie eagerly awaits the final product.

The finished products.

Boomerz Poker

So Carri and I have been going to Boomerz for a couple years now. It is just our little neighborhood bar where we can go, have a few drinks, play the video trivia game at the bar (I am addicted to Word Dojo by the way), maybe watch the game and relax. We have been going on Sunday afternoons for awhile just to cap off the week.

About 2 months ago they brought in poker on Sunday nights, with two sessions one at 6 pm and one at 9 pm. Over the this time I usually do fairly well and if we play both sessions I can make the final table in one of them. Carri has done significantly better than me as she usually makes the final table and won a session 3 weeks ago.

All this changed last night as I had my best evening ever. In the first session I got second place, and then in the 9 pm session I won. A first and a second place in the same night, not too shabby. Maybe it was good karma for participating in the LIVESTRONG Challenge in the morning.

Raise money for cancer survivors in the morning and win poker at night. A good Sunday indeed.

LIVESTRONG Challenge Report

Now that running season has started, I have let my biking lag a bit but wanted to do one more charity ride for the year ended. Even though I do not like how the Ride for the Roses has been changed to the LIVESTRONG Challenge and the entry fee has been raised and priced some folks out, I still believe in the cause and thought it would be a good ride to end the biking part of my year.

Normally coming into a ride like this I would be on the bike 4-5 times a week and do mileage close to event mileage. But I have let my biking lag and instead have been running about 4 times a week and only riding once or maybe twice weekly, with top end mileage only reaching 20 miles. And boy howdy I could feel the lack of riding during the LSC.

Now onto the ride...this year the event was held out in Dripping Springs instead of NE of town like it usually is. This was a blessing and a curse all rolled into one. A blessing because the ride was 100 time prettier than in the past, instead of flat farms that went on forever we were treated to great scenery, plenty of streams, tons of trees for shade, etc.

The curse was instead of relatively flat riding we were treated to hills, tons and tons of hills. The ride this year certainly lived up to the Challenge part of the name and was very similar to the Nutty Brown Throwdown in terms of rollers, and rollers, and hills, and more hills, and then a few more rollers added in for good measure. I was told that there was about 4-5k feet of elevation change on the 65 mile route.

Besides all the hills and wind I had a pretty uneventful ride, which is always nice. Averaged about 18.5 mph. Met Carri and Coby at the finish line, had a post race beer, and through incredible support of my friends and family raised $1,000 for the LAF. All in all a pretty good start to a Sunday in my book.

Amazing Race Report

Saturday morning Carri and I participated in the first annual AAFAME Amazing Race. One of the race directors is a friend of ours and she told us about the race. Since it raised money for a good cause and sounded like a fun event we were in. This race was very similar to the Urban Assault Race but instead of bikes all the checkpoints were in the downtown area and you ran to them. So after a 5 mile run around Town Lake we were off to the start of the race at 9 AM.

Checkpoint 1: I had to walk blindfolded through an area that had obstacles. Carri was my guide and we made it through this checkpoint with little difficulty, even though one miscommunication almost sent us to the back of the line to try again.

Checkpoint 2: We ran to City Hall which was the first secret checkpoint. Here we just got a clue for the second secret checkpoint, the Driskoll Hotel.

Checkpoint 3: This one was tricycles. Nothing is funnier than seeing adults on tiny bikes. Makes me laugh every time. Carri sat on the trike and I pushed for all I was worth. Luckily she was good at steering and we finished this one quickly.

Checkpoint 4: This was across the street from the last checkpoint and you had to find one of three rubber duckies out of 50 that had the AAFAME name written on the bottom. Luckily I found one within the first 5 ducks I searched.

Checkpoint 5: For this checkpoint I had to throw frisbees through a target while Carri fed me frisbees when I missed. We finished this one pretty quickly.

Checkpoint 6: By this point I was getting kind of tired, because we were essentially sprinting from checkpoint to checkpoint with hardly any recovery time at the checkpoint. Plus we did run 5 miles earlier in the morning. At this checkpoint I was able to catch my breath while Carri hula hooped. It amazes me how easily girls can hula hoop, but that is blog for another day.

Checkpoint 7: Driskoll hotel to get another secret checkpoint location, we knew it was something tower but did not know what or where it was, this is when we placed a call to my brother who has helped us in the past with clues from the UAR.

Checkpoint 8: An eating challenge. You had to belt down 10 marshmallows as fast as you can. I was wolfing them down like Kobayashi. The lady said I ate them the fastest out of anyone she had seen. I do not know if that is a good or bad thing. Luckily they had water to wash them down.

Checkpoint 9: This was an easy one where you had to push a wheelbarrow with an oversized teddy bear in it through marked course, and then your partner had to do the same the opposite direction.

Checkpoint 10: At this point I was getting antsy for my brother to call back and gave him another call. He said he was working on it and would send the address in a few. So we progressed to this challenge which was putting together a puzzle. Not that difficult but when you are trying to do it in a hurry and are dripping sweat, it was not the easiest thing to do.

Checkpoint 11: Address finally came through and we were less than a block away. Raced over to the Norwood Tower grabbed our bead and headed towards the finish line.

Ran like a fool down Congress and crossed the finish line with a time of 39:57, and also learned we were the first team back. Though exhausted we were both really amazed that we had won. Woohoo, victory was ours. I guess all that running is paying off.

First prize: $500 in travel vouchers from a local travel agency.

So $500 in travel vouchers, two door prizes ($25 gift card for Texas Roadhouse, and a Seattle's Best gift bag), first place overall, and the event raised over $6k for the charity I would say that was a pretty good way to start a Saturday.

Thank yous: First, to Carri for being a great race partner. Second, to Ryan and Lindy for taking time out of their Saturday to help us. Finally, to Erin for helping out with this event and telling us about it.

Flaming Lips in San Antonio

Last night Carri and I drove to San Antonio to catch the Flaming Lips at Lonestar Pavilion. We wanted to see the band tonight in Austin but they are playing La Zona Rosa and tickets were gone in a nanosecond. If you have never seen the Flaming Lips you are truly missing out as they are one of the best live bands around. They do not just sit up there staring at their shoes while they play their album note for note. No they have confetti guns, huge balloons, video boards with strange effects, dancing Santas, aliens, Wayne pouring fake blood on himself, etc. Last nights show was a little wide ranging for my taste and Wayne was very verbose. This is my sixth time to see the Lips but the first when they were headlining a non-festival setting. I like their shows to be a little tighter.

Overall it was a great time with only one major complaint: The Lips kind of rail against George Bush and his policies, and they are anti-war, even going so far as to play Taps in their set. Now I am completely for this stance, as my personal feelings for Bush and war are in line with theirs. However, I find it a bit hypocritical that this tour is sponsored by Camel cigarettes. It seems strange that you would lament those killed in a bogus war yet take money from those that kill over 440,000 Americans a year with cigarettes.

Diet

Well after a really rough weekend of eating poorly and drinking every beer within arm's reach Carri and I have both decided to try to drop a few pounds. We have both been saying this for the last month or so but I hope this time it will stick. I found a calorie counting website and looking at the diet as simple math should help me stick to it. Our goal is lose some weight before our one year anniversary in early November. Now if I can simply stay away from my evil arch nemesis...beer. Wish us luck.

ACL Festival Recap

Friday: Got to the fest at about 1:45 and headed over to see Del MCoury. Nice and mellow but still had early fest excitement and wanted to move along after a song or so. Next it was over to Bela Fleck for some of his set. After this we headed to the merch tent, and noticed the fire in the background. Carri and I headed over a little closer, and caught a big whiff of the acidic smelling smoke. Next it was time for Peter Bjorn and John. Caught about half their set and then went to look for a hat for Carri. Unfortunately about this time I started to feel a little sick, no biggy I just thought I was hot. Caught the end of PB and J, then over to Wamu to meet up with Jon for Big Sam's Funky Nation. This is when I stated to feel really sick, I think I must have been hit by the heat as I felt like I could not cool myself, I was sweating profusely, was light-headed, etc. Luckily we got in the shade and I put ice all over myself. This certainly helped but I was still feeling sub-par. Thankfully Carri was there with me and really helped me out when I was thinking I was gonna pass out. Love you babe. Anyway I finally got cooled off, drank a ton of really cold water (I had already had 3 nalgenes earlier, but must have sweated those out), took some endurolytes, and ate a protein bar. After this we decided it was best to just call it a day. As we were leaving we did see a bit of LCD Soundsystem from a hill across the street from the park. So unfortunately we missed QOTSA, Gotan Project, and Bjork.

Saturday: Got a late start to try to stay out of the heat as much as possible. Caught Damien Rice who was really interesting with some really slow songs but then some rocking ones as well. A few songs of Cross Canadian followed and then it was over to see Muse. Muse by far was my favorite band of the festival. They put on an amazing show and I would certainly see them the next time they come to Austin.

Sunday: Another late start because of my yearly conflict with the NFL and the fest on Sunday. Really only saw My Morning Jacket, the end of Wilco's set, and the beginning of GLO. All in all I liked all the music I saw on Sunday.

Overall besides getting sick it was another fun ACL, even though I feel the middle level talent was a little weak and was not good enough to draw me out of the air conditioning house to see them in the middle of the day.

Ravens Blow It

Hello Monday Night Football...do you remember us? We are the Baltimore Ravens, we had the second best record in the AFC last year at 13-3, we laid an egg against the Colts in the playoffs, we had 6 turnovers in tonight's game, we got hosed on a tying TD catch by Todd Heap, we then put the ball right between the 8 and the 6 on Heap's jersey and he does not catch it, our quarterback not only got hurt but looked like he was playing JV ball, Ray Lewis ripped his tricep the third play of the game. Yeah that's us the Baltimore Ravens, I am bummed that you lost...but you are still my favorite team.

Are you ready for some football?

I certainly am. Last night kicked off the start of the college football season with a slew of games. And in a few hours I am gonna board a plane headed for Atlanta for this weekend's OSU vs Georgia football game. But as much as I like college football, I am in love with the NFL. I cannot wait until next Thursday for the Colts vs the Saints. Add to that I just completed my second of three fantasy football drafts and you can consider me a junkie.

Fantasy football has completely changed the way I watch NFL games and also changed my allegiance from the college game to the pros. Since I have been playing fantasy about 10 years now I know so much more about the NFL, its teams, its players, etc. Sadly I can probably name at least 3-5 players off each NFL team, but barely know any players from my alma mater, OSU.

The End of Duathlon Season

This weekend marked the end of my duathlon season. Now it is time to focus on riding and getting ready for the LIVESTRONG Challenge in October. For the next two weeks I think I am just going to ride exclusively and give the running legs a rest. This rest will be short lived as half marathon training begins the first of September. So for about a month or so it will seem like du training with riding and running several times weekly. Oh well. Here are some of my most recent du results:

2007 Protest Du: First run pace - 8:34/mile, Bike - 20.2 mph, Second run pace - 9:04/ mile, Total time - 1:49:46.95

2007 Darnd'st Du: First run pace - 8:54/mile, Bike - 20.5 mph, Second run pace - 9:11/mile, Total time - 1:55:15.95

2006 Darnd'st Du: First run pace - 8:56/mile, Bike - 20.2 mph, Second run pace - 9:30/mile, Total time - 1:55:48.1

So my takeaways from this is my bike is amazingly consistent, my running certainly has improved over last year, especially the second run, and it was immensely more fun training for these events with a group than on my own.

Have a great day.

Movie Reviews

Generally my blogs have dealt with races, riding, or other active events, but that is not what life is all about. Life is about so much more. So moving forward I am going to try to expand my blogs to other things going on in the life of a 35 year old male in Austin, TX. Tonight I am going to give brief reviews of recently watched movies.

First run movies -

The Simpsons- Pretty much what I expected. Short sweet and to the point. Pretty darn, funny and a good way to beat the heat. If you live in Austin you have to see it at the Alamo. Not only do they have Simpson shorts before the movie but you can get Duff beer.

Sunshine- This is the latest movie by Danny Boyle the man behind 28 Days Later, Trainspotting, and the often overlooked but fabulous Shallow Grave. This movie is a Sci-Fi flick but it just fell flat for me. The premise was very cool and there are some interesting concepts but no real pay off. Kind of a let down.

The Bourne Ultimatum- This is the third Bourne movie and I liked the previous two, so I had high hopes for this one. I think it was a pretty good movie, but did not really play up the strengths of the previous two. Usually Bourne relies heavily on multiple car chase scenes, this one had only one. Also the fight scenes in this movie seemed too staged. Overall I was a little disappointed, but still thought it was better than most modern action films.

Rentals:

The Premonition-Let me preface this by saying that I have much greater movie knowledge than Carri and I usually pick the movies we see. This was one of hers that we did not catch in the theaters so we rented it this weekend. Let me just say that Carri and I both have a Premonition...Sandy's movie career has gone in the shitter ever since Speed (besides Crash which was an ensemble cast), and we hope that she has a future in her restaurant. This movie was so bad. Do they not have people that watch these movies before release? Maybe that could be my new job. "Excuse me your movie sucks and you are going to lose money", that will be $50,000 please.

Maxed Out- This was a doc about how Americans spend so much money on credit. Kind of scary, but it did not really have the punch of some of the better docs I have seen.

The Descent- We had seen this one before in the theater but it is such an amazing movie we had to get it again. If you are claustrophobic, this movie will scare the pants off of you. Also it is just a great horror film. It was nice to see the original ending. I highly recommend this movie.

The Number 23- Seriously you think the twist at the end can make up for the hour and a half of garbage you just force fed me. Pppppplllllllease.

Zodiac- My uncle worked for the SFPD just after the Zodiac case so I had additional interest in this movie. Couple that with the fact that it was by David Fincher (Fight Club, Se7en) and you had me hooked. I thought the movie was a little long but other than that it was a great crime film. I would certainly recommend this film as well.

So to wrap up, this is my first in hopefully a semi-regular segment of movie reviews. My recommendations are check out the Simpsons at the Alamo, see the Bourne Ultimatum if you have seen the first two, get a good scare by The Descent, and catch Zodiac even thought the SFPD were never able to.

Enjoy and pass the popcorn.

Darnd'st Du Report

Most of my previous race/ride/run reports this summer have started out with how the weather in Austin has been great and much cooler than usual. Well now it is August and it is back to business as usual with Texas being a blast furnace. Hot, hot, hot.

Carri and I woke up at 4:30 this morning so that we could eat breakfast, get some water in us, and be out the door for the 30+ minute drive to San Marcos by 5:30. This is just an obscene hour, and since I could not fall asleep until 1:30 and then was up again at 2:00 and 3:00, it was a very quiet car ride to San Marcos.

We got to the race site at about 6:00 and began getting ready for the race at 7:00. We met up with some of the other members of Team Affliction, set up our transition area, ran a bit to get a sweat going and then it was time to race.

The race plan was to go out really easy. I thought I had done this until I looked at my watch at mile one and realized I was running a sub-8 minute mile. Even though I was feeling great, I backed down to stick with the plan, since I knew that you cannot win the race in the first 5k run but you sure can lose it. Finishing the first run and coming into the transition area, I felt really strong. I had an okay transition, could have been faster if I had not dropped one of my gloves and had to go back and get it. Oh well, I was still in and out in under a minute.

The bike felt great today. Just cruised along the course. The pre-ride I did last week was very beneficial as I knew where to turn it on, where to take it a little easy, etc. Also going out the first 4 miles easy provided great dividends later in the race. The goal for the bike was to stay strong, get lots of fluids in, and get some calories into the system for the second run. I feel I accomplished all of these while getting the fastest bike time for Clydesdales for the second year in a row (This year by almost 3 minutes over the next fastest big boy).

Second transition was uneventful and it was time to get out for the final 5k. The plan for this run was to go out at a pace that was maintainable and then have enough in the tank at the end to "fire your guns". As I headed out I was feeling fine and settled into a nice rhythm, and thought this is gonna be an easy finish. Of course I think that is when Dante opened up his gates of Hell and brought the true heat to the course. For a few minutes I was just miserable but kept telling myself I only had about 10 more minutes of misery. After the turnaround I thought about "firing those guns" but when I reached into the holster I realized I only had blanks so held off on kicking in the afterburners. With about a mile to go I grabbed a bottle of water at the rest stop and took a few drinks and poured the rest over my head. This really revitalized me, and I charged up the final hill. This only left a nice downhill to the finish. This time when I reached for "the guns" they were cocked and loaded and I ran full out to the finish.

It was an amazing day in San Marcos today with Team Affliction really kicking butt. Congrats to Kris, Glenda, and Triscuit for winning their respective age groups. Congrats to Carri for finishing her first duathlon, you are awesome babe. Congrats to all the other Team Affliction members who participated in the race. Thanks to Shorey, Erin, Phil, Michelle, Tim H.(who is explosive), Suellen and everyone else for their support and encouragement during the race. Thanks to Panther for the great coaching this summer and helping me reach both of my goals for this year's Darnd'st: a faster time than last year (1:55:15) and being in the top 3 in the under 40 Clydesdale division (3rd place).

Under a week to go

This summer I joined my first official training group to get ready for the Darnd'st Du. The DD is this weekend and I am looking forward to it. My goal is to beat my time from last year, my secondary goal is to win the Clydesdale division. A pretty lofty goal considering my training this past weekend...

I went to Maryland this past weekend to see my family and here was my training routine:

1. Get in late Thursday night and drink.
2. Get up Friday morning, get in a really tough hill workout, start eating and drinking, continue drinking, eat tons of pretzels, finish drinking.
3. Get up Saturday morning, big breakfast, start drinking, eat tons of crabs, continue drinking, smoke cigar, eat pizza, finish drinking.
4. Get up Sunday morning, think about going to run, but don't, eat huge meal, go to sleep for a mere 4 hours before time for the flight home.

So all in all not necessarily the best weekend of working out going into an event. I guess I just started my taper a little early.

Just your ordinary weekend

Well nothing extremely exciting happened this weekend, but it was packed as usual.

Friday: We met up with a few friends for happy hour, and I had my new favorite drink, a proper pint of Guinness. I have been drinking Guinness off and on for a few years now and had forgotten how much I enjoy it.

Saturday: Woke up bright and early to do the Lost Creek stacked brick. The weather once again was pretty nice, with the temperatures moderate for Austin this time of year. Of course that means low 90s instead of 100s. Put since we have had so much rain the humidity is just oppressive. On the news the other day they reported that the weather we have had this summer is akin to that in areas that surround tropical rain forests.

This run, bike, run workout was a doozy. The first run seemed pretty easy, and my confidence was pretty high as my running has really seemed to come around. On the bike I made the mistake of going out too hard, and the route is very hilly. I guess I had spent too much time watching the Tour and thought that I could fly like those guys. Anyway my legs simply did not have the "snap" like they usually do. The second run is where the pain really set in, and I ended up getting a pretty bad side stitch but after a few seconds of walking and a Hammer Gel I was able to drag my butt to the finish. Afterwards we all sat around recovered, had a beer, then headed out for a great breakfast/lunch at Trudys.

Saturday night we went downtown for the first time in ages and had a great time with some of our friends.

Sunday: Instead of getting up early and driving to Pflugerville for the group long ride, I figured I would just sleep in for once. I did not wake up until 10:30 and felt fantastic. Watched a movie, took a short ride, walked the dog, did yard work, took a nap, etc. All in all a very relaxing and needed Sunday off.

Toughest Du in Texas

Here is my race recap for the Toughest Du in Texas, an event that certainly lives up to its name...

The weather was pretty perfect for a mid-July day. With all the rain we have been having the temps have been really low for this time of year. Race temp was probably in the upper 70s or low 80s. Unfortunately I got to the race site a little late and did not get a very good warmup, but such is life.

The first run was not that tough just an out and back over pretty flat terrain with one little hill at the midway point. I went out a little faster than I wanted to but nothing that hurt me later in the race.

The bike was along 360 and was pretty darn hilly, couple that with the wet conditions and I made sure I was extra careful on the descents. Next a turn into Rob Roy and one killer hill. When I hit the hill there were 5 others around me, 3 walking their bike up, one man that sounded like he was going to die any second, and me slowly but surely pedaling my way to the top. After a few turns I made my one big error in the race and missed a turn that was not very well marked. I quickly realized my mistake (of course seeing the other 10 or so folks that also missed the turn made me feel a little better) and hurried back to the correct turn. This mistake probably cost me about 2-3 minutes. Then it was back to the transition area for the second run.

The second run was a real bear, with a long extended downhill that would be a monster to run up on the way back. The monster reared its ugly head and I am sure sap running up a tree was moving faster than I was. But I never walked and that was my goal.

All in all a great day. Congrats to Triscuit and Lulu for winning their age divisions. I have learned that even though running is not my strong suit I am getting better, and that Cokes are delicious at the end of hard events. Overall I was 37th, and 5th in my age group.

Katy Flatlands Century Recap

This past weekend a group of eight Camp Punishment members headed down to Katy to participate in the Katy Flatland Century. Here is my recap...

Notes from Saturday:

1. Houston sure has a lot of roads under construction.
2. The Imperial Rome exhibit is not an Imax movie.
3. At Antonio's chicken is a vegetarian option.
4. If Lulu wants to camp, do not argue.

Notes from Sunday:
1. Riding in the pouring rain can be fun. (Until you get home and have to drain the water from your bike.)
2. Glenda is one tough cookie, and I am glad she is okay.
3. Helpful SAG people do not always know the correct ride route.
4. Kris is a good sport even after receiving a standing ovation.
5. Pickle Juice Sport is apparently the miracle cure.
6. The water at rest stop (mile 86) was the most foul, vile tasting water I think I have ever drank.
7. Dropping the "Pickle Hammer" at mile 92 is just not right.
8. 105 miles is a long distance regardless of terrain.
9. Beer and a grape snow cone are great finish line treats.

Overall it was a great time. Carri and Michelle did an amazing job riding the 60 mile route, and Panther, Erin, Kris, Glenda, and Lulu all did great on the century plus route. I think everyone in the group, besides Michelle, rode their greatest single event distance ever. That is quite an accomplishment and a darn fine showing from Camp Punishment.

Summer Blockbusters

So last night we took a break from working out and headed to the theater to see Transformers. Generally, I would say that the movie was enjoyable, but why do all summer blockbusters have to be so long? It seems that in recent years all of the big event movies are about 2+ hours. That is simply too long. Last month we saw a sneak preview of "Live Free or Die Hard", which was a good movie with one issue. Yup, you guessed it, it was too long. Whoever makes these decisions, I assume the directors, need to realize that footage can be trimmed. Both of these movies would have been much better if they were 2 hours or under. Learn to cut out the fluff gentlemen.

While I am on the subject of movies, why are all of these movies now PG-13? Of course it is that way to get a wider audience but some movies it just does not work. You have the action but then you have the watered down kiddie stuff. Why don't they make two cuts of the movie, a PG-13 and an R and release them at the same time? That way if you have kids and want to see the tame version great, but if you are an adult and can handle a few f bombs, blood, etc. you can see the R version without having to wait until the unrated DVD.

Lunch Time Ride

Well today I got out and rode my 15.5 mile loop by the house. This loop includes the "Autobahn", and a lap around the Veloway, and of course the distance to and from the house. This is the first time in awhile that I have gotten out and ridden by myself, and let me tell you I have missed it.

Lately, I have been either riding with a group or riding with the wife. Both of these are fun but to me nothing is quite like the solitude of riding alone. In groups, you are always either riding a little slower than you like, or a little faster, it is always hard to peg your "just right" speed. With a bunch of events coming up in the near future I am not sure how much solo riding I am gonna get in in the next month but let me tell you I sure enjoy it.

BTW the Autobahn has to be the only out and back route that I do that somehow you get a head wind in each direction. How is that possible.

Random Musings

So I have not posted in awhile so I figured I would. Here are my thoughts in no particular order.

1. Widespread Panic puts on an amazing live show.
2. The Backyard is still a great venue but nothing like it was in the past. Why did the developers have to put a huge mega strip mall right on top of the venue. Can we not preserve any of the town's music venues? Liberty Lunch - gone, South Park Meadows - a Super WalMart, and do not even get me started on that.
3. Why am I such a poor runner? Any ideas? Any thoughts on how to get better?
4. If you plan to ask your wife out for a run with the expectation of finishing ahead of her, make sure that you do. Or you will be asking yourself Question 3 alot.
5. If diet is 80% of the equation, with exercise being the other 20% why do I still eat and drink too much?
6. Holy sh*t, Town Lake is still rushing.
7. If I woke up early in the morning to work out would I feel energized all day or simply be more tired since I did not sleep as long?
8. Is it possible to work out a ton and regress and not progress?
9. It's only 2 months to the first Sunday of the NFL regular season.
10. It is amazing how much fantasy football changes how you watch games on Sunday.
11. It is also amazing (or maybe sad) that because of fantasy I can probably name at least 4-5 offensive players from every NFL team.

Well I have vented and feel better. Maybe this new positive glow will help me run faster.

Nutty Brown Throwdown

Yesterday, the Austin Duathletes headed out on an experimental ride that I named and Panther picked the route for, the "Nutty Brown Throwdown". On paper this was a nice ride out on little traveled roads Southwest of Austin. But that is why these things are not contested on paper...

A group of approximately 15 of us set out from the Nutty Brown Cafe a little past 8 AM and headed towards Pedernales Falls State Park which would serve as our turnaround, this would give us a total route distance of about 50 miles. The views out there are really pretty, but Fitzhugh Road, though lightly traveled is constantly up and down with very little flats to just rest.


The first thirteen miles I dropped back a bit and rode with my wife as the "A" group rode ahead. After she made her turn and headed back, I decided to drop the hammer a bit and try to catch the faster group. This was my first mistake as this really killed my energy later in the ride. I caught the main group as they were stopped above a hellish downhill that led to a low water crossing.

Of course I also learned that Panther had just wrecked himself and Erin and Kris. Good going, coach. Luckily everyone was okay.

After the water crossing it was only about 3-5 hilly miles to the turnaround. At the entrance to the park a series of unfortunate events led to Shorey falling. And I feel terrible because I was the cause of at least one of these events. Sorry, Shorey.

After riding to the park office to get some cold water (adding about 5 totally hill laden miles to the route) it was time to head back to the Nutty Brown. The ride back seemed like a never ending scene from a cyclist's nightmare...hills, hills, hills, and heat. Erin had apparently had enough and completely dropped the hammer and tore back to the NB. Kris also was picking up what she was laying down as she also really sucked it up and finished strong. I had to make one extra water stop, as I sweat like a fire hydrant has been opened, but made it back shortly after them. Afterwards we all caught our breath and had some good grub and a few drinks at the Nutty Brown.

So in total we had...
50 very hilly, difficult miles
5 riders go down (1 being a Texas Iron guy that rode with us a bit)
3 SAG casualties
1 very patient wife holding tables for us as at the Nutty Brown

iPhone - First Impressions

So yesterday was the big day, the iPhone drop. I decided that it would be nice to have one of them so I searched out an AT&T store close to the house and did a bit of scouting. At around 2 pm I went and got some lunch at the restaurant next door and there were only about 8 people in line. I thought this is promising. So at roughly 5 pm I headed back over there, telling myself that if there was a big crowd I would just skip it but as it ended up it really was not that bad. I ended up being #29 in line. So after an hour wait and a few chapters of my book I had a shiny new 8 GB iPhone (the last 8 GB one that the store had btw).

So here is my real question...

The first person in line got there at 6 pm Thursday. The second person in line got there at 9 AM Friday. And I got there at 5 pm Friday and got the same phone as them. Now if you are #2 or especially #1 do you feel let down that you spent 24 hours waiting for a phone and guy shows up one hour before and gets the same thing? Also are you just a little bummed that you have waited 24 hours and the transaction takes all of 5 minutes? Just wondering.

Alright here are my thoughts about the iPhone after having it for a little over 24 hours.

1. Very cool phone, the internet is really nice and robust. Nice to have full Internet and not some watered down WAP version.

2. Visuals are incredible. Nice to be able to load your own pictures and have them as desktop, call picture, etc.

3. Straight forward just like my Mac.

4. I really like the wi-fi feature, with all the hotspots in Austin this should make the reliance on the Edge network minimal.

Now before you think it is all roses there are some annoying things that hopefully will be worked out with an update by Apple shortly.

5. Have to use the provided ringtones. That makes no sense that you cannot use an iTunes song for a ringtone. I mean it is an iPod as well.

6. You have to create a playlist to import songs into the iPod feature. This differs then any other iPods where you just drag and drop from your Library. Minor annoyance.

7. Some of the existing iPod accessories do not work. For example I have an older iPod in my car that plays though my car stereo with an aux cable, the iPhone would not work in this capacity.

Well that is it. Enjoy.

Urban Assault Race Recap

This is the third UAR that Carri and I have participated in and each year they are hands down the most fun races that we do in Austin. This year proved to be no different. This year's event was also enhanced by the fact that throughout the day we kept running into our friends, Erin and Lulu (who got 4th place in the female division, you girls rock) and Dave and Brian (who finished right before us in the men's division).

As in past years the race begins with a Le Mans style start of running from Run Tex to the bike corral on the other side of South 1st. From here it was a short ride to our first stop...

Rio Grande: At this stop, I had to throw 4 bean bags into a tiny ramped hole that was approximately 10-15 feet away. This took a little time especially since I was so amped up from the start of the race. After leaving RG it was time for the one long ride of the day to...

Subaru: The leg of the ride up to Subaru is a little over 5 miles and is clearly the longest single ride section of the day. Once we got there I was hoping for an easy, catch your breath obstacle. This was not the case as I had to push Carri in a wheelbarrow around a cone course. Luckily it was early in the event and my energy level was still high. Coming out of Subaru we headed to the first landmark checkpoint...

Hyde Park Gym: This is the first of many checkpoints we would run into Dave and Brian (they acted as a worthy nemesis all day long). At this checkpoint the clue pointed us to the next secret checkpoint. After asking around I got the answer as Mozart. At this point I should have just listened to the wife since she said she knew where it was but I still wanted to make a call and Google it. If I would have just listened to her we could have shaved at least five minutes off our overall time. Sorry, honey. From HPG we headed to...

Ozone:There was a tremendous line at Ozone this year. And we waited at least 30 minutes. During this time we conferred with Erin and Lulu and Dave and Brian about the clues. And talked ourselves out of Mozart's being a landmark. Would this lead to our downfall? Read on to find out. While in line, we actually came up with the third mystery checkpoint as one of the 10 foot Gibson guitars that are all over town. This particular one was down on Sixth street. After waiting in line and going through the obstacle course at Ozone it was off to...

Buffalo Billiards: This is where the Gibson Guitar was located, grabbed the bead here and asked if the guy had a clue for us, NOPE. Well then I guess Mozart's was correct after all. From BB we headed down Sixth Street to...

Pure: The challenge here was to find colored letters displayed around the perimeter of their facility. After finding only four of the 16 letters I knew the answer, "Follow your Folly". I told Dave and Brian the answer and then we were off to the...

Last mystery checkpoint: Mozart's. Simply grabbed a bead here and then to the...

Rowing Dock: After removing shoes, socks, cell phones, etc. it was into an inflatable canoe, out around a buoy and back. The only stipulation is both partners had to have their feet in the boat, so no kicking. This was a pretty tiring upper body workout. Quickly getting shoes and socks back on we headed to...

Bicycle Sport Shop: An inflatable obstacle that certainly was not designed to have so many adults scamper through it at one time. Crawling though and over and under and then up a wall and down the other side. Pretty tough but also pretty short. Then it was off to...

Jack & Adams: Here we raced adult big wheels around a course. Carri passed me on the back stretch as I took a turn too quickly and spun out. The big wheels are always fun each year. From J&A we were off to our final stop...

Jo's Coffee: At this stop each person had to walk on stilts down to there partner, then pass off the stilts and wait for their partner to make the return trip. I did fairly well on these considering this was my first time on stilts. Of course my ability was overshadowed by Carri as she was moving with the grace of a gazelle on the stilts. Does she practice this stuff when I am not around? She blazed through the stilt challenge. After Jo's it was downhill to the finish at

Runtex: We re-racked the bikes and ran to the final obstacle another big inflatable water slide, where you climb to the top and then slide down to a pool of water. A nice way to cool off after a hard event.

After-party: One of the reasons we do the UAR every year is not only is it a great event but they have a great party afterwards with tons of food, a great DJ, awesome New Belgium beer, and other fun events such as a big wheel time trial this year. This year we stayed through the awards ceremony and the raffle and were rewarded by winning two New Belgium hats.

Till next year.

OK FreeWheel Video

Alright here is my second pass at creating a video. Still not great but I am working the kinks out. Hopefully, soon I will be able to take off the iMovie training wheels and move up to Final Cut Express. Key word in that last sentence is hopefully. Enjoy.

WTF?

This weekend I will be participating in my third Urban Assault Race. Last year they instituted landmark checkpoints. Last year's clue was where did schlub 1 and schlub 2 of the real world meet in Austin. The answer was Mt. Bonnell. This year the clue is the following..."Brachioradialis, Palmaris Longus, Extruded Polystyrene, Flexor Digitorum Superficialis"

WTF?

If you know the answer please comment. Thanks.

Day 7 - Dewey to Coffeyville, KS

Well once again we got started later than usual, funny how each day the start time creeped back a little bit. Since this was the final day I wanted to soak in the last bit of Oklahoma, and stopped and took more pictures along the route. The day was a bit anti-climatic as Coffeyville was actually about 20 miles in Kansas. So after crossing the state line and getting a huge rush of accomplishment it was still 20 to go. Oh well. 46 miles on this day with a 17.7 mph average. Then the true fun began with the 8.5 hour drive home.

So here are my lessons learned from the 2007 OKFreeWheel...

1. There is no way this would have been so enjoyable if not for Carri acting as my support/pit crew. She was absolutely amazing. Driving from town to town to have a cold drink and dry clothes for me at the finish. Giving up a week of vacation to travel small town OK. And putting up with me day after day. Thanks babe I truly appreciate it and love you.

2. If/when I do FW again I will spend more time at the camp area to spend more time with the people that make FW such a cool event.

3. Riding for 8 days straight makes one's butt region very sore.

4. Oklahoma really does have hills.

5. Oklahoma, for as much teasing that it gets from Texans, really does have some of the nicest people in the country.

Well that is all for the 2007 OKFreeWheel report. Approximately 420 miles over 8 days and a great time had by all. Be on the lookout for the movie to be posted in the next few days.

Enjoy.

Day 6 - Hominy to Dewey

Another late start for me today, when we arrived at the start area it was a ghost town and most everyone had left. So I tried to speed myself up and get out of their quick, well as quick as you can on the seventh day of a cross-state bike tour. The first 25 miles of today's ride was more of an adventure than a ride...heavy rains, strong winds, changed bike route, flooded creeks that caused a dismount and walk across with socks and shoes removed, cows crossing the road in front of me, only seeing 5 riders in those 25 miles and the list goes on. When the sun came out the day proved to be very nice, of course all the rain that OK has gotten I could have used an ark instead of a bike but that is another story.

Tonight we are staying in Bartlesville which is about 5 miles from Dewey at the Inn at Price Tower. It is an amazing hotel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Slow day today due to the rain and roads and hills (can't forget the hills). 52 miles at 16.3 mph.

Day 5 - Perkins to Hominy

Started the ride from Stillwater at roughly 9:30 in morning. It seems like I am starting each day a little later. Luckily the temps are probably about 10 degrees cooler than average for this time of year. The ride today was a mix of extremes: some of the nicest country roads I have ridden on but then also some that time and maintenance crews have forgotten. Nothing like getting the old paint shaker treatment on a bike. A little rain, some good hills and the day ended with 58 miles and an average of 17.1 mph. In the evening we met Aaron, his wife Kristin, and their 3 kids (Avery, Jake, and Luke) for dinner in Cleveland at the best Mexican join in town, some would call it the only Mexican joint in town but whatever...

Two days to go.

Day 4 - Kingfisher to Perkins

Toughest ride of the tour by far. A little over 70 miles with an average speed of only 16.1 mph. The route was basically straight west to east. The negative is that the wind for the day was basically west to east. Nothing like a day of total headwind. This is one of the toughest rides I have ever done (top 10 at least). But after the ride we went to Stillwater and my old stomping grounds. A drink at Murphy, Willies, the Blue Room, the Stables, and a great dinner with friend at Eskimo Joes. Hanging out with friends sure made the misery of the ride disappear.

Till tomorrow...

Day 3 - Hinton to Kingfisher

This ride was pretty nice and short compared to what is coming later in the week. Roughly 40 miles with an average of 20.0 mph. Very fast and wind blowing in the right directions. Got into Kingfisher and then checked into our hotel in Okarche. Went to see Oceans 13, not the best but a good way to kill a few hours in an air conditioned room in rural Oklahoma. Followed that up with a great Orange-Aid at Tom's Drug and then the usual nap. After that we went to Eischen's and they have fantastic fried chicken and plenty of cold Coors (pronounced Cuurs around these parts). 40 winks and then we have to do it again tomorrow.

Day 2 - Apache to Hinton

The day started bright and early at the Huckleberry Inn in Cyril. It was a 10 mile drive to Apache and the start of the ride this morning. The course today was much prettier than the previous two days, but it was also much hillier. Not Barton Springs or Lost Creek hilly, but Southwest Parkway hilly. Today I tried to take it easier and just enjoy, that being said I still covered the 57 miles with an average speed of 18.6 mph. The only negative for the ride was a flat with less than a half mile to the finish. Alright time to get some fluids and prepare for tomorrow's ride.

More from Kingfisher.

Hunkering Down at the Huckleberry - Day 1

Today is the first official day of the OKFreeWheel and the ride is from Comanche, OK to Apache, OK. We stayed in Duncan, OK (10 miles from Comanche) the last two nights and since the route passed right by the hotel I just jumped on the route there. Since this is more of a touring event and not a mass ride there is no set start time, it is leave when you want. I thought 8:15 was early enough for me.

The route was nice with very little traffic but tons of rollers. I of course have not learned the art of relaxing on the bike and pretty much hammer most of the time. So I covered the 52 miles in a little over 2.5 hours with an average speed of 18.7 mph.

Now we are in the bustling metropolis of Cyril, OK (10 miles from Apache) at the AAA 5 diamond rated Huckleberry Inn.

After a nap we are going to a vineyard (who knew they had these in Oklahoma) for a wine tasting and dinner. Then back to the Huck to watch the series finale of the Sopranos.

More from Hinto tomorrow.

OK Free Wheel Day 0

First and foremost I want to give a shout out to all parents that take their kids on a road trip. Carri and I drove in from Austin last night and after a few hours in the car I was sick of both of us. How do parents drive cross country with kids? We could barely make it 6 hours. Anyway...we got into Duncan, OK at about midnight and and there was a little club in the hotel so we went there for a beer to shake off the road buzz. The club is called Spirits and according to the sign they are the hottest dance club in Duncan. Of course we were two of the 5 people there at midnight on Friday. What does that say about Duncan?

Slept in today since we got in late, that is the last day of sleep for awhile. Since today is an unofficial day it is unsupported and ride on your own down to the Texas state line. I got started around 11:30 and proceeded to get lost within the first 2 miles. Of course living in Oklahoma for 13 years I know that if you are trying to go south but miss a turn just keep going and turn at the next street. Everything is flat and very gridlike. So I finally realized the route marking was on the road and not as signage, once I figured that out I was good to go.

Rode the 46 miles roundtrip with an average speed of 18.4 mph while riding solo and finished around 2:15. Not too bad. Tomorrow I will start much earlier as the heat really came up on the ride back to Duncan.

Till tomorrow...

Tour de Cure Video

Well here is my first effort in using iMovie to create home movies. Not great but not too shabby. Enjoy.

Two Days Until Oklahoma

In two days we will be leaving for Oklahoma so I can participate in the Oklahoma FreeWheel. This 8 day bicycle tour will take me from the Texas border, through the state of Oklahoma, and will finish in Kansas. I hope to blog everyday from the ride to keep everyone updated. After a really tough week of workouts, I am ready to crush the Oklahoma flatlands.

It's About Time

Well it has been a while since I have blogged, maybe it was too much booze, fajitas, and pizza over Memorial Day weekend that has my mind and fingers lazy. So here is a brief recap since the last blog....

Saturday I did my first brick workout with Team Affliction: a nice 2 mile warm up run, then a 16 mile ride, followed by another 2 miles of running. The second run was not as hard as I expected but I was still wiped out after finishing. Luckily I was able to ride home before the really heavy rain began to fall.

Sunday and Monday nothing but poor food choices, mucho cervesas, and household chores.

Tuesday was running of the Henges which are the evil cousin of the Marshes. Nothing like doing these in about 1 million percent humidity. Is that even possible? Not sure if it is or not but that is what it felt like.

Wednesday 20 mile ride.

Now you are caught up, get back to work.

Running All Week

After the two day Tour de Cure I have taken most of this week off from riding and have been doing nothing but running. Three days of running for me in one week, what am I trying to do to myself? Last night we had the monthly Austin Duathletes pub run and between the running in the downpours, Kenny and his amazing pirate chest full of booty, and playing ring toss at the Barton Springs Saloon, I must say this was the most enjoyable pub run ever.

Tour de Cure 2007

This past weekend was the 2007 Tour de Cure bike ride from San Antonio to Austin. Here is my recap...

Saturday morning broke nice and early and Carri and I headed over to the start line. At the start line we met up with my friend Dave who rode with my team "Wedding Crashers" this year. After the Star Spangled Banner we were off at about 7:45 AM. Within the first 2 miles Dave realized he had put his front tire on incorrectly and his speedometer was not reading, so we pulled over to fix that issue. That was just the start of Dave's issues for the day. Dave has been in the process of moving and has not had much time to train and with work and the move he has been burning the candle at both ends so his energy was really low. We did get to ride together for the first 25 miles or so until the 50/80 mile route split. Dave decided to do the 50 miler while I was gonna stick to the original plan of riding the 80 miler. After making the split it was time for my usual day one wrong turn. The past two years I have somehow missed one turn sign and added some mileage to the route. This year it was a wrong turn that added a short 3 mile out and back to the course. Besides that the winds and the temperatures were low for this time of year and I finished the 83 miles at about 12:30 averaging a little over 18 mph.

After the route met up with my pit crew of Carri and Dave and found out Dave was not feeling well and was gonna head home instead of riding Day Two. A real bummer but sometimes sleep is the thing that will cure what ails ya. Of course he did come out and did raise money for the ADA and that is what really matters. After heading to the hotel and catching some zzzs it was time to head over to the Saturday night celebration for dinner and to see if I was the top fundraiser for Central Texas.

The Saturday Night Celebration is always a fun event and a nice way to relax after a long day of riding. This year the entertainment was hula girls and a Hawaiian band. Very interesting choice but also tons of fun. Unfortunately, I learned I was not the top fundraiser for Central Texas and finished in second place with $4,100 raised. The first place fundraiser came out of nowhere and raised a whopping $6,500. He is however being investigated by Operacion Puerto for potential illegal doping (a little cycling humor). As always I thank everyone who donated towards the cause.

After the celebration it was back over to the day one finish line/day two start area to help Carri set up for the start of Day 2 as she is the start line coordinator. We stayed there until about 10 pm and it was too dark to do anymore work for the evening. Back to the hotel to help her make a few more signs for the morning and tell her to go to bed since she was getting up at 4 AM to head back there.

I was up and over to the start by 7 AM and even with all her worrying the start line area was fantastic. Carri has done an amazing job the past two years with the Day two start and her efforts are not only greatly appreciated by me as a rider but I am sure the ADA staff could not do this event without her. Way to go babe, you rock!

Another fantastic riding day, low winds, cool temps for this time of year, 82 miles with no incidents is a good riding day to me. Finished at around noon with an average speed of once again roughly 18 mphs.

Great job by Carri with the Day Two start area, amazing support from my family and friends, and large buckets of money for the ADA to continue the fight against diabetes. Sounds like a great weekend to me.

Weekend Activities

This past weekend was a great one here in Austin. Even though the temps are steadily climbing they are not intolerable yet. Saturday was the Armadillo Hill Country Classic. I chose the 76 mile route and rode along with several people from Team Affliction including Panther, Lulu, Erin, Chris, and Justin. We stayed together for most of the afternoon. I went a little ahead at the end as several of those folks were far surpassing their previous long rides and faded a bit, but overall they all did incredible. After the ride I did a short run and dreaded that more than the approximate five hours in the saddle.

Sunday, Carri and I participated in the first annual Wiley and Lulu 5k trail run. Man was that fun. I have not done much trail running but thoroughly enjoyed myself, even though Carri passed me with only about a quarter mile to go. Dang her. Just kidding.

Overall a great Mother's Day weekend. This upcoming weekend is the Tour de Cure and I will have many updates leading up to that event.

Enjoy.

Team Affliction Week One

Tuesday night I began training with Team Affliction which is a duathlon training team for the Darnd'st Du. Tuesday was the first time I have run since the March Crossfit bootcamp classes. Let me tell you my legs were screaming and felt like someone replaced my hamstrings with exploding cherry bombs. And they were only worse for Wednesday's run. Thankfully Thursday night was a bike night with about 25 total miles and an 8 mile time trial sandwiched in the middle. I have another short ride today and then the Armadillo Hill Country Classic tomorrow and a short trail run on Sunday. More on those as they occur.

Enjoy.

Shiner GASP Report

After last years rain soaked, high wind, thunder and lightning Shiner ride I swore that I would never do this ride again. With some coaxing from one of my regular ride partners, I changed my mind and did the ride again this year. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. This year was definitely the last time I will do this ride. Here is the recap...

- Two flat tires within the first 8 miles
- Riding partner not feeling it and struggling within the first 20 miles
- More rain this year
- Long expanses of road with little shoulder and high speed limits
- Final 45 miles into a severe headwind
- Average speed for the 85 mile ride to just over 15 mph
- Hour and a half drive home after ride

So basically not a very enjoyable afternoon even though the Shiner Bock at the end was very refreshing. So my enjoyment of the beer remains high while the enjoyment of the ride enters into Bush's approval rating territory.

Cheers.