Evan's Adventures

Summertime, I'm loving it! Lots of riding!

2009-07-02T08:22:00.012-05:00

We've been riding plenty of dirtbikes! Last week I rode at 3 Palms on Wednesday night with 4 friends. It seems the Wednesday night deal is a standing appointment. I took grilling stuff along and we grilled up some burgers as the riding was winding down. Saturday, I took my beloved border collie to the Run The Woodlands 5k. Ran a slow 26-ish minutes, but it's way hot! Then we again went to 3 Palms. What was to be 'an hour or two' turned out to be almost 4 hours. There are a lot of water breaks!

Then, I called my buddies Larry and Thomas Saturday evening and informed them that it would be wise to ride in the forest on Sunday. Larry and Thomas:

They had church, so we went super early. I got there at 6am. Is it wrong or illegal to listen to The Rippingtons very loud on the way to ride? Is it not contradictory to listen to jazz before climbing aboard a very rowdy dirt bike? Let's just call it the 'calm before the storm'... :):) Evan:

My riding has been very good! Lots of laps, lots of miles, lots of athletic endurance (yes, it is an endurance sport!). Zero perfectly good motorcycles thrown to the ground! Knocks on wood.
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The weekend of June 20-21:

Ran a good 5-6 miles with a new group. Not really new, they're The Woodlands Running Club, just a different little splinter group with a different day and place than the usual Sunday group. Great time and Tessie got to run with another border collie named Jessie. Ironic. Jessie chewed on Tessie so it's apparent that my dog got "owned". It could have gone either way with 2 females.

I rode it The Forest after that and ventured to a new trail that I had never ridden. Oh man, THAT was TOUGH! I think the trail loop is 17-18 miles. Then there are the additional 5 miles of GETTING LOST. Very deep sand, the whole way! Very deep, deep, deep sand! The whole way. Hell of a workout. Don't ride the Northeast Trail unless you have a bike that floats on sand!

That weekend by the numbers:
Number of miles run: 6
Number of miles ridden: 22
Number of miles ridden in VERY DEEP sand: 21.97
Number of perfectly good motorcycles thrown to the ground: 1

Cool new fiberglass bridge, the only one of its kind I've encountered in the forest:

Post ride self portrait:

I had a strange relationship with a small pine tree...

2009-06-18T07:57:00.010-05:00

I've kept this pretty quiet until now. I've told a few people about what happened in the forest, but not many. Only now can I start to understand what happened and find a hint of levity.

Trail riding in the forest is a lot like trail running. Yes, running on trails with your feet and legs. Runners find and latch onto "runner's high", a brain state where endorphins are flowing and the runner is relaxed, euphoric, even 'high' and sometimes, 'quite high'. And for me, that runner's high sets in much sooner and is a lot more intense when running on trails. The reason is that you're really focused on picking your line. You totally zone out the surroundings other than the immediate terrain that you're negotiating. And you must pay close attention to your line to prevent twisting your ankle or tripping on a root or rock. It's easy to get lost when you're trail running because you tuned out the surroundings.

The same thing happens on a dirt bike when you're blasting through the woods. It takes a while for this intoxication to set in. You start to sweat, you're exerting energy moving around on the bike (body English) to get it to go where you would like. You're getting a little tired and you start picking up the pace a little. NOW, you're entering the ZONE! You're paying particular attention to the trees, ruts, roots, mud puddles, and sand patches. You're not totally focused on any one element; your brain is processing all of the information about the stuff in front of you and the stuff you just blew past, in your periphery. It's COOL! (this pic is not THE tree, just a pic I swiped off the internet)

So let's get back on topic. I had a strange relationship with ONE small pine tree out of billions. As I approached, it was perfectly in focus. Not an unfocused, slightly blurred tree like all of the others. I saw this tree perfectly. Perfectly focused, perfectly right there on the side of the trail. And I RODE RIGHT INTO IT!! Bwahaha! It nailed the ring finger on my left hand. Beneath my glove, it hurt like hell. After about 5 minutes of riding, I had to stop to peel the glove off. Finger was bleeding and cut pretty well on the outside of the hinge joint (I ain't no anatomy guy!). I'm damn lucky it didn't separate my finger! Lesson learned? Bark Busters!! Don't go into the woods without 'em! I've had these for years but hadn't bothered to bolt them on! Doh! So now the 125 has 'em and I'm going to fabricate a couple more pairs for the 100's.

So I've heard about something related to motorcycle riding that is called Target Fixation. I've always heard about it in a bad light. How could this be? Target fixation must certainly be a good thing, eh?! You know, like super focused, really alert to pulling off what you're trying to do. So after this episode with the pine tree, I googled it. And SURE ENOUGH, it's a BAD thing and something to be avoided! Apparently, if you focus too sharply on something, the brain has a little software glitch that will steer you right into that object. Prior to my relationship with the tree, I would have absolutely called BS on such a ridiculous notion. No way, it'll never happen!

Target Fixation DOES exist and it IS a bad thing! I've done it! Only once. And I mean that tree was in focus! Like no other tree ever before. Strange. Really weird! Here's what Wikipedia says, Target Fixation.
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And in other news,I got an invitation from a friend, Glenn (a guy I met while riding in the woods), to visit the legendary Houston motocross track that has been laboriously and meticulously resurrected, Rio Bravo MX Park! Wow! Nice work, guys! They've done a fantastic job putting it back together!

After I took a couple of laps, I came in and said, "WOW, it's an old-fashioned motocross track, just like what tracks looked like in the 70's and 80's!" It's different in that it's a fast track with long sweeping turns and pretty graceful jumps. It just means you've gotta ride super fast to get the effect (like the Gran Prix track at 3 Palms). Not really my cup of tea because the speeds are high (the consequences for making a mistake can be high). But the guys at Rio Bravo have done a GREAT JOB! Hats off!

Another great weekend is now 'on the books'...

2009-06-08T07:21:00.013-05:00

On Saturday, we were all fired up about going to the RTW 5k. It has been 2 weeks since the last one, right? Ahh, but something failed to register. The race is the 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month. Doh. So when Tessie and I showed up, we were disappointed to be the only ones there. Tess was looking around the starting area, wondering why we were alone. I was going to bag the run, then thought, "we're here, we're gonna RUN IT!" So we did. Tessie came in 1st place dog, and I finally got my 1st place finish.

Sunday brought the Tejas Triathlon. Having signed up for it only 6 days prior, I had ZERO training going into the event. But I DID show up well ahead of time to get set up. You might recall what happened last year when I sped to the event at over 100 mph. Here's the funny topic from last year: Tejas Triathlon 2008

So this year, I was punctual. "Hmm, I wonder if I can just stuff the bike into the convertible?" Wheels in the trunk. Yeah, it's doable:

Horrible mess, big pile of stuff in my transition area (last year)? No way baby, my little piece of real estate was tidy and organized! Yea:

Nice venue, super triathlon weather:

The swim was really no big deal. Hmm, that's a first. I didn't inhale a quart of water right at the beginning of the swim (last year), and it seemed that there were very few people kicking me and very few being kicked by me. What's up with that? Swim was good. I didn't get passed by anyone, but I passed a bunch of people.

The biking was good. I got passed by a BUNCH of folks! My bike is prolly 25 years old and my body much older than that. I have no idea how much the fast riders are benefited by riding the ultra-modern (read very expensive) TRICK bikes. It's probably a mix of modern equipment AND training. Imagine that. It was funny, I was pedaling along thinking, "this is a 19-20 mph ride". I came upon one of those automatic speed displays on the side of the road to make drivers conscious of their speed. There was a car coming past on my left. The sign read "32 mph", then "19 mph". "Ahh YES, I'm doing just fine". Funny.

The run totally SUCKED! That's unusual for me. I just couldn't find my 'land legs' after ditching the bike. It was bad from the start. I was walking at times. I was spent and just couldn't get the job done. Perhaps if I had trained. Mental note to self.

My swim was 12:37 for 600m (6 seconds slower that 2008), the bike was 21.7 mph (19.1 for 2008, YEA), and the run pace was 8:33 (7:32 in 2008, BOO!). Total time was 1:15 Pretty cool being done with this before most people open their eyes!

In all, I saw about 5-6 people I know. I wanted to get a group picture of 4 of us, but people didn't want to be photographed. Whatever. But Cassie was OK with it:

Cassie JAMMED with a 10 minute PR (personal record for you non-runners)! Great job on that! Overall, I'm pleased and had a great weekend! Now I need a work week to recover! Whew.

Dirt Biking in the Sam Houston National Forest

2009-06-01T19:59:00.007-05:00

After riding in the Sam Houston National Forest in 2007 when I was looking to relocate here, I swore I'd never do that again. Those who keep up (on this blog), know I've been riding motocross here locally, for the past year and a half...

I'm HOOKED on RIDING IN THE FOREST!! It's different, requiring typically a smaller bike than the motocross track and is an acquired pleasure. After riding in the forest 3 or 4 times, I can now understand the attraction. The terrain isn't too technical and there are no big jumps and not much high-speed terrain.

I've contemplated taking beginner riders to the woods, but now don't think so. There is deep sand and tree roots that require bike handling prowess, for sure. But the real problem is that the consequences of even a minor riding mistake can be pretty dire, as there are unwielding pine trees everywhere! There is also a neat camping area 3 miles from where I go dirt biking. The camping offers kayaking and grilling, all the good stuff. The trails are not far from my house. Here: Multi-Use Trails

So this Facebook thing showed up...

2009-05-30T07:33:00.002-05:00

I got sucked into the facebook deal with invitations. Whoopee! I don't get it. I don't know what to do with fb. I don't care that you're going to Starbucks or that you are working late. Maybe you're someone I knew in junior high school or high school. Maybe that's cool to touch base and say howdy. But if we didn't hang out as friends back then, what's the attraction now?

And fb has wiped out blogging that occurred before fb was prevalent. There were some kick ass blogs that I used to keep up with....now, those bloggers have just kinda disappeared. And this blog has also been neglected.

But it's not all bad. I have met some cool people in the local running community! But I just don't know what to do with fb.

And twitter. What the hell is that? So now I'm supposed to get a little phone with a full freaking keyboard and write real-time about my Starbucks frappa-latte WHILE I'm driving down the road. Oh good grief. Not just no! I'll never twitter, tweet, or text...just forget it!

How in the world have 2 months slipped by....

2009-05-29T05:55:00.003-05:00

I hope my faithful blog reader(s) have been wondering where I've been. Sorry! A lot has happened in the past couple of months! Here's a sampling of what will soon be discussed here:

Teaming arrangements that don't happen
BMW Trunk Latch Handle Project
The Rippingtons concert
Dirt Biking in the Sam Houston National Forest
"Fix It BEFORE It Breaks" Project
Very short hair
Broken tooth
Plantar Fasciitis
Featured runner in "Deer Tracks"
Yard cleaned up then big tree fell down
Borrowed a kayak
The Honda lawnmower that just keeps running
YMCA Trail Run in Conroe
Facebook
Twitter
Riding at Rio Bravo

C'mon Summertime!

2009-03-24T08:14:00.017-05:00

I suffered a traumatic experience last week! My neighbor took his family on spring break vacation and asked me to feed his chickens. No sweat, I've done it on previous occasions. It seems the chicken population has grown since the last time I fed 'em.

On Tuesday, I leisurely walked across the street. Relaxed and enjoying the day, I fed the chickens. Then all of a sudden, a large rooster starts coming after me. WTF?! That son of a bitch attacked me! Clawed the hell out of my legs and pecked deep gouges with its beak. So I kicked the hell out of this thing to cease the attack! He came back at me 3 more times. Geez! I had no idea that I was going into battle when I went to feed 'em and that I would come back bleeding. I opened up the gouges and repeatedly poured rubbing alcohol into the wounds. I followed it up with plenty of neosporin. I really didn't want infections from this filthy bird. My legs oozed watery bloody stuff for the rest of the day. OF ALL the injuries I can sustain, it's a freaking rooster that takes me down??

The next day, I wore thick coveralls, leather gloves, and carried a broom handle. All went well, almost. As I'm walking away, I kept looking back. I was over 50 feet away and I turned around to see this guy hauling ass after me. This was after I fed the f**king INGRATE!! He caught a broom handle. He came back for more, 3 more times. I ended up breaking the broom handle on his ass! He HAD to be sore after the broom handle escapades.

After my neighbor returned home he said, "oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about the violent rooster, he's a real backstabber". No sh*t, you don't say! I'm gonna fire up the grill.

Because I've had a little Plantar Fasciitis deal, I decided to ride my bike, instead of run this past weekend. Other than Mountain Biking and Triathlons, I haven't ridden in any organized bike rides/races in probably 12 years. Once I caught the running bug, I wasn't interested. I decided to ride in the Tour de Houston. They offered distances of 20, 40, and 70 miles. I picked the 40 miler, that seemed perfect for having not been on the bike.

The cycling society is DIFFERENT than the running crowd! The athletes' physiques are surely different. There is a bunch of cycling etiquette, apparently. You only pass on the left, and must announce that you're passing on the left. One lady started bitching me out because I didn't announce it. Maybe if her slow ass was on the right side of the lane (where it belongs), there would be no problem. The second part of the "rule" is that if you're a slower rider, move to the right side of the lane! DUH! And there were 3 big crashes, where the crashed riders couldn't negotiate diagonal grooves in the pavement! Pay attention, y'all!

I WAS paying attention to the route signs, YET still ended up on the 70-mile course! I think the race organizers forgot to post ONE critical sign because I wasn't the only one wondering how we ended up on the 70 mile route. I din't want to ride 70 miles because I had lots of stuff to do on Sunday. So I broke off from the ride and "did my own thing" to get back to Downtown. I prolly ended up with 34-35 miles. A mountain bike would be much better suited for assaulting the urban terrain! Subsidence on the sidewalks in Houston? This was about 1 foot tall, the road bike had to go around it! Here:

On my interesting and now-solo journey to return to Downtown, I saw all sorts of cool stuff. I always envisioned "Reliant Stadium" being more impressive than what I saw:

Neat structure Downtown:

And finally, a DELICIOUS Rudy's breakfast taco with egg, cheese, brisket and salsa:

OK, I'm back! Been away from the blog for a month...

2009-03-12T09:36:00.037-05:00

Sheesh, I have no idea how a month has slipped by and I've not kept my loyal reader(s) abreast of all that happens around here!

Austin Half-Marathon:(Feb 15th)

I'm disappointed with the Austin Half-Marathon and likely won't return.

[BEGIN RANT]
1) What's up with charging $97 for a half-marathon?
2) No race-day packet pickup and they wanted to charge me $7 to park the car to go inside the runner's expo to pick up my packet? You're trying to sell me a bunch of stuff at the expo and you want to charge me 7 bucks to park?? Austin, you're FULL OF YOURSELF! And your traffic sucks badly!
3) Inside the expo it took 45 minutes to pick up my packet, what's up with that?
4) They RAN OUT of tee shirts?! Ninety-seven dollars to run your crummy race and you ran out of shirts? This is 2nd grade math, y'all. Your event filled up well before race day. Each registration has a shirt size listed. Tabulate those numbers and you will know how many shirts to order. Geez.
5) The course bites. Not only is it hilly, NOT fast, but poorly laid out. Route the ENTIRE marathon runner flow through a single-lane alley after mile 3?
[END RANT]

Before the race, Sonya, Evan, Dennis, & Rick:

I went into the race with Plantar Fasciitis (foot owwie), but still managed a 1:46 time:

HEB did a great job of providing all sortsa GREAT food after the event! HEB is king:

A cool chic who took our group picture, Bianca:

Evan, Chris, unknown, & Kristen:

Rick and Evan enjoying some delicious breakfast:

Park To Park 5 Mile Race, Houston Museum of Natural Science, & Mountain Biking (Feb 21st)

Great little race in downtown Houston! It runs from Discovery Green Park to Herman Park. I ran a decent 37:00 race.
Evan, June, Stephen:

Pam (ran an INCREDIBLE 33:55!), Stephen, Geri, & Evan:

AFTER the Park-To-Park race, I was riding my bike back to downtown to return to my car, when I rode right past the Museum of Natural Science. People who know me know how I'm totally drawn to neat mechanical stuff. Go inside, nah. But WAIT, I'm right here, right now! I locked my bike and went inside to check out all of the neat Energy Exhibit stuff:

AFTER the museum, I decided to go Mountain Biking in Memorial Park. The last few times I've gone, I always ask people "where is the technical stuff" (challenging terrain). This time, a guy told me where the REAL stuff is! It's called "The Triangle"...He told me to ride down the sidewalk to the Arboretum, then RIGHT THERE at the corner of the driveway, there's an almost-hidden trail that "drops in". He told me that as soon as I dropped in, I'd see a tunnel that goes under Memorial Drive. "The Triangle" is the area bordered by 610, I-10, and Memorial Drive. A little known secret! Shh! He wasn't lying:

The Triangle IS thoroughly technical! Be careful, it's ROWDY! The picture does NOT do the terrain justice. Here:

The Houstex Machine and Tool Show, GRB convention center (Feb 25th)

Those who know me know my absolute delight in all things mechanical, especially machine tools! My great friends over at CeeSan Machine and Fabrication not only invited me to ride along with them, they had an admission ticket for me and fed me plenty of cold beers during the show! I just LOVE my friends!
Evan, Curt, Festus:

I'm always so pleased to check out cool tooling:

Hanging out with Danny O from MLC Cad:

The Prickly Pear 10 Mile Trail Race, San Antonio (March 7th)

I had the pleasure of running in the Prickly Pear 10 mile race! Great event! Those who run might be aware of the "runners high" that you experience when the endorphins are flowing (or whatever it is that makes you feel so euphoric). Trail running amplifies the runners' high by about a factor of 10! Prolly because you're so very focused on ONLY the rugged, rocky trail right in front of you! Good stuff! Patti, Dennis, Sonya, & Evan:

I'm pleased with my 1:33!

Weekend in Review! Weekdays are needed to give pause/recovery from Weekends!

2009-02-10T09:51:00.019-06:00

I've been working diligently for the past few years to eliminate my monetary debts. Going into the weekend, I was finally DEBT FREE! No mortgage loan. No car loans. No credit card debts. No big machinery loans. Feels GOOD! My mantra has been, "I'm gonna take back my weekends!" Done deal.

So how did I score on taking back my weekends? Let's see: Saturday morning, I drove down to the Buffalo Wallow 6k Race down at Waugh and Memorial Drive. It was a great cross-country event. Further evidence that my anonymity (after relocating back here) is gone, I saw folks I knew at the event. Of course there was Coach Bill, Adrienne, and Gaslight. I hung out and chatted with Gaslight after I was done running. Neat lady, hardcore about her Houston running scene! There were runners EVERYWHERE! Not just my race, but everywhere for miles and miles. Houston's running contingent is stout! Photo credit, Bill D:

Earlier in the week, my good friend, Jeff, suggested that we go mountain biking on the Ho Chi Minh Trails that are within Memorial Park. Well, he opted out so I went anyway! It had probably been 12 years since I'd cycled there. I asked a rider if there were any "technical trails" (challenging). He said, "very technical" and pointed me in the right direction. Having done most of my mountain biking in Government Canyon (Helotes), Crown Ridge (San Antonio), and Hill Country Natural Area (in Bandera), I'm telling you that Ho Chi Minh is not VERY technical. Technical, yes. VERY, no! In all, a really cool place to ride! I had a blast, can't wait to go back!!

A typical picture of what the technical areas look like:

Really COOL sort of chute:

From there, it was off to just "go see people". This is RARE for me! I was in no particular hurry! I went and visited my good friends, L & J, who have put their home up for sale. I'm pretty tough on them. They still have stuff all over the place and I tell them they're NOT moving anytime soon. That's what the prospective buyers will think. My Realtor told me the same thing. I'll be damned if I didn't clear the whole house out after she barked at me! So it's my job to pass it on.

It IS important to be wary of under-arm perspiration whilst riding one's Harley on the 610 loop. This guy figured out the solution:

Next up was a visit to my buddies over at Cee San. Apparently, they TOO have taken back their weekends! Place was a ghost town:

I then went to my MOM's for lunch and fixed their treadmill. Great visit. Later in the day as I was prepping some dirt bikes, my buddy Matt came by. Damn, I've known this guy for 38 years! Hadn't seen him in prolly 25 years. I was gonna say he's a bit freakish, but then noticed the pic of my lovely tie-dye shirt. Oh well:

Then came Sunday! Had a great time at the track! It had been watered a bit much for my liking, but had a super time and passed a couple of riders. Yeah BABY:

I was going to go to my first "Hashing Run", but I got scared and the afternoon was overcast and windy. Next time! These hashers (Click on the link) are just nuts! Go to the "Hashing 101" section. That would indeed make me a 'virgin'!

Great weekend, I'm loving it!...

2009-02-02T10:29:00.011-06:00

Good times were had by many this past weekend! I was REALLY looking forward to going dirt biking! Didn't happen, BOO! I worked a bunch on Saturday, but I'm not complaining...my client needs her products and it's interesting and challenging stuff!

I traveled to the Bill Crews Remission Run on Saturday. It was the first year for this fantastic event. I didn't see too many spoilers in my age group, other than the ultra fast Jacob Mazone. I figured maybe I could earn some bling, take home a prize. It was a tough course and my fortitude wasn't strong late in the game.

I thought about leaving before the awards presentation, but resisted. The time I came in 1st place in Masters' division, I wasn't there for the award. It's anti-climactic for the organizers to give out awards to people who aren't even there! So I stayed. I scored 3rd Place in the 40-50 division! I won a heart-warming book, written by Dana-Susan Crews that told of Bill's winning battle over cancer! Thanks! I'm so glad I stayed!

Sunday, I went running with The Woodlands Running Club and had a great 7.5 mile run and met a couple of folks while running. Good times!

I went home, worked a bunch more, then showered and went to Brenham to deliver a new computer to my mentor, Glenn. Super cool guy that I met in 1986. He's an engineer's engineer, truly a bad-ass when it comes to R&D of internal-combustion engines, among many other things! Over the years, Glenn has kept me pointed in (mostly) the right direction. But he hasn't been too generous with the 'atta-boy's'. I'll show him some neat stuff and he compliments my effort, but will often provide a little additional suggestion. JUST ENOUGH to have me striving for higher career performance and seeking his approval! Good stuff!

Anyway, his computer was probably 20 years old. I got him "tuned up" with a modern Dell from eBay for $150. Since my work was done for the day and I've been on a quest to "take back my weekends", I was actually not too hurried when I visited. That's rare! After several hours I was suddenly in a hurry!

I had MORE socializing to do, Superbowl Party! Quite the sociable guy yesterday. At the party, I hung out for almost 4 hours, not particularly in a hurry. Rare.
Fun party:

My friend Curt built this really cool table:

Party animal! Man about town:

Evan is thoroughly ENERGIZED by running a fast race...Issues challenge to Heidi...

2009-01-21T22:11:00.012-06:00

Heidi's a tough chic! She's been running a lot faster than me leading up to last Sunday. She came down with food poisoning that lasted until way too close to the race...so I beat her by less than a minute. Not that it was intended to be a competition, that's just the way it happened. Two things have changed since then.

She's talking ABSOLUTE SMACK about kicking my ass in the half-marathon distance, AND I've gained HUGE confidence and will NOW TRAIN to ensure ABSOLUTE PREVALENCE!!

Let's train together for a couple of 1:35's....We'll hafta run some big hills, repeatedly! ARGH!!

Hey Heidi, I just signed up for the Austin Half-Marathon, February 15th....The race is 96% full. If you wanna kick my ass in this race, you best get signed up! This is a performance challenge! You don't have what it takes!! Whatcha Gonna Do?? You sure talk a good game. :):):)

Gonna THUNDER IN AUSTIN!!

BRING IT!

PACK A LUNCH!

Houston Marathon Report/My Half-Marathon Run...

2009-01-19T08:32:00.035-06:00

First, there's Sabrina. She's my running bud who has turned into QUITE the celebrity! I'm surprised she even hangs out with me anymore. It seems she wrote a really great story about how she found running after the death of her mother and how she's since elevated her performance. Yesterday, she ran a GREAT marathon with a finishing time of 3:52. Her celebrity is enormous! In this pic, she's shown in a television interview:

If you've kept up with my ramblings here, you know that blistered toes have been the #1 show-stopper for me in the past couple of half-marathons. Because my training bites, and my mileage base is quite low, my toes don't have the requisite callouses. Per Roger Soler's advice, I was going to tape them up. At the running expo, I saw Mick at the Luke's Locker Exhibit. He showed me these great socks and LaErica sold 'em to me! What a GREAT IDEA/INVENTION...I wish I'd thought of it first! In the first couple of miles they were awkward and irritating. I thought they might be a show-stopper. Then my socks and I really got into the groove!! I love my new socks, ZERO blisters!:

Here, moments before the race, I got a pic with Stephen Smith:

I carried my camera and cell phone. I called my MOM at mile 7 and it just about derailed my run. Turning the fanny pack around and unzipping it to get the phone took more energy than I'd have liked...talked to MOM after crossing over Allen Parkway. I was pretty brief with MOM, sorry.

The Houston Marathon is a GREAT VENUE!! And inside the GRB Convention Center, HEB spared no expense or effort. Fantastic spread! Bananas, bagels, cookies, muffins, coffee, hot scrambled eggs, sausage, biscuits, hot sauce, the works! Here, having some breakfast with some of my running buds:

After stretching and packing it up to go, I went outside and there was a festival-like PARTY going on! Sausage-on-a-stick, free beer, lots of fun stuff everywhere:

I've always thought I'm so clever to take a mountain bike to marathons. Parking stress is nonexistent, stress-free. Park a mile or two away and just roll into and out of the race. Finding a place to pee is easy. Chain the bike near the start/finish line. Great idea, right? Well yesterday, for the 1st time, I goofed! I LOST MY FREAKING BIKE!! I was sure that it hadn't been stolen, as there are people everywhere. I'll be damned if I didn't walk around for OVER an hour, looking for my bike! Geez. The scenery of the race venue changes A LOT from the time you take off until the time you finish! Where there were massive scaffolds covered with huge banners for the 2 starting lines, there were none! And it appears they built up a huge finish line while we were running. Quite the feat. So it confused me. I ended up walking all the way back to the car, a long way away, AFTER walking for over an hour looking for the bike. Recall that the very premise of the bike trick is to REDUCE walking. I drove the approximate route that I rode to the starting line. Well, THERE'S my bike!! I'll try to pay attention next year!

There were some GREAT performances out there yesterday! GREAT RACE!

Sheesh, the whole bunch enjoyed PR's (personal record), except me!Adrienne just ran a STELLAR 3:05 PR! My friends Sabrina and Carolyn both ran fantastic 3:52 PR's! My friend Pam ran a fantastic 3:28! Very stout! Cassie and her husband Manny, ran super impressive 2:05's, despite being uninspired by the race beforehand! She bested her previous record by 5 minutes! Way to go, girl! Lots of great running out there, thanks folks! I had planned on running a 1:40 half-marathon, although I don't deserve such a number at the present time. I ended up with a 1:39! I THUNDERED in Houston! I'll take it!

It was only a week ago....

2009-01-14T20:20:00.016-06:00

If you read that topic right down there, 2 topics down, I wrote about wanting to blow off Wednesday Night Track run. I emailed my running buddy with whom I have a "standing appointment" for this Wednesday Night thing. My email, "you going tonight?"....Her reply, "of course!" So I blushed and thought I need to not even ask, just SHOW UP!

So surely I wouldn't send a message like that today, as the answer, "of course" would further make me look like a wimp.

I showed up. I showed up 45 minutes early to make this my "long run" before my Half-Marathon on Sunday. My last-ditch training. Schucks, I've still got .43 weeks left to train (laughing)! Had a GREAT TIME, lotsa great folks showed up! We all ran a pretty relaxed paced and chit-chatted the whole time.

But apparently SOMEBODY elected to NOT SHOW UP!! (Where's my "shaking head" emoticon? And while I'm digging up emoticons, might as well splash in a few "rolling eyes" emoticons, too). Hey, it's all good!

And in other news, I found this to be quite funny! Dealing with bill collectors:

Excellent Running!

2009-01-10T17:21:00.008-06:00

I ran with Susie's group in the forest this morning and took my dogs. All went well, great run!

It's easy for the dogs to hack off other runners by getting in front of them, then stopping. It didn't happen this morning, thankfully. I'm working on this. They really should run by my side, without exception. They're as energetic as can be imagined, so I get their side of the story. I'm working on this, it's a tough one...

I ran prolly 5 miles with a few of the trail runners, then we (me and 2 dogs) hooked it over to the RTW 5k race. We got there with only a moment to spare. My younger brother gave me a couple of dog crates for Christmas (2 of their 3 dogs died recently :(:(:(...) Mackie, the big American Bulldog just LOVES the crate! I set it up yesterday and put her blanket in there. She immediately claimed it and hangs out in there a LOT!

So if you recall that I've had running-with-dogs issues since the disappearance of the old Border Collie, I now have the solution. I ran both dogs in the forest, and kept the big dog in the crate, in the back of my truck while Tessie (Border Collie) ran the 5k race with me. It worked well.

Lotsa running this morning, 8 miles.

BTW, bad news! The lady at the Exxon station, where most of the trail running group parks, told me they were gonna start towing our cars! Geez. Like we're hurting anyone. Hey, don't shoot the messenger, I'm just say'in...

Last Ditch Half-Marathon Training...

2009-01-09T09:26:00.004-06:00

Yeah baby! I've been doing OK with running. Wednesday, I took the dogs running about 2.5 miles in the woods at lunchtime, then went to Wednesday night track workout. I've been doing the track nights for maybe a month now. Wednesday we ran 1-mile repeats, 6 of 'em (others did up to 8). Not to0 bad, I was running in the 7:00 to 7:15 min/mile range. Good group on Wednesdays! Looks like I've been 'roped in' and am now expected to show up. I sent an email in the afternoon to my running bud, "are you going tonight"? The reply, "of course"....so that sets up the guilt trip for even thinking of blowing it off! Sigh...

And of course I still have 1.1 weeks to train for the Houston Half!! Smirking. I'll run today and Saturday (RTW), then a long run on Sunday. Wrap it up with a couple of runs next week and I'll be good to go! Good times!

Gotta LOVE Weekends!

2009-01-07T08:16:00.006-06:00

After being off of the dirt bike for a month and a half or more, my friends suggested that we have a Motocross outing last weekend. While I had plenty of stuff to do, I just couldn't fight it! They came to my house and helped load up 6 bikes and we headed to the track.

Having mixed in frequent recreational motocross with my running/triathlon stuff throughout the past year, I guess I really didn't realize the dirt biking's contribution in physical conditioning. We rode Saturday after I ran 5 miles with the dogs. Sunday I ran 10 miles with the running group. But I was TORN UP from the motocross!! Only on Tuesday did the soreness and fatigue dwindle. My riding was GOOD!

Even though it doesn't seem very physically demanding while you're riding, do NOT under-estimate the workout you get from riding MX! I was wiped out from riding!! WooHoo!!

Here's our parting shot, great folks:

Running Update: As mentioned above I have been running. I run on weekends and try to get the dogs out once or twice a week. The weather and holidays have wreaked havoc on my good intentions. I've got the Houston 1/2 Marathon coming up in a week and a half, so I guess I need to hit it hard this week and weekend. I've been running Wednesday night track workouts, too. So I've still got 1.5 weeks to train for the event, eh?! :):)

Hey man, ENOUGH with the freaking fireworks, EH??!!

2009-01-05T09:37:00.010-06:00

Geez, it happens twice a year. While I'm not trying to be a 'stick-in-the-mud' and agree that it's a person's prerogative to shoot off fireworks as allowed by our society and laws. But DAMNIT!! Shoot 'em off on the day you're celebrating, NOT for 1 week prior and another week after the day of celebration. ENOUGH ALREADY!

There's a guy nearby who loves firing his shotguns, and 4th of July and New Year's sound like a war zone in my neighborhood. Scares the HELL out of my dogs. But now my dogs have been hiding deep in my storage building or following me around for about 2 weeks. They get to sleep inside the house, which they often do on cold nights. Heaven forbid should I actually want to spend the night out or go on vacation during these periods. Nope, I've gotta be RIGHT HERE to shelter my pets. Freaking IDIOTS (fireworks folks, not dogs)! Here's what happens every night, including last night:

On New Year's Eve 2002/2003, my beloved Border Collie, Brembo, escaped my yard and ran about a mile away in a crazed escape from the fireworks. My running buddy, Sonya, likely remembers the somber run we shared for the New Year's Day Cobweb Chaser Run at McAllister Park. Before the run, I walked her over to my truck and pointed out the dead, stiff corpse of my dog. Because of the rocky terrain, it took me 5-6 hours of crying/digging/busting rocks to dig a suitable hole in which to bury her. RIP Brembo:

I went over to a friend's house the other day and they were SUPER BUMMED! Their dog was freaked out by fireworks, escaped, got run-over and killed.....geez...

Ummm, I went to run 12 miles but no one showed up...

2008-12-20T07:17:00.002-06:00

The Woodlands Running Club site says, Sterling Ridge, 12 miles, Sat, Dec 21st. It's now Sat, Dec 20th....So I'll assume that Saturday, December 21st is actually going to happen tomorrow....that was a waste of time and fuel...maybe I'll try again tomorrow...

OK, it's time I set a couple of goals...

2008-12-17T20:31:00.007-06:00

Having run a 22:04 (7:06 min/mile) at the RTW 5k race last weekend, it SURELY begs the obvious. Sub 22-minute 5k. If it's a 21:59, I'll take it. That's there for the grabbing.

Next, I wanna run the 5k in sub-7 minutes per mile...this'll be a tad tougher and will actually require me to WORK at it! That equates to a 5k time of 21:41 (6:59 min/mile)...that's a sizable jump. Ahh, the challenge.

I don't recall where my 5k times were back when I was running fast, but I think I was just about in the low 21's and maybe bumped into a high 20 minute 5k.....I'm not a fast 5k runner. Also not a fast 10k runner at about 44:20ish, back in the day. The point I'm making is that my 5k pace isn't much quicker than the 10k and so-on for the 1/2 and full marathons. But the distance doesn't seem to be a problem. I guess I'm more wired for endurance than speed.

I just went to the Wednesday Night Track Workout with The Woodlands Running Club. Damn these people are fast! Tough crowd! I now recall why I hate speed work at the track. I thought I was gonna cough up a lung. Not too bad, but running fast DOES hurt! I'm going to stick with my new-found Wednesday night regimen and see if I can't make good on that 21:41 (6:59 min/mile pace).

Tonight we did 1-mile repeats with a 3-minute cool down. I warmed up for a mile, then ran 4 repeats. So YES, I ran 5 miles DURING the week! Woot!

Ran a 6:35 pace for the 1st mile, then a 6:38 for the 2nd.....toned it down for the last 2 miles....so I guess I CAN run fast, but damn the fortitude is hard to come by!

I met my running buddy Sabrina and told her we have a standing appointment for Wednesday nights. After all, I AM training for the Houston Half-Marathon in 1 month! Training, yeah, that's what it's called....

WG Jones Forest is Open! Good running...

2008-12-15T08:24:00.007-06:00

After Hurricane Ike, the WG Jones Forest was closed. There's a local group who runs there and it's convenient for me to run my dogs there. The runners kept going in after the closure, until the next incident occurred, the crash of the news helicopter.

This time the Forestry Service had white signs made with big red letters that said, "CLOSED". And they posted them all around the place. Umm, that tells me that they seriously didn't want anybody in there! Finally the signs were gone on Friday and I took my dogs in there for a 4 mile run before the Run The Woodlands 5k. The RTW race started at 8 am, so I had to be efficient.

Old pics, but valid:

The little Border Collie was on fire! She had boundless energy, running WAY ahead! I'd call her and she would turn around and run FULL SPEED back to me. So she prolly ran 5+ miles. We got home and I had a plan to sneak her back out and take her to the 5k to further whittle away her super high energy level. I fed the cat and the big dog, then whispered for her to jump in the truck....she KNEW exactly what we were doing and jumped up there without alerting the big dog. We escaped, unnoticed.

At the race, she just took off! I had to keep calling her back. Then about half way through the race, she began to hang with me, finally burned off some of the energy! WE ran a nice 22:04! Not my quickest, but not at all bad. Good times!

OK, I'm back...How rude to have bailed!...

2008-12-10T08:32:00.017-06:00

OK, running update...day before Thanksgiving, 4.5 miles...Thanksgiving, 5 mile race...Friday, 5k race(1st place Masters' WIN [still milking this all I can!])...Saturday, 5k race. LOTS of fast running in 4 days!

Before the "Run Thru The Woods" 5 mile race on Thursday, me and my buddy, Laura:

Receiving my TROPHIES from "Puffy the Pine Cone":

Thanksgiving day, admiring a beautiful Ford Model A (it started rolling down the driveway as the guy was taking my picture...so here I'm posing for the photo AND arresting the car's movement...multi-tasking to the max):

WTF? The WG Jones forest is STILL closed!!?? My poor dogs haven't been running with me in months! Good grief, open the forest, already!

Last Saturday, I just had to show up at the Sunmart Endurance Race. Roger Soler has been sponsor and Race Director for the Sunmart event for MANY years. Having met Roger and his running stores/running groups in San Antonio/Helotes, I'd always been 'too busy' to travel all the way to Huntsville to run a really long race. Because I now live pretty close to the Sunmart event, I was fresh OUT of excuses this year! I saw many friends from San Antonio and plenty of friends from the Houston area, too. What a GREAT venue! Schucks, I'll run the 50k race next year! I ran about 9 miles with my buddy, Sabrina...good time!

Sabrina getting a little breakfast before the race:

Chatting with Randy Reina:

Donny, Evan, Roger Soler:

Jon Walk and Roger:

Jim Braden, Debbie Tripp, Bill Dwyer, the usual suspects:

Thundering thru the woods with Sabrina:

Sometimes you just gotta DO IT YOURSELF!

2008-11-30T10:16:00.015-06:00

Several years ago, a friend of mine from "an outlaw biker web forum" told me that a component on his very expensive ($22,000) German motorcycle had failed and that failure of the component was prevalent. He suggested that I design a new and much improved component and sell them. I did. I designed a killer kit that could be installed without special rivets and machinery for crimping/swaging mechanical connections, a kit that could be retrofitted by someone with reasonable mechanical aptitude and simple tools.

I designed and built 100 kits, on my time, with my money. After selling about 50 kits, the guy lost interest and got busy with family/work. After getting pretty hacked off, I told the guy that this WASN'T within what we agreed to and that I wanted to recover my inventory. It took several months for him to box up my stuff and send it back to me, but I've got it now. Not a bad guy, we're still friends...just not a business/money/marketing guy.

I've tried Microsoft's 'Front Page' website authoring software and found it to be tough to learn. Same thing with 'Dreamweaver'. Finally, I found a pretty simple program that I learned. I spent $40 on the software and $13 to register the domain name. So for $53 and a couple of days work, I present to you my NEW website for selling this little fringe product. I'm not quite finished, but getting close. HERE IT IS (taah dahhh):

CLICK HERE for PRODUCT WEBSITE

Best,
Evan

"OK, I've had ENOUGH running in the MIDDLE of the pack!! ARGH!! Today, I'm gonna be FIRST PLACE!!"

2008-11-28T15:55:00.032-06:00

"I don't care if it kills me, I'm tired of NOT coming in FIRST PLACE in the Master's Division! I'm gonna go out there and KILL today!" (Notice determined look on my face/marching sort of running):

"You're going DOWN!! And everyone in front of me that I determine to be a threat is GOING DOWN!! Got that? Good! I'm talking to YOU!":

"I'm DAMN SURE that I won FIRST PLACE in the Master's Division!" (arms extended to 'glide' into the finish):

Photo credits: Bill Dwyer! (what's new, he's on the ball!)

NO, I REALLY WASN'T THINKING ANY OF THE STUFF I WROTE IN THOSE CAPTIONS ABOVE!

I'm sure it ain't true, but Bill D later wrote that I left too early and I have a TROPHY!

For RUNNING?!

NO WAY, but I'll take it! Apparently, I won FIRST PLACE, MASTERS' DIVISION!

Before today, I've not really given the "Masters" much thought at all. I'm pretty sure one must be old to qualify for such. I never imagined that one day it would be my CONDUIT to a FIRST PLACE FINISH! (I'm still capitalizing words I shouldn't 'cause I earned it, DAMN IT!) I'm gonna be studying this whole new world of 'Masters', as it's my NEW way to get me some BLING! BABY! :):)

That pesky (kidding!) OLYMPIAN 5k runner, Jacob Mazone WON the whole event which SOMEHOW left me with a FIRST PLACE in the Masters! WOOOHOOO!

Let's be clear, I'm NOT a fast 5k runner. My fastest 5k is a 7:04 pace, and my fastest marathons were 7:26 min/mile pace. NOT a big difference, which favors me to the longer distances...Hey, I'm NOT going to argue or contest my FIRST PLACE WIN! WOOOHOOO!! :):)

The Knack

2008-11-28T05:42:00.003-06:00

My friend, Jeff, recently emailed this video to a couple of people. In the subject line he wrote, "I know someone who has this". I called him on the phone and yelled, "HEY" when we were talking about it. He said, "I didn't say WHO had it, only that I know someone with this affliction". I replied, "HEY, I resemble that"! I'm totally guilty of having this disorder:

Ok, I'll play...4th Folder, 4th Photo....

2008-11-25T10:58:00.018-06:00

As seen on the blogs of both Tiggs, Coach Bill, and Viv, I went to the 4th photo folder in my 'puter and picked the 4th picture. Now I just KNEW that this would likely fall outside of the realm of what's usually discussed on this-here blog. Yep, it's not likely to generate much interest here.

OK, it's WORK STUFF!! You guys who really don't know me well, don't know that I just LOVE MY WORK!! I literally spring out of bed really early to get going, most days. I'm an inventor! With an engineering degree, I went backwards after college and bought machine tools and taught myself how to operate them. This was all in the name of building faster and more-bad-ass jet skis and drag racing cars.

One thing led to another and I taught myself how to do very intricate programming of computer-controlled machine tools, formally called Computer Numerical Control (CNC). Then logically, I started buying CNC machines. I do REALLY cool stuff!! I do stuff for the DoD (defense department), medical stuff, and have some (exactly 5) REALLY COOL parts that are ZINGING to PLUTO at over 52,000 mph for 9 years, as you read this. Anyway, the picture above is of a company moving one of my machines, about 5 years ago.

Earlier this year, my 2 current machines were moved to my current location. Here:

Want a Superior Sandwich? I sure do...

2008-11-20T11:27:00.014-06:00

A "Which Wich" location opened very near my home. Something other than the same old stuff is always welcome. Their claim of "Superior Sandwich" is surely well founded. My friend Jamoosh has also had the pleasure of such a delicious Wich at a franchise near his home, and concurs that the claim of "superior" is valid...get yours today...

Here are some of the photos from the R&R Half Marathon, last Sunday. I had intended to bike down to the start, take some pictures of the venue and friends, then drop off my camera, backpack, and cell phone at the car, then go back to the start.

There was NO WAY that was about to happen due to the time crunch. And I wasn't about to drop off $1000 worth of electronics at the UPS truck. So I ran with the backpack, camera, and cell phone.

This caused a "wardrobe malfunction". Janet Jackson's got nuthin on me! Early in the race, Sonya pointed it out and I tugged on my shorts to fix the problem. Apparently it was much worse than I thought! Later, a guy came running past us and said, "dude, check your shorts"! Sonya said, "told ya!" I reached around and to my shock, they were pretty much way the hell up under the belt for the pack. I think more than a few folks got to see Ev's ass! I'm lucky I wasn't arrested! So for the rest of the race, I was reaching back and pulling my pants back down to where they could cover my fanny. Here's but a concise example of Evan's rear end:

At mile 7, I just hadta call MOM!:

Go baby!:

Great Weekend, now I need a work week to recover...

2008-11-17T11:51:00.025-06:00

This was a working weekend with a race thrown in for good measure. I rented another large U-Haul trailer to make one of the last trips to my old house/shop, near San Antonio. It's been almost a year, but the guy that bought the place is super cool and has more workshop space there than he has stuff to fill it.

I briefly visited Daniel and his family:

And I got to visit my buddy Jeff and his family:

Going to the inaugural Rock & Roll Marathon in San Antonio had me kinda miffed at first. We ran the half-marathon, not the whole. I woke up at 4:10 and made my way down there...major street closings everywhere. I rode my bike to the Alamodome a few miles away, locked it there (finish line), then saw the line of people waiting for shuttle buses. VERY long line and only ONE bus in sight! So I opted to run 2-3 miles to the starting line, fully clothed, many layers of clothing. Now the whole thing IS a major clusterf**k! Very much running out of time, I had to get to the clothing drop off (corral #30) from my corral (#2) and get back with very little time until the race. And to think I started at 4:10, hours earlier!

I called Sonya who said she was in line somewhere and couldn't get with me to run. I refused to accept that! I haven't seen or run with this girl in almost a year. At the last possible moment, she showed up. Seconds before the gun, I got a runner to snap our pic:

I REALLY couldn't believe that a year had passed, it REALLY only seemed like a few weeks! She also said, "it's been a year?" While driving to the race, I was sure that I had run with my group a few times this year, but knew it wasn't the case. Strange sorta time-warp, guaranteed. If this year went by that quickly, the rest of my life oughtta happen like anytime, now!

We were definitely running a conservative pace. And due to the fact that we had a year's worth of chit-chat to catch up on, it was good (we do actually talk on the tele every now and then, though). As is TYPICAL of Evan, I was already talking about "bolting" at 2.4 miles. Sonya just rolls her eyes, "what's new?". I said I thought it would be good to stomp on the pedal at mile 6. She said 8. I quietly responded, "7.5?". At about mile 7, I called my mom! I called her as we were screaming through downtown. Mom later said it was fun to get such a call! Mission accomplished!

As I always do, I just get so fired up at the races that I couldn't stand it and had to bolt. I dropped her at mile 8 and took off! All was good and I really enjoyed the venue after the maddening start. Good time! At mile 11, my toe exploded. Really sharp pain in ONE instant! I thought that either my toe had snapped into 2 pieces, or I popped a blood blister. Gazing down at my shoe revealed a white shoe, not a red one. The pain slowly subsided a bit so I reasoned it was a blister that was draining.

After the race I surveyed the damage. A tale of what was to follow?:

There was certainly one casualty:

Sonya wheeling in with a nice 1:53:

I was able to score a 1:49 which is really good considering I had ZERO training! I'm really not pleased with my lack of training. It's been a strange couple of months with no shortage of 'show stoppers'.

OK, you heard it first, right here. I'm going to TRAIN for the Houston half-marathon in January and WILL be running under 1:40! Yep. Then one year from yesterday, I'll be ready to run another full marathon, my first since 2002. San Antonio 2009 with a run under 3:30! Hey, man's gotta have goals, eh?

My buddy Joel (see a couple of topics below this one) had hoped for a 2:35-2:45, but only mustered a 3:08. He had a bad knee deal pop up....poor guy.

My friend Carolyn enjoyed a tasty PR (personal record, for those who aren't runners)of 3:55!! She thought the event sucked and had a bunch of hills! Hmmm, I thought it was really great and enjoyed the lack of hills! EXCEPT for that long-ass uphill ramp at the very end, leading UP to the Alamodome...WTF?? What genius came up with that? People see things differently, I suppose. GREAT JOB Carolyn!

THEN I had to load up several thousand pounds of stuff, drive it back to Houston, unload and return the trailer by 7am Monday morning. I had a great nap after lunch.

My BEST Running Buddy in THE World!! Sonya!

2008-11-14T12:37:00.010-06:00

As much as anything, I'm really looking forward to going running with Sonya! We've run together for 9 years, starting in 1998. I wrecked the running streak when I relocated here, late last year.

As running groups work, a large group fragments into a number of smaller groups. This is mostly due to differing running speeds, but personality cliques also enter the equation.

Four people comprise our primary sub-group of Roger Soler's running group. Within this sub-group, Greg and Mary paired up, and Sonya and I seemed to be a great fit.

Those who run in a group know what I'm writing about. It's at least half the reason that I'm there! Your running group ANTICIPATES your presence. You don't have to 'stand them up' very many times before you have no running group at all. I've told people, "the easiest way to get out of running with Sonya is to JUST go run with Sonya! It's not worth having to catch hell for not showing up!"

The camaraderie is all important! We just laugh and chit-chat the whole time that we run! It's shared exercise and it's catching up on what's going on in our lives. I LOVE my running group!

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I've run with Sonya! We've probably run together more than 400 times and by my estimation have run 60-90 organized runs/races together! Coolest chic anywhere! We'll be thundering on Sunday!

Looks like San Antonio Rock & Roll Marathon is on!

2008-11-14T09:12:00.008-06:00

The weather should be really cooperative, albeit maybe a tad cold at the start. But that beats the typical SA Marathon weather pattern of turning hot and humid the day before the event.

I just talked with my good friend, Joel. Many who read this here blog know Joel. He's SUPER FAST, having run a half-marathon in 1:04!! That's 1 hour, plus 4 minutes!! Geez, I don't think I can ride my bike that fast! Granted it was few years back, but stout nonetheless. He's been training a bit for the marathon and is looking to run between 2:35 and 2:45....geez! Here, I'm pacing him as he's about to win the Helotes Half:

San Antonio, 2001:

DAMN DOG!! Despite my efforts to thwart further escapes from our yard, Tessie the Border Collie just isn't going along. It appears that I have another task to accomplish today, stringing an 800 volt wire along the perimeter of the yard, down low on the fence:

Houston's a Trip! Fun race...

2008-11-10T06:04:00.011-06:00

I cruised downtown to do my part in the 15 mile,3-person relay, yesterday morning. Great running weather, great turn-out. And I got to meet Tiggs and Manny!

I was the 3rd and last to run for our team, so after the race started and commenced for a bit, I hopped on my bike and rode maybe a mile up from the finish line, locked the bike and ran with Tiggs to the transition, where Manny then took the ankle band that had our timing chip. I then ran with Manny back to the bike, then rode back to the transition so I could run my part of the race.

What I did garner from the run was, "I'm dead meat for running in San Antonio next weekend!". But then in an email, Sonya wrote, "relax, you still have 6 days to train!"

And due to differing post-race shcedules, breakfast at Le Peep didn't happen....So I settled for Rudy's on the way home...Yea!

Pre HMSA Race Check...

2008-11-08T11:59:00.013-06:00

*** Leak Check***, A-OK (note to self, don't drink so much Diet Coke before running).

***Systems Check***, Marginally-Acceptable, but OK for tomorrow's 5 mile race.

I had an 'incident' 8 days ago. Contusion on stomach is much better, largely healed. Unlike a continuous scab that's 4 inches long, a healed area that's healing with small, not-connected scabs IS okay for running. Got it. (tmi, I know...but it's real)

Tweaked left ankle, uncool.
Three bruised ribs on my left side, uncool.
Screwed up left hand, uncool.
A big hit to my right shoulder, uncool.

But none of the aforementioned really entered the scene this morning (other than guzzling a bunch of diet coke on the way to the race...freaking dumbass). I was reminded of all of my current maladies, but I was surprised that I had no real show-stoppers.

I narrowly dodged a "no-running-for-you" bullet, big time! For that, I'm thankful! Whew!

I ran a 23:49, then went back to run with my sister-in-law. This is only her second running race, ever. I think I wrote 2 weeks ago, she "she just gets it!". I'm not having to prod her to the next race, she say's, "I'll be there next time". She just gets it! Congrats! Good times....

Great weekend for running! Beaut weather....

2008-11-07T08:12:00.005-06:00

We've got the Run The Woodlands 5k tomorrow. I'll be doing a "systems check" of my ability to run (or not). My skeletal issues seem much better and the skin on my belly is healing well. The tummy healing being the biggest show stopper; it has been impossible to run due to the pain of the afflicted area flexing and bouncing, ouch!

Then Sunday we're off to the HMSA 25k run, where I'm a 1/3 team member for the relay. I'm teaming with Tiggs and Manny. With my uncertainty and Tiggs' illness, it kinda begs the question, "Hey Manny, can you run the whole 15 miles while Tiggs and I watch from the sidelines?" Just kidding, we'll pull it off somehow!

Following the race on Sunday, I'm thinking it would be great to share breakfast over at Le Peep, in Rice Village (MAP).

News Flash: Beer that fends off diseases!

2008-11-06T08:21:00.006-06:00

This is in today's Houston Chronicle (CLICK for article):

Rice University students are trying to develop beer that could fight cancer, heart disease and diabetes

Hmm, who woulda thought?! And can you imagine defending your thesis or wrapping up a PhD for such important and timely work? Smart and forward thinking folks, these kids! Nice work!

As though my run training wasn't already bad enough...

2008-11-03T11:14:00.003-06:00

I mildly twisted my freaking ankle. Where's my "rolling eyes" emoticon? I'm running in a relay this upcoming weekend and San Antonio 1/2 marathon the following weekend. I'm sure I'll do OK, but I really could have used some great running this weekend to bolster my training...sigh...

Got to thinking about my friend, Barry...

2008-10-30T09:05:00.015-05:00

He's the guy I wrote about below. While he's been caught up in raising a family and building a fine homestead, he's HARDCORE when it comes to mechanical things. Barry and I see eye to eye on many things. He's a hardcore motorcycle drag racer. Here, he's refueling his dragbike on the dynamometer for tuning: (pics are maybe 5-6 years ago)

Just HOW COOL is Barry? He loaned me his "big tire" dragbike! No way! Loaning a dragbike is something that just doesn't happen in the real world! I made 4 passes on the bike at the drag strip. Talk about a RUSH! The thing launched HARD! I was doing the first 60 feet in 1.36 seconds (this pissed Barry off because my 60' times were slightly better [on this bike] than his and he's ridden for years)! :):) Here's my debut into the world of dragbikes:

Screwing around at the end of my driveway in Helotes:

At the race track, doing the 'burnout' to warm the big ole drag slick:

And THE LAUNCH:

I'll never forget that! The initial acceleration is off the charts...you best be hanging on when you let go of the clutch lever!

You "pin" the throttle wide open on the starting line, engine is screaming at red-line, on the rev-limiter as you wait for the starting lights to flash, when it's time, you snap your finger off of the clutch lever (no feathering) and you and the bike completely launch!

The acceleration exceeds the brain's sampling rate, you ARE somewhere other than where you started, before you realize where you are! It is GO TIME BABY!...Fond memories....Barry is top shelf folks...I'd do this again, big time!

Last Weekend...Great time, Great weather...

2008-10-29T10:17:00.009-05:00

As I wrote earlier, I was going to cover up my running attire to sneak the Border Collie into the car and take her to the RTW5k race. Even in street clothes, both dogs KNEW it was weekend and both tried to jump in the car as I opened the door. Fail. Had to leave them both here...the American Bulldog would have scared folks at the race.

My sister-in-law ran her FIRST running race! Yea! I ran with her and pushed my young nephew in the stroller. She finished the race and did a fair amount of running, mixed with some walking. When she gets her running pace settled down a bit, she'll be able to sustain running. I then repeated the 5k after everyone was gone to get a brisk workout.

Next up, motocross at the track. Gorgeous day, perfectly groomed track, fun friends! Man, that set me up for the whole weekend! I just live for weekends! It was a productive day of riding. I short-circuited the track in a couple of places so I could work on turns and double-jumps that had been giving me some trouble. Practice, practice, practice! In fact, I have errands to run and a stop at the track is going to be included in a while.

Sunday had me driving round trip to NW San Antonio to score yet another load of my business stuff. I hauled a big U-haul trailer and filled it up pretty well. A couple more similar trips and I'll be out of SA!

On the way up, I stopped off visit my good buddy, Barry. He's worked his tail off building a new home near San Antonio and farming his 28 acres (I know where I'm headed when society collapses). Barry/Adorable Daughter/Beautiful home:

Had to stop at Joel's BBQ, in Flatonia, on the way home:

Switching Gyms? FAIL.

2008-10-28T13:20:00.010-05:00

FAIL.

I ain't signing no freaking TWO year contract! Hahahaha!!

Gold's Gym doesn't have the FitLinx system, they have nothing.

Totally freaking queer music videos that have ZERO artistic value? Yep, they got 'em.

Ceiling fans above the treadmills and elipticals? Nope.

Swimming pool? Nada. Just how the hell am I going to do my cumulative 1/2 hour of swim training for triathlons next summer??

According to old running buddy, they can jack the price within the contract period.

TWO YEAR contract? You're out of your mind, shame on you!

Gold's Gym, FAIL!

The YMCA will welcome me back.

I'm switching gyms, funny jacking with the sales guy...

2008-10-28T10:53:00.002-05:00

I'll join, the price is right. So anyway, I'm nearing the end of my 1-week free trial and the kid that's trying to sell me the membership comes out onto the floor when I'm stretching (YES, I actually WAS stretching!) and sits down on the rubber ball thing. He's angling for the deal.

On the way out I say, "I'll join, but I'll come back at lunch time when I have my debit card with me. And BTW, what's the term of membership, how long?" So he's quickly jotting down my name again, SCRAMBLING for the "best" phone number to reach me. Dude wants it NOW! He pushes the contract across the table and I reiterate that I have neither credit card, NOR reading glasses.....the dude was FREAKED that he couldn't close the deal! He's real concerned that I'll never be back!

Poor kid. I'm thinking I'd like a term no longer than 6 months. Think it'll happen?

RTW 5k, followed by DIRT BIKING is on! EDITED

2008-10-23T19:36:00.019-05:00

I just spoke with Elisharose, it's a GO. Their son has been slacking in his studies and this has postponed our activities from last weekend to this Saturday. Apparently the boy has decided it's a good thing to study, as dirtbiking is at the end of the tunnel...weather will be great...If not this time, no sweat. Riding can happen on any weekend... :):)

See topic a few topics below this one....

C'mon out...grilling, riding, good times...

EDIT:

Apparently a key figure in this HUGE endeavor this weekend is already in the hospital! Even before riding dirtbikes with Ev!

Dude claims to have a kidney stone, in the hospital, and says "it hurts"....oh cry me a river, little man!! Good grief. WIMP!

Just kidding! DAMN, I'm feeling for you! Females who've had 'stones have said it was worse than giving birth to a child (where's my 'freaked-out-eyes-wide-open emoticon'??). Sucks to be you, rest up.

I'm going to SNEAK Tessie (pure bred Border Collie) out of here tomorrow morning to go run the RTW5k with us. EVERYONE just LOVES Tess! Firstly, I can't dress in running clothes because the dogs KNOW when it's weekend and get totally stoked when they see me in running attire. I really don't want Mackie to bolt if she sees me drive out with Tessie. Before Jazz disappeared, it was Jazz and Mackie who battled/played every morning. They didn't notice/didn't care when I took Tess to the RTW race, because they had each other. With Jazz gone, I'm concerned. I'm fenced, but a dog that wants out IS out of the yard.

So I'll dress nonchalantly and change clothes at the race....and Mackie will be out grazing in the yard, checking stuff out and I'll whisper to Tessie and she'll know EXACTLY what we're doing and will silently hop in the truck and lie down as told!

Mackie is an American Bulldog, the BEST dog on this earth! BUT, folks who live in The Woodlands and walk on the trail where the race is held WOULD MOST CERTAINLY submit complaints!! Mack's a big dog and old people with little dogs surely won't appreciate Mackie!

Running in the WG Jones Forest off of 1488:

Over and out....

Ok, let the whining begin! Hot weather is good, cold is not...

2008-10-23T10:32:00.020-05:00

I really didn't have a problem with the summer, it was easy this year. Yeah, there were some warm days, but nothing approaching unbearable.

[Rant ON] I do not do cold weather! It seems I'm going to have to trade in my shorts for jeans and put on another sweatshirt. I'm freezing out there! [Rant OFF]

[Rant ON] Ok, on a different note: Massage Envy. Good grief. After moving a bunch of stuff earlier this year, I was feeling Plantar Fasciitis. Even through my years of running I'd only heard about it, never felt it. I reasoned it had to be from lifting and moving a bunch of stuff. I contacted a local massage therapist who didn't return my call. Finally I decided to go to Massage Envy on Market Street in The Woodlands.

1)A 1 hour massage is only a 50 minute massage.

2)A 6 month contract is really a 7 month contract.

3)They recommend the gratuity to be paid to the therapist and I recall reading that gratuity is automatically added for 1 1/2 hour or longer session.

4) I didn't use up my massages that I had already paid for. My 7 months expired and I was told that I lost the 4 sessions because my membership had expired. But I had already pre-paid for the sessions, months earlier. "Our computer won't let us do that".

5) A 50 minute massage is really only a 45 minute massage. Complain about it and you'll again get another 45 minute session, next time.
[Rant OFF]

[RAVE ON]
Damn I miss Sher!! She's in San Antonio, www.bodiesbysher.com. She's THE BEST Massage Therapist IN THE WORLD! She's totally hardcore and does very well for herself! Why and How does she do so well? She's totally knowledgeable and she WORKS her ass off! Most/many massage therapists are totally flaky people who just kind of irresponsibly bounce around in life. Not Sher, she works very hard. There is NO WAY I could have done all the great running and tri stuff without her! And you should hear the foul language coming from my mouth when she gets really deep into my deep tissue massage. Very bad language! She's petite and very attractive with a great personality. But I've never had any sort of 'arousal problem' while on her table. While she's finding stuff WAY deep, it's often uncomfortable/painful. You find yourself asking, "I pay money for this?" Sher is great. Here:

We used to go trail running in San Antonio Ranch and Government Canyon. I've also cycled a good bit with Sher. Good times, great memories!

[RAVE OFF]

Ride and Tie. Hmm, that's a different twist on Multi-Sport.

2008-10-21T09:08:00.004-05:00

I met a lady during last Sunday's run who's into "Ride and Tie". Apparently these folks have teams of 3. Two people and a horse. The races have the horse being ridden ahead, then tied to a tree. The person riding the horse then runs ahead while the person behind catches up to the parked horse, then rides ahead of the runner. And repeat. You get the idea.

The girl is going to compete this weekend in a 25 mile race. Hmm, sounds like fun. Not unlike a triathlon or duathlon. But it seems there aren't a lot of participants around here, mainly a California thing. Now that's a different sort of sport, eh?

OK, Let's try this again, Running/Dirt Biking/Picnic...

2008-10-20T15:25:00.011-05:00

This Saturday, October 25th. Same stuff as the previous topic. We'll go to the Run The Woodlands 5k at 8 am and go to the Track at 9 am.

All are all invited. Yes, EVEN Carolyn! I'll teach you how to ride and you'll have a GREAT TIME! We're safe and level-headed, no one gets hurt, everyone leaves with an ear-to-ear GRIN!

There will be some riding, grilling, feasting, riding, chatting with great folks, sitting in the shade checking stuff out. And prolly go riding some more, too. :)

Here's a FINE example of what it'll look like. Topic from the July 4th weekend:
Fourth of July

Dirt Biking, Sunday 10/19....Wanna go?

2008-10-18T13:55:00.005-05:00

It looks like the track will be dry and the weather BEAUTIFUL! I've invited my friends to join for another half-day of riding dirt bikes.

I'll take some docile bikes along for beginners to ride. Track opens at 9am. I'll run with The Woodlands Running Club early, then load up and head out....

C'mon! Coach Bill? Manny/Cassie? Lance? Adrienne? John/Sabrina? I've neglected to mention a bunch of folks here, but that don't mean you ain't invited...

It should be a fine day for riding! Lemme know....BTW, I'm an excellent instructor!...

Evan

So, about 3 weeks ago I raced my FIRST Motocross Race!

2008-10-16T19:44:00.020-05:00

Yep, I entered the Motocross races and ran 2 Motos (heats). As y'all may know, I live 5 miles from 3 Palms Extreme Sports Park and often ride during the week at lunchtime. I also have several regular MX friends I ride with on weekends.

I've ridden motorcycles all my life and was in the "holding onto the handlebars" position while inside my mother's womb. I'm innately gifted and talented with all things mechanical! I was the most "wrenching" little kid anyone's ever seen! So consequently I worked on bikes throughout childhood/junior high/high school/college. I had never actually been to a motocross track because that wasn't the main attraction for me.

While living in San Antonio, I amassed no shortage of motorcycles and had/have plenty of dirt bikes. We would go riding at a less-than-hardcore track pretty often. And the less-than-hardcore is a GOOD thing if you're out there to have fun and don't want to get RUN OVER by the REALLY fast guys! The track we rode wasn't representative (I guess) of real motocross tracks because it was hard-pack terrain. So my bikes of choice were Kawasaki KX-100's. I'm 5'8", pretty compact. I can ride big bikes, having owned 125's, 250's, and even a Honda CR-500 (INSANE BIKE!). But the 100's fit me really well. It's WAY different than the bigger bikes, even the 125's! There are things you don't do on the small bikes that you will do on the bigger bikes. But I was plenty quick riding the 100's.

Skip forward to my relocation back to Houston. I grew up here. My stomping ground was the Champions Forest/1960 area and spent summers on Lake Conroe. I relocated here for a number of reasons, but that's another topic.

Upon moving here, I loaded up the KX-100's and a KX-125 and went to 3 Palms. Had a MISERABLE time! OMG! The tracks are NOT hard-packed ground, but loose, deep sand, mud, dirt. It's a nightmare trying to get the small bikes around the track because they don't have deep broad power output. With hard-pack, you launch out of a corner and the hard ground offers little rolling resistance. Launch out of a corner and build speed that is very easy to maintain on the hard ground. NOT the case here! You gotta put power to the ground and you've gotta KEEP IT COMING! The loose deep ground takes A LOT of horsepower! Even the 125 is heavily taxed.

I bought a very slightly used (like 10-20 minutes old) 2004 Honda CR-250R the day after Christmas, 2007. Even after riding it a good bit, I was still struggling. I still wasn't enjoying the track as it's really tough to get around the track. I quickly reasoned that the problem HAD to be me! All of these other guys are flying by and having no trouble.

I learned of a really cool MX instructor, excellent instruction! I took 8 hours of professional Motocross instruction, four 2-hour "classes" over the span of a month. TOO COOL! Best value in education EVER! It took me a while to realize that wheelies, jumps and general hooliganism IS the premise of this particular form of "continuing education". The guy really got me straightened out and got my form and riding position corrected! Money well spent.

So after months of recreational riding, almost exclusively on the "Main Track", I'm pretty damn competent and certainly comfortable. I LOVE riding the Main Track! If you drive by on I-45 and look over, it could be ME that you're seeing there! WooHoo!

So I entered the race on the "Gran Prix" track. I don't like it as it's very fast. You've gotta REALLY go very fast to catch air....and it's LONG AIR. Just not my thing. I entered the "Over 40, 250 Novice" class. There were TWO things that needed to happen:

1) Do NOT get hurt!
2) Do NOT come in last place!

Well, having never launched out of a Motocross starting gate ever before, I was last out. After the first turn I looked back and there was no one behind me. "#$%^" OK, I'll just chase 'em down! WRONG!! Geezus! You know what it is about the Over 40 class that makes it so tough (it never occurred to me until after the race)? Every one of these guys were riders all through their lives! These are guys who REFUSE to let it go!

So I came in LAST PLACE! Do you have ANY idea how demoralizing that is?? I'm very good at my running and work/career stuff. I'm just not wired to accept failure. Hell, I would have GLADLY traded a minor injury for not coming in LAST PLACE!!

Between Motos, I went and practiced my "launch" in another area of the facility. I got it down much better than the first. Starting in 2nd gear, not 1st. Sitting WAY up on the seat/tank and modulating the clutch to keep the wheelie from getting too high.

Second Moto, I was ready for the launch, but still blew it. I bogged the bike, then got too aggressive with the clutch and had a hell of a wheelie, but was drifting out of my line to the right side. NO!! Can't do that as there's a bike RIGHT there! DOH! Had to shut off and let 'em go past. AGAIN last around the 1st turn, I was PISSED! I did manage to get around 2 guys!! WooHoo! But I really didn't like it! I was riding much harder and taking chances that I REALLY wouldn't have otherwise taken. Six laps per Moto will WEAR YOU OUT!!

I don't think I'll pursue Motocross racing (not on the Gran Prix track, anyway), as I just pushed too hard and am not willing to take the chances that I was taking. I WILL try the same 'Over 40, 250 Novice' the next time they have races on the Main Track, as I'm really comfortable there.

Coming in LAST PLACE in the 1st Moto SUCKED! Scoring 13th out of 15 riders in the 2nd Moto was much easier to take.

Don't think for ONE SECOND that the Over 40 guys are wimps, they HAUL ASS!! I learned a lot that day!! Just thought I'd share this with y'all....

Carry on.....:):):)

I had a date today! And she's a runner.....

2008-10-14T13:59:00.003-05:00

Had a great running date today, followed by an abbreviated lunch (smoothies). I wanted to run in Memorial Park today, as I had to go 'in town' to deliver some client stuff. So I thought, "hmmm, who can I get to go running with me?" Given that it was during the day and during the week, that greatly narrows the choices. But I did recall one lady who's prolly just taking up space on her couch, so I emailed her.

Had a GREAT time! While there are rare occasions, I pretty much only hang out with running chics. Neat lady. Next time I'm in town and looking to run, I'll call her again. Memorial Park is a great running venue, I've always enjoyed it.

Carry on....

Huntsville Half Marathon...I DONE THUNDERED!!....

2008-10-11T11:48:00.016-05:00

MUCH to my surprise, I kicked it really well this morning!! WooHoo!! The Huntsville race is brutal with hills! Everything was quasi-OK after the 1st lap. Things started going wrong after that. Because I have ZERO training, I have no callouses on my toes (well I have some, but not enough for what I was doing).

Between the hills and the bloody toe, my athletic fortitude crumbled late in the race. I walked a bunch, I wasted 3-4 minutes walking. I was hoping to go under 2 hours.....Soooo, how did I fare, you ask??

1:47:40, BABY!! That's about 8:14 min/mile....Sheesh, I'll take it!

There was at least one casualty:

And I saw my running buddy, Sabrina (middle) and the SUPER FAST CHIC, Adrienne (right). I don't know how she did, but she probably won it! Heck, if I can't be a truly great runner, I might as well hang out with great runners, eh?! Here:

And saw Karen, Bill Dwyer, Jon Walk....GREAT bunch of folks! They're truly committed to the runners' cause and are responsible for putting on a TOP NOTCH event! Thanks guys!

And that's just the 1st-third of my day...shower, then client work, followed by the Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival. And I have a date! I'll be welcoming a restful work week, weekends are tiring! WooHoo...

EDIT: Bill Dwyer (Bill, THANKS for ALL of your contributions to the local running scene!) just sent me these pics he took...I chatted a good bit with the girl in the first pic. This was at the half-way point, before the whole thing began to unravel and get tangled. :):)

Second pic, post race, briefly hanging out with Sabrina (after I was pretty sure I wasn't going to puke).

And major kudos to Sabrina, she was HAULING today! Better than 10 minutes ahead of her goal...She's about to go run the Marine Corps Marathon in 2 weeks! She's stout and uninjured with lots of training miles on her shoes!

OK, I'm back! How rude to have bailed on y'all....

2008-10-11T05:56:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the lengthy delay in writing! How RUDE! I'll be brief at this very point in time because I'm in trouble!!

About a month and a half ago, my running buddy, Sabrina, mentioned the Hunstville Half-Marathon. Of course I went and mouthed off, "sure, you're on!" Suffice to say that my running has been non-existent with the arrival of Ike. My gym training also non-existent. I'm out the door right now to go run the Huntsville Half!

I'm sending out distress signals, EVEN before the race!! This could be ugly!! It's a 2 lap race, so if the "wheels are falling off and the connecting rods have punched holes in the block" after 1 lap, I'll exit. If I'm still intact after the 1st lap, then I might go the whole way!

I've got a new camera, so maybe I'll snap some pics!

Oh dear, I'm scared! I'm outta here!!

Ahh YES, SUCCESS!! 10 miles, piece of cake!

2008-09-08T19:41:00.014-05:00

Man, I was scared, driving to the Sunday 10 miler. But HAD to go, it would have killed me to have not gone!.....This time, I DIDN'T ask Sabrina how far we had run at mile 1.8 (previous weeks when I coulda sworn we were well into mile 4)....I think I did finally ask at about 6.4, don't remember...

Training IS coming together! I run with the dogs in the forest on Tuesday and Thursday, go to the gym (run and do machines) on Wednesday and Friday, run the forest (or Woodlands 5k when it's going on) on Saturday mornings, and the long run on Sunday....Let's not forget riding MOTOCROSS 2-3 times a week, too...haven't been in 1.5 weeks :(:(

I'm about to sign up for the San Antonio Half Marathon and will likely forward this link to my BEST running buddy in the world, SONYA! We've run together since 1998....Hell, I'll strike up a brand new Sonya topic! Coolest chic anywhere! I'd wager that we've easily run over 100 races together and likely run together in excess of 400 times. We've talked about a lot of stuff...she's funny as hell talking about her family and idiots she has to deal with...

And I might have a new running buddy, Sabrina....we'll see...Sunday, I went into some pretty lengthy running chat about humidity that's rusting expensive stuff in my lab, environmental controls for my CNC machine tools, "ghosting" the hard drives on said CNC machines, peak oil and our voracious and greedy appetite for OIL! And exciting new alternatives! Hell, I may never see Sabrina again!!

The previous paragraph will totally ring with Sonya!! She's probably laughing and rolling her eyes. Sonya can totally place and envision what I just wrote. Hey man, it's who I am. She'll probably come on here 'talking trash'! :):):)

PACK A LUNCH, SONYA!! I'm gonna GO LIKE HELL in San Antonio!! :):)

HUMBLED AGAIN! 2 weeks in a row...HELP, SOS!

2008-09-03T08:34:00.016-05:00

Man, it's really UGLY out there!

I ran in the forest with my 2 dogs, NOT 3 (Jazz never came home,R.I.P. JAZZER!, she's a goner!) on Saturday, about 3 miles. Then EXCELLENT MotoCross! The weekend report seems to sound like a broken record, eh? :):):)

Sunday with The Woodlands Running Club was at least as bad as the previous week! ARGH! My running buddy, Sabrina was considerate enough to put up with my frequent walking near the end of the 10 miles. Man, this is NOT good! I'm in trouble over here! I'm stepping it up, gotta do it!

Sunday had excellent motocross races at the track...I opted to drink beer while spectating and putter around on a minibike. I did see the over-40 amateur class races and I thought, "sheeet, I CAN hang with these guys!" At only 5 laps per race, there's not enough advancement by the fastest riders to start "lapping" the slow guys. So suffice to say, if I hang in the back half of the race, it's not too crowded and fears of getting run-over by the leaders are minimal.

Monday, Labor Day, I went Motocross riding with some buds at the track....EXCELLENT OUTING!!

On another note, I saw a guy I know who was racing on Sunday. I had never met his wife. Nice lady, pleasant. The dude was barking orders at her, "go get me that jug of water" (while sitting in a chair and pointing). And other orders, as well. I guess it changed my opinion of the guy. I'm thinking, "get off your ass and go get it yourself!"...."AND since when did you get polio, lard ass??"...."it's not like you're running a marathon, you're racing ONLY 5 laps" (his riding was totally unimpressive).....my opinion of him has changed a lot...I'd bet that he barks at her all the time.... :( :( :(

HUMBLED by Sunday's run....

2008-08-25T08:18:00.003-05:00

Man, I NEED a work week to recover from the weekend!! Does the theme sound familiar? I RAISED HELL this past weekend!

Went to the Run The Woodlands 5k race on Saturday. I left Tessie at home because bringing her might have left the American Bulldog alone and wanting to escape the yard. I'm not yet sure how to handle Tessie's running with the disappearance of the old Border Collie. At least 5 people asked where my dog was, 3 of the people asked for her by name! Of course no one knows my name, only Tessie's!

I wanted to really kick some tail on Saturday. About halfway through the 5k race, it was evident that it WASN'T cool or un-humid. I was dying out there! I did pretty well at 22:22, but it surely wasn't sub-22.

Sunday morning brought the opportunity to run with The Woodlands Running Club, as the forest run was canceled due to rain that didn't fall. In my typically cocky, lackadaisical way, I approached the 10 miles easily, "sheesh, it's only 10 miles, piece of cake".... WRONG!! I was HUMBLED by these people and this run! HAMMERED! These folks run FAST!! I thought my toes were all broken when I finished.

My athletic fortitude SUCKS! I was looking to BAIL! I'm torn up this morning! I now realize that I'm not nearly as well off to go run half-marathons as I thought! I'm actually going to have to WORK at this!! ARGH!!

Sunday after nearly dying on the run, I "loaded up" and went to the Motocross track! Of course, did you think otherwise?!! Saw some friends out there and rode for an hour...QUITE the workout! Don't think that MX riding isn't very strenuous just because it's motorized...riding MX is plenty tough and a stout workout!

Then there was a shower, lunch, and a NAP! Yea!

I've gotta recover, tough weekend! FAST RUNNERS!

Well ANY takers?? Clear Lake Olympic Tri, this weekend!EDITED

2008-08-19T16:06:00.007-05:00

I REALLY shouldn't be doing this! I have a bunch of reasons why I should NOT do this tri! I'm not at all trained for it. I have a TON of stuff to do. I would miss my COVETED Run The Woodlands 5k. I still have stuff in San Antonio that needs to get moved NOW.

But that's not to say I wouldn't go do it. A challenge from a fellow competitor to show up (challenge only to show up and compete, not a performance challenge) would likely seal the deal.

Well? I dare ya! I double dare ya!! Let's go race this thing and go have some breakfast tacos following the race...Let's go!

****EDIT****
While at the gym this morning, I decided that I'd GO FOR IT and run this Tri!! With all of the rain, there won't be running in the forest on Sunday and motocross is surely not happening. Ah schucks, I can do this tri, piece of cake!

So upon checking online, the 2 remaining opportunities to register and pick up my race packet are BOTH down in Clear Lake!! ARGH!! I'm not driving to freaking Galveston to pick up a freaking race packet....ARGH!! THUMBS DOWN!!

She left me 2 days ago...still baffled...

2008-08-18T18:11:00.019-05:00

Sunday morning I returned from running in the forest with a great group of 4. Decent pace, 7 miles. Sopping wet! I rode the dual-sport motorcycle (street legal dirt bike!) to and from the ride.

It took me a little while to figure out she had left me. It wasn't until after I showered and got ready to go out to my workshop, that I realized.

I've been pretty lost the past couple of days! I carry my cell phone with me always and I keep looking out toward the fence and gates, imagining her coming home!

I'm not sure whether she's coming back, we got along GREAT and she seemed so genuinely comfortable here. Geez. My 2 dogs and the cat are moping, too. They're not stupid. I'm super bummed...:(:(:(

My beloved Border Collie, Jazz, is MIA....the tag on her collar has my phone number...a reasonable person would call me...She's a really old dog, my least favorite from a personality standpoint. She adopted me outside my gate when I arrived home from work, back in 1997 at the end of my long driveway, in Helotes. A week and a half later, she had 6 puppies. Someone had obviously dumped her. People suck.

She's never known how to play ball or tug-of-war with the other dogs. I think she was just so occupied with existing that she was deprived of playing. She's emotionally needy. But a GREAT DOG (I'm faaking BALLING now)who DID fit in with everyone!

Sporting fresh haircuts, Jazz on the left, Tessie on the right:

The remaining doggies, Tessie the Border Collie, and Mackie the American Bulldog are plenty bummed...we 4 just RAISE HELL every evening (plenty during the day, too)! Mackie and Tessie are the circus that gets Jazz jealously barking at them and even entering into the fray. They know I'm bummed and they're figuring out that we're one dog light around here....I better go get them RILED and raising hell so we can keep up the tradition...The remaining dogs, Tessie and Mack:

No MX racing for the kid....EDITED

2008-08-14T12:16:00.008-05:00

The weather can be a tough one! I'm 5 miles from the track and barely got any rain yesterday. I loaded up and went to the track to find that all of the rain hit them hard.

What a MESS!! I can't ride in that stuff! But the hardcore dirtbike freaks were there! I rode around a bit and just sank the bike in a bunch of soupy MUD...checked out the freak show, then headed home... :(:(:(

Best not to blow off going to the gym...

2008-08-08T08:30:00.006-05:00

Over the past several months I've been pretty good about going to the gym, the YMCA in The Woodlands. My regimen WAS pretty good until I fell off the wagon a couple of weeks ago. I returned on Wednesday and picked up where I left off...ARGH! And man was I sore yesterday!

I think I'm back into the regimen, having just gone again today. And I'll have to pick up a little bit of swimming because I'm thinking about doing the Clear Lake Triathlon in a couple of weeks....It's an Olympic length! "Ruht-roh" (the voice of Astro, the Jetsons' dog)! While the swim is only 1000 meters (not 1500 as is customary with Olympic distance), the bike is in the mid 20 miles and there's a 10k run...so THAT oughtta 'clean my clocks'! Anyone else wanna go do it? Cassie?

Note to self: Don't blow off going to the gym, it's tough to come back! Of course there's the Run The Woodlands 5k tomorrow, followed by motocross. Then there is running in the forest on Sunday morning...Weekend, bring it! Carry on....

edited...

2008-08-05T11:43:00.011-05:00

edited

This is RANT/RAVE category....

2008-08-04T21:44:00.018-05:00

I was SO happy to hear that Firestone was going to "make good" on TOTALLY CHEESY repairs that they charged my younger brother to the tune of nearly ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS to service. I purchased the car from him and found GROSSLY poor work! You BREAK the oil filter housing and smear epoxy glue on it to fix it???... NO YOU DON'T!!....they seemed SO caring when I called them on it and showed it to them......said they would make it right.....

....I'm riding my bicycle 20 miles early tomorrow to see what has and what hasn't happened, to pick up the car....I'm feeling MASSIVE LIES.....FAAAK, they don't EVEN know that I'm a totally professional "wrench" (wrench = mechanic = gear-head).....I've wrenched since I was like 4 years old and wrenched exclusively on Mercedes Benz all thru high school and college...supported my drag racing and jet skiing addictions...By day, I conduct engine R&D and design and build engines from scratch.....I'm the most wrenching wrench you could ever imagine going into a place like Firestone....Not guilty yet, but I'm hugely suspicious....:(:(:(

The dude told me that the engine mounts were bad and THAT caused their oil pan gasket to leak? (it didn't no way)...He UP-SOLD the opportunity and told me he could install new mounts for $950....he called me while my younger brother was at my house (bro got to hear him try to 'up-sell' me, Not JUST NO!!)....Unreal!!.....gotta go to sleep, I got's pedaling to do!!...:):):)

They've told me some unbelievable stories since last Friday...I think they're lying and are incompetent...I'll thunder in there on the bike at 7 am....

I really feel sorry for so many people who are at the mercy of "car care professionals"....people get TAKEN!! ALL the time!!.....Wish me luck in not going BERSERK on these guys tomorrow morning!....Chanting "be calm, be calm, be calm"

Faak, I wish I had someone to video this for upload to YouTube!! Sh*t Hits the Fan....;)

Squishy Socks...

2008-08-03T08:02:00.009-05:00

I read yesterday about Tiny Frog's squishy socks and was thinking, "hey, I've done that"....

Well that's exactly what this morning's run provided. We're talking head to toes in drenching sweat! We ran a pretty brisk 7 miles in the forest with a good group. Great time! I've got a blister on my toe from the squishy socks. I'm NOT complaining, really. I LOVE summertime and I'm basking in it! WooHoo!

Time now to "load up" (dirtbike) because the track opens at 9 am....That's my cross-training, eh?!

***EDIT*** I went to the track and had a GREAT outing! Yesterday, the track was horrible, didn't stay for long at all...today it was rough and odd, but not at all bad. Some days can be really good, some really bad....sometimes it's hard to say why one's good and another day isn't...dunno!

And I've got regular friends at the track. Anonymity GONE. Good times! I'm gonna enter my first race in the novice class on Saturday, August 16th....Night race under the lights! Y'all show up!

Funny: The IMPLICIT BET.....

2008-07-29T07:59:00.007-05:00

I was at a party a couple of weeks ago, laughing it up with some great friends. My best friend, Jeff, was there. I recalled something that I devised/concocted a long time ago, too funny. I crack myself up sometimes!

Calling Jeff on the phone a long time ago:

Ev: "Hey man, what's up?"
Jeff: "Just hanging out"
Ev: "hey, you owe me 10 bucks"
Jeff: "what the hell are you talking about?"
Ev: "such and such won the game (or race, or whatever it was)"
Jeff: "you're out of your mind, I didn't bet you!"
Ev: "yeah, but you WOULD HAVE BET ME, therefore it's valid"
Jeff: "yeah, you're right"

He paid me the 10 bucks!! And so it was born, IMPLICIT BETTING!!

We just laughed like crazy about IMPLICIT BETTING! He couldn't deny that he would have taken the bet, so he DID hafta cough up the coin! Too funny!

Weekend Recap....

2008-07-28T07:34:00.013-05:00

Man, I need a work week to recover from the weekend! I'll be making an appointment with my massage therapist in a little while!

I did go run in the forest with a good group early Sunday morning. There were probably 10 of us. Good time and a pretty quick pace, about 6.5 miles.

Then I DID go back to the track to claim the final 20 laps of my 45 lap quest. Piece of cake! Met a guy who rides a lot faster but doesn't take big chances on the BIG jumps. So he's clearing the same jumps/not hitting the big ones. And the same ones that I'm doing/not doing. Talk about a great point of reference! Nice guy, also a triathlete. He's a lot smoother/faster in the turns, the straights, and setting up for an impending corner. It's exactly where I need to be, more competent on the stuff that I am riding, but not taking big chances on the BIG jumps!

Number of times throwing a perfectly good motorcycle to the ground (crashes):2
Number of miles run: 9.6
Number of laps at MX track: 45

On Saturday, the track was tough. Hurricane Dolly wasn't quite as innocent as I'd hoped. Really deep, wet, sandy turns and straights in a couple of areas. I got stuck in a really deep rut and I was going down. But it REALLY did take several seconds (unlike a typical front end wash-out that happens quickly). Long enough that I collected my thoughts. "Oh sh*t, this is NOT going well! I'm gonna pull my leg out from under the bike...not yet, ok pretty soon........OK, pull the leg out from under the falling bike right NOW!"......Weird, it really was in slow motion! Plenty of time to figure it out!

Same thing in a deep sandy berm (a berm is banked turn). I left a BIG OLE DENT in that berm! For the rest of the ride, many laps to follow, I had to negotiate around that big ole dent! And it surely reminded me every time I saw it!

All told, GREAT time! I gotta get to work now! I need a work week to recover from the weekend!

Happy Birthday to ME!!

2008-07-26T13:09:00.014-05:00

I'm ALIVE!! (all animated and jumping around waving arms) Oh HELL YEAH!!

Ran a great RTW 5k this morning! Everyone now knows Tessie on a first-name basis!....We ran a 23:40 not great, not shabby, either....

THEN I packed a cooler with BEER, Gatorade, and a gallon of water and went MOTOCROSSING!

45 laps didn't happen. No how, no way. It's a long track and pretty difficult this morning! I did 25 laps, 2 sets of 10 and one set of 5....Just exhausted! Chugged the whole bottle of Gatorade, dumped water on my head, all the good stuff!

Tomorrow, I'll go run in the forest with Susie's group for 1 lap (6.5 miles), then I THINK I might go scoop up the other 20 laps at the track....It could happen!...Oh HELL YEAH!

Tessie after the run...

Bike maintenance last night, cleaned air filter, clean/lube/adjust chain...

I devised a new method of counting laps, white electrical tape on the crossbar...each lap, stop, remove a tape tag from here and....

....put it here....

Me and my friend, Dave. Cool guy and rides at about the same ability level...GOOD TIMES!

Motocross Marathon? Sure....

2008-07-23T09:01:00.005-05:00

Five years ago, I "rode my age" in laps around a motocross track in Garden Ridge, near San Antonio...It wasn't exactly on my birthday and it was blazing hot out....Tough ride, for sure!

Depending on what happens with the rain that this hurricane is bringing, I'm going riding this Saturday after the Run The Woodlands 5k race. Only this time, it'll be 45 laps on a much longer track, much more difficult track. No guarantees, that's a lot of MX! And it surely won't be continuous....It'll be a good time!

The Weekend in Review, Let's Recap...

2008-07-21T09:35:00.007-05:00

Man, I live for the weekend! Since moving here in November, I've been saying, "I'm going to take back my weekends!" Friends said it wouldn't happen. Well, I'm doing pretty well with it!

Let's break it down by the numbers:

Number of parties attended: 1
Number of miles run: 0
Number of miles on bicycle: 0
Number of miles swimming: 0
Number of days going to the motocross track: 2
Number of days that ZZ TOP was playing as I entered the MX track: 1
Number of days that Jazz music was playing as I entered the MX track: 1
Number of perfectly good motorcycles thrown to the ground (crashes): 0
Number of riders passing me at the track: plenty
Number of riders passed: 6
Number of naps taken: 2
Number of battles waged on the internet at a motorcycling message board: 2

I had intended to go running in the forest with Susie's group (Luke's), but overslept. So I worked in my shop until the track opened. I've got a couple of regular buddies who show up at the track on Saturday mornings, rode with them. I usually stay at the track for anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on track condition, how I feel (on an "off day", it's easy to roll onto the trailer and drive right out the front gate).

It's a strange deal, I'm pretty sure I'm competitive. At the track, I get fired up and ride harder and more accurately when I encounter actual traffic. Specifically, riders of about the same ability. All of a sudden, I just go like crazy! It was getting a tad mundane on an empty track until others joined. It changes the whole equation, I jump into 'battle mode' and IT'S ON! So I guess I'm competitive.

What in the world is up with the 'fortune' that was in my fortune cookie?? This isn't what I would call a fortune, at all! And besides, what if my version of romance involves a cell phone? What is up with this:

My Athlinks Profile....Hmm, I thought the results were long gone...

2008-07-17T10:37:00.034-05:00

I was recently made aware of "Athlinks" and entered my name in the "search for athletes" box. WOW! I thought these results were long gone! Granted I've probably run 100 races, or so it seems, since 1998. But there are some GREAT memories in the results that are shown! What a hoot!

They did miss a couple of good races; My 1st marathon, San Antonio 1999, ran a 3:39! And in 2000, I laid down a stellar 1:32:30 for the 3M half marathon in Austin. They did list a couple of near-death experiences, too; San Diego and Boston in 2002.

It was too funny in Boston, 2002 (not 2001, when I THUNDERED in Boston!, EDIT, grinning) when I peeled off of the course and went and hung out at a keg party! The partiers were saying, "you can't do that! You've gotta get back out there!(pointing to the race)" I replied, "NO I DON'T!", and turned my back to the race. I drank a beer with them. It's true I was in a hurry and did kinda storm in and was pretty faaking DIRECT, "hey, you think I could TAP THAT KEG? I'm DYING OVER HERE!" How could they possibly deny me?? They quickly obliged, MY FRIENDS! And took pics with them (gave 'em my email addy so I could email the pics...cool folks!)....then I went back out...VERY HOT and Humid! Bleeding nipples (that's a 1st) and soaking wet socks...ARGH!

1st pic,Pre-race preparations, shoulda seen the whole pic, MANY (prolly 50-60) watering the bushes
2nd pic,Looking fine before the race
3rd pic, After things got really bad (the wheels FELL OFF), I stopped by to have a beer (notice race in full swing in the background)...Here are my brand new friends who's keg party I crashed:

Great memories in those Athlinks results! :):):)

Well, I guess I'm getting back into running...

2008-07-16T09:30:00.006-05:00

Thanks to my friends Coach Bill and tiny frog, I'm enrolled in the Houston Half Marathon for 2009. They both put notes on their blogs when the event was about to sell out. Knowing that it would soon fill to capacity, I wasted no time in entering! WooHoo! I'm actually going to train for this and probably run the San Antonio Half Marathon, too! If I can actually train a little bit, I'd like to get tuned up for a 1:40-1:45 run.

Great weekend! Late post, AGAIN....

2008-07-15T17:17:00.015-05:00

Ran the RTW 5k on Saturday, had a great time, quite the social event, too....my friend Diana ran, as did Christy from Luke's (she usually works the race, 1st time I've run with her). Diana met some folks and a guy with whom she works, Gary Van Kuiken, who's run marathons in all 50 states. Christy's pretty fast! Tessie and I did about 23-and-a-half minutes....

Went motocrossing both Saturday and Sunday mornings! Good time, but there was thrown, a "wrench into the spokes"....the track operators changed up the track. They added a couple of "doubles". These are double-jumps where you really need to jump a good ways (landing on the backside of the second "mound of dirt") to land in a very smooth zone....coming up way short (not attempting to jump it, rolling over it, or jumping only a little) is no problem...the problem is if you come up a little short or a good-bit short, very hard landing. I ended up "going for it" on the lesser of the 2 and it felt GREAT! Landing a dirt bike jump WELL is right on up there with the most pleasurable experiences imaginable, um yeah, even SEX!! And the longer jump's not going to be a problem....just a bit unsettling that they pushed dirt around in a lot of places and made the track a WHOLE lot more "interesting"!...

It's REALLY strange the different perspective looking at the jumps on the track from the sidelines, versus riding up on them and jumping them...I was talking with other riders who, like me, had stopped on their bikes off to the side to survey the new terrain and watch various riders dealing with the new track changes. About half the people were rolling over them, the other half were jumping. So our trepidation was surely shared. Standing next to the terrain it seems SO tame, no big deal where you land. On the bike, OMG!! Eyes wide open! Really strange how different the 2 perspectives are! Carry on...

Oh the IRONY!

2008-07-11T14:45:00.002-05:00

I found it ironic that I was listening to jazz music as I drove into the race track this morning. Is that even legal? Would I have been roughed up by the dirt-biking community if they had known I was listening to anything other than Metallica, Pantera or some other death-metal band?

I had it cranked pretty loud, does that worsen or lessen the offense? Does listening to the Rippingtons loudly while entering the track further reinforce and explain why I'm so slow at the track?

OK, I'm back.....Great weekend!....

2008-07-08T09:03:00.039-05:00

I had a great 4th of July holiday weekend! My next door neighbors had an enormous cache of fireworks, grilling supplies, food, beer and plenty of their hell raising Harley biker friends amassed for the 4th. They invited me. It was funny, I was probably the only one who wasn't sporting 'ink' (tattoos) or wearing a Harley tee shirt. They're totally cool, hard working folks, great neighbors! In fact I had a polo shirt on (where's my 'embarrassed' emoticon?)....

The dogs were truly freaked by the whole thing until I got them corralled into my closet, deep within the house. And the fireworks weren't just next door. All around my house sounded like a war zone. Fun time, nobody got arrested or had to go to the hospital/morgue.

Saturday, I invited my friends(Click on aforementioned "friends" link to see her blog) to join me at 3 Palms Extreme Sports Park for a day of motorcycle riding. CLICK on the photos for full size, great pics, thanks!

Typically when I ride alone, I show up early in the day (before the rowdy FAST kids show up) and ride for 45 minutes to an hour. That's plenty of workout, trust me! Saturday, we stayed for 5 hours. I taught their kids how to ride and also gave the lady a ride on the front of my brutal red Honda. Out in a field, I nailed the throttle and wheelied a good bit. I did this a number of times, but kept asking her, "are we cool?"....she never screamed to stop, so I showed her the fantastic acceleration of a modern motocross bike. (where's my 'freaked out' emoticon?). And the acceleration is even much harder with only one person on the bike.

My friends brought a wealthy bounty of delicious fix'ins, the grill, cooler, charcoal, the works! When I was performing maintenance on the 4 bikes prior, I thought, "man, this is a lot of effort"....my friends certainly matched my effort with the healthy and delicious grub! Thanks!

As Elisharose explained in her blog (funny account of the day's fun, CLICK on the link to see her rendition of the event, funny), I taught her daughter to ride. I also gave her daughter a ride on the Red Thunder to demonstrate what it's like on the big bike. Then I proceeded to teach her how to ride the little Honda Z-50. (Coincidentally, the very first bike I ever rode was a Honda Z-50 MiniTrail, back in 1968) She has her very own Pink helmet and was styling! She didn't want to get off of the bike! Too funny! Too cute!

There's just not enough ZZ TOP in the world!!

2008-06-21T06:30:00.006-05:00

Man, I'm still not well organized and am still setting up shop, but I think I might have to set up my big Cerwin Vega speakers and dig around in my ZZ TOP cd collection! Yep, I'm hanker'in for some ZZ!! It just doesn't get any better!

Tejas Triathlon Report....

2008-06-10T06:05:00.021-05:00

Disorganized! Terribly disorganized. That pretty much sums up my tri outing last Sunday. Somehow, I didn't leave for the event early enough. Having left home at 5:30, I drove to Sugarland. En route, I recalled that the race starts at 7am and the 'transition area' closes at 6:45am. So I'm realizing that I'm going to be late and that I'm about to get shut out of the transition area due to my tardiness. I drove pretty fast and luckily didn't get lost or have a run in with the coppers.

I flew into the parking space, whipped the bike out of the trunk, tossed the wheels on (of COURSE the chain was all wadded up around the front sprockets and required my clean hands to intervene...chain is filthy greasy, needing maintenance). You've never seen anyone pump up tires as quickly as I did....NASCAR teams would scramble to hire me!! I crammed as much of my stuff into my little tri bag as I could and draped other items around my neck and HAULED over there (vagabond triathlete!)....into the transition area with 1 minute 'til closing! It was quite the site! Most people have an organized area beneath their bike that has their gear logically spread out, as you can see in the random tri photo that I swiped from the internet. My stuff was just dumped in a big pile in a very crowded transition area. I lacked safety pins to secure my racing number to my shirt. I scored some and the "transition police" would not allow me to re-enter to pin my number to my shirt... (where's my rolling eyes emoticon?).

There were a LOT of people and I was almost anonymous, but did see my friend Katy and her husband. The lake was nice, the venue was nice. My swim didn't quite go as planned. Of course there was no shortage of me kicking people behind me and being kicked by people in front of me. I inhaled a huge chunk of lake water very early in the swim, not good! That kinda set the stage for the rest of the swim. I again found myself breathing to the left every rotation of the arm, 'single-stroking'. I was just kind of 'clawing along' in the lake. After the turn around at the end of the lake, I began to regain composure. The 600 meter swim took me about 12 1/2 minutes...not too bad, not too good.

The first transition (switching from swimming to biking) had me digging thru the big pile of stuff that I had tossed on the ground. Of course I had to pin my number on my shirt and search out one lost sock....very poor transition time, 3 1/2 minutes, most did it in under 2 minutes.

The bike was good, I thundered pretty well, averaging 19.1 mph for the 11 mile course. The run felt pretty good, although really tough, not for the timid! I don't know if the run course was short, or timing is in error, as I don't think I ran as fast as the results indicate. But I'll take it anyway!! (Bowing to the crowds, "thank you, thank you") Run: 22:36 at a 7:32 min/mile pace. Overall finish, 22nd out of 44 in my age group, 1:08:18.

[BEGIN RANT] One quick RANT, while I'm at it. I'm 44, NOT 45! Apparently, USAT (the triathlon sanctioning body) NOW lists your age that you'll be on December 31st of the year! Good grief, don't be giving me an extra year that I haven't yet earned, or deserve!! AND they drew 45 on my arm and back of my leg! THEN they stuck me in the '45 and older' class. I'm only 44!![END RANT]

Great event, great venue! I'll do this one again!

TOUGH weekend, already! And it's only Saturday morning. I gotta tone it down....

2008-05-31T11:38:00.023-05:00

NAH! No way I'll tone it down! Living life!

It's Saturday morning and I went into The Woodlands for the 'David's Dream' 5k race. My friend Karen challenged me to show up, so there! Here I'm doling out advice to Karen and Katy about how they seem to 'go out too fast', running too fast in the first 1/2 to 1 mile (previous races). OK, 'do as I say, not as I do' certainly fits what I did this morning. 7:13 min for the first mile, 14:58 at the second mile, and I think probably 23:30-ish for the final. What was I thinking?? Maybe I figured I was exempt from the humidity? I dunno, just an idiot! Had a great time, saw plenty of people I know (my anonymity is TOAST!). Most seemed pleased to see me, but they asked, "Where's Tessie?" This dog's celebrity is enormous! Photo Credit, Bill Dwyer, thanks! Great pic!

EDIT: It turns out that I came in 3rd in my age group with a 23:23! Sheesh, I'll take it!! WooHoo.....they left my name out of the results! There are many races that I wish would omit my results, but not this one....Sweet!

It was really grim in the last mile. I shoulda carried my cell phone so I could call 911 WHILE racing! I crack myself up sometimes! I can hear it now, "Mr. Guy, where are you"? Me: "Lake Woodlands at Panther Creek....No wait, I turned, I'm on Research Forest approaching Gosling ..." You get the idea, a moving request for medical help! Bwahahaha!

After just about dying in the 5k , I headed straight to the MOTOCROSS TRACK (hey, it's on the way home, gotta consolidate trips, eh?!) and had a GREAT RIDE! Some days don't go well, some are fantastic! Today was top-shelf! I'm getting much better and I get competitive when I encounter someone as slow as me! Yes, there are a few, no make that a couple, who are so slow!

And I've been "consolidating trips" a LOT! It seems I've been going to the motocross track every day! Yesterday was Conroe for machine tooling, roofing supplies, motorcycle shop, lunch...well whaddya know, the MX track is 1/8 mile from my exit at 1488. Wink. Speaking of anonymity gone, the companies I dealt with in Conroe, and the motocross track personnel know me by name and a handful of riders, too...Yeah, it's cool, trade one for the other...total anonymity upon moving, to having a base of friends now that I'm here....shucks, I'll take it!....:):)

So I was totally hammered by about 10:30!! WooHoo, I can rest after I die! Great seeing Coach Bill, Katy, Karen, and many others! Holden was nowhere to be found. I'm ALIVE (waving arms, all animated and jumping around)! Good times, y'all!!

No Packet Pick-Up on Race Day?! Good Grief!!

2008-05-28T11:09:00.017-05:00

[BEGIN RANT]
I've just about had it with these races that are adamant about "No Race Day Packet Pick-Up"! Races have been doing this for years, and few are relenting on this annoying and wasteful practice.

Take for example, the AT&T Austin Marathon. I understand WHY they do it. They want you to spend a lot more money in their city. They're banking on you spending the night in their hotel and spending lots on food.

But from my perspective, it's terribly wasteful. While living in San Antonio, I'd have to drive up there the day before to pick up my packet. That's 180 miles, round trip. And then do it again the next day for the race. That's a lot of my time and a huge waste of precious petroleum. WASTEFUL!!

Now I was looking at the 'Tejas Triathlon' in a couple of weeks. No race day packet pick-up. I emailed the guy and wrote that I'm not driving over 100 miles to pick up a packet. He didn't even bother to respond to my email.

I signed up for the Y-Tri in Pearland because they offer race day pickup. In the past at various events, I've been told by race directors that, "logistically, it's impossible to have race day pick-up" (or some other equally LAME excuse). YET, these same races require you to pick up your timing chip ON RACE DAY......DUH!! Ummm yeah, "logistically impossible"....Yeah, right. I've helped Roger Soler on many race days with many events over the years. Race day is no big deal, just gotta staff it and organize it well.

I don't wanna make a career over your race. Look, I'm not gonna win it, I promise. But I won't be last, either. I look forward to waking up really early with great anticipation, and excitedly preparing for your race! I'm gonna show up and RUN your race! Oh HECK YEAH!! But I'm not excited that your event occupies 2 days, not just one (as it should). I'll come show up, run your race, drive home; simple. I only wanna spend one day on your race, not two. If I have to drive a long way to reach your running/biking store to pick up my race number and el-cheapo tee shirt and a bunch of wasteful paper garbage that's headed to our landfill on Monday morning, I'm NOT going to buy ANY of your stuff! Not even 1 pack of GU!

I'm ALL FOR supporting our running/cycling stores and not going to cheapy online stuff!! I LOVE local running/cycling/swimming stores and will defend and support them to the end!! But enough with driving over 100 miles to pick up my race number!!

This oil thing is just the tip of the iceberg, just watch! Think how much fuel is consumed by every participant having to drive across town because these folks are too lazy or ain't creative enough to figure out how to pass out tee shirts and race numbers to people who stand in line at a table to pick up their timing chips, ON RACE DAY. Good grief. These promotions are gonna have to shape up if they expect good participant turn-out in the future. [/END RANT]

Ahh, I feel so much better now!...Carry on... :):):)

RTW 5/24/08....I Almost killed Tessie! :(:(

2008-05-25T07:53:00.026-05:00

I made a huge mistake taking my beloved Border Collie, Tessie, to the Run The Woodlands race yesterday. As usual, I took her tennis ball and she played fetch with the kids who were at the event. She just loves going to the RTW event every 2 weeks! And everyone really likes the dog and many comment on how gregarious and well behaved she is. Top pic is Tessie waiting for the ball to be thrown....crazy dog!

Well, she played fetch with a young girl for 15-20 minutes before the race. It didn't occur to me to give her water before the race. We started running and she was beside me about halfway through the race. This is unusual because she's typically ahead of me and wanting to run faster. By the end of the race she was lagging behind and in fact slowing me down. I started to worry about heat-stroke near the end. I think she might have been close to having a really bad day! My BAD! Next time, I'll thin out her coat a good bit with doggie clippers and put a water dish in front of her before we run....I'll cut out the tennis ball (she gets LOTS of ball throwing at home). If she has a tough time next time, I'll slow down and get her some water. It's not like I'm gonna win the race anyway. I ran a 24:11 and am pleased. Tessie ran a 24:15 (that's HUMOR folks! At the dog's expense! The ONLY time I'll ever beat this dog!...HUMOR!! The dog lives well today!)...

I also had the pleasure of meeting Karen, who was kind enough to introduce herself. She enjoyed a PR of 25:58 yesterday, despite the tough conditions! Way to go, Lady! As always Bill, Kris, Mick and the others from Luke's did a great job of putting on a memorable event, THANKS!

This weekend is a BIG weekend at the Motocross Track, so it's quite crowded. Gates opened at 9am on Saturday. So right after the RTW race, I watered the dog then bolted home to grab the dirtbike and bolted to the track for some EXCELLENT riding. The idea was to get there before it got too crowded. MX is a young man's sport, I'm scared of getting run over by the extremely fast young guys! The track owners had pushed some dirt around and combined the Main Track with the River Track! Talk about a long lap! The riding was superb! WooHoo!! Some days it feels great, sometimes it doesn't. Yesterday was a fabulous day....I was pretty whooped for the rest of the day, no shortage of stuff going on!

Last pic, added for Jacob...very bad form, arms out-stretched, way back on the bike, poor form, cool picture....:):):)

The pics of MX are all old...the red bike being months ago, the others, much older...looks the same as if I did it yesterday, though...I don't have current pics, I'll grab some soon.....but the old pics DO set the tone for the discussion, eh?!! :):)

Houston is a TRIP!

2008-05-11T05:20:00.013-05:00

Even though I grew up here, I'm still in awe when I drive into town. Yesterday I started in Conroe to run a 5k trail run at the Conroe YMCA. I got lost and was late. When I did show up with my trusty running buddy Tessie (my border collie), I was told "No dogs allowed on the course". At this point, I was steamed! I started to leave then thought, "it's not their fault that I'm miffed, it's mine". So I put the dog in the car and ran the race (window down, overcast, not hot). I started 25 minutes late! Nice course, well organized race.

After lunch, I headed down to Allen Parkway for the Houston Art Car Parade. Talk about crazy people! There were freaks as far as the eye could see. There were some really trippy entries! I was on my way to a Crawfish Boil over at Cee San Machine and Fabrication, but figured I'd go check out the parade first. I saw my friends Larry and Julie and hopped in their cool RV (they were in the parade in their RV)....so I guess I was in the parade, eh?!

On the way to the parade, I got lost in River Oaks. Where do these people get all that MONEY? Unbelievable show of wealth around here. In addition to seeing many multi-million dollar homes, I saw 2 Bentleys, 2 Astin Martin DB-9's (very cool cars!), tons of other high-end stuff. While driving through River Oaks, a lady in a very expensive Mercedes almost hit me head on, in a slow neighborhood. She was talking on the phone and was OBLIVIOUS to the presence of me and the car I was driving. I swerved big time to avert collision. Even swerving and laying on the horn probably wasn't noticed, either...

Then I went to Cee San for crawfish boil, lots of fun people, keg beer, laughs....followed by going home and cutting the grass....I need a work week to recover from the weekend....Houston's a trip!

We went down to the Offshore Technology Conference...

2008-05-10T07:18:00.008-05:00

Monday, I joined my friends Mark and Curt for a great trip to the OTC, down at the Reliant Center. Those who know me would say that a trip like this would be a vacation for Ev. They would be correct in saying such! Too cool! As can be seen, I was also goofing off a tad! And upon leaving we found a sign that indicated that we were in violation of copyright laws, having taken some pics...:):)

We then joined up with
Jody and Colleen (and her little boy, John) for some delicious Mexican food.

Well, I did my first Triathlon in Houston....

2008-05-05T10:34:00.007-05:00

While I've done a bunch of tri's in years past, last Saturday I did my first one in the Houston area, the CB&I triathlon in The Woodlands. Triathlons are great! Such FUN! I think it's fun because of the variety and the "Chinese Fire Drill" that IS the transition! The transition is where you have your own little plot of land that's about 2 feet wide and 5 feet long. It's your own little "pit stop". You finish the swim and pull into the transition area to gather the requisite stuff for your cycling adventure. After the bike race, you again come scrambling in here to equip for the running race.

Admittedly, I was REALLY not prepared for this event! (My good running buddies just roll their eyes and say, "what's new") Since moving here in late November 2007, the only running I've done is the "Run The Woodlands" 5k race that's put on twice a month. So my running has been 6.2 miles per month. I did cycle 20 miles to my brother's house, 2 weeks ago. Swimming training consisted of a 10 minute swim last Tuesday. That was just to confirm that I wasn't ready!

All told, I had a GREAT TIME! There were 1000 competitors and it was a well organized event! In the swim, I caught myself "single stroking", breathing to the left every revolution of my arm. The swim was kinda 'limping along' in the lake. The bike was tough! The strong head-wind never seemed to go away, not even after turning corners...hmmm. My hamstrings were burning when I got off of the bike, so the run was tough. I held together and am pleased with my performance, considering I forgot to train for this. Old photo, but you'll get the idea:

Evan Guy #384

Magnolia, TX

Age: 44 Gender: M


Clock Time	1:28:30
Chip Time	1:28:30
Overall Place	378 / 836
Gender Place	288 / 505
Division Place	31 / 50
500Swim Rank	301
500Swim Time	11:14
500Swim Pace	2:15/M
T1 Time	03:11
15M Bike Rank	410
15M Bike Time	47:45
15M Bike Pace	18.8MPH
T2 Time	01:20
5K Run Rank	299
5K Run Time	24:58
5K Run Pace	8:00/M

I've really enjoyed my anonymity since moving here! I can go to Home Depot looking pretty scruffy with no chance of knowing anyone! But it's now apparent that my anonymity is dissolving! I probably saw more than 10 people that I've made friends with, and had good conversation. Oh well, so much for anonymity!

Great time!! Even though this was a really short tri, I was HAMMERED the rest of the day!

Evan ;)

Brand new to the world of Blogging!

2008-05-05T08:38:00.003-05:00

Having recently moved to The Woodlands area (yes, folks are emphatic that "the" is capitalized [where's my 'rolling eyes' emoticon?] ), folks are frequently asking what's up with me and my relocation. So here's my blog. It's selfish, it's all about me! If you don't like it, don't click on it!

Welcome to my little blog-slice of the web. Enjoy!

Best,
Evan ;)