What's Up

It's been awhile since I posted, but things have been very busy, plus I have been doing a lot of soul searching lately, but enough about that for now. Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to lead a training group at the Post Oak lodge here in Tulsa. The Tulsa Running Club is putting on a massive trail run the last weekend in February. Starting with a Marathon on Saturday followed by a 50K, 25K, and 10K on Sunday. This will be the first ever race out at the Lodge and this was the first TATUR & TRC training run. Rain was not in the forecast and I checked Accuweather for the temp when I woke up and saw rain on the map. I immediately opened the back door and saw it was indeed raining. Not the ideal running weather considering we had just melted off about 10 inches of snow the same week. I still managed to get dressed and out the door as I was not about to miss an opportunity like this. 80+ people has RSVP'd, but only about 40+ showed. I headed for the lodge and ran into good friend and great Ultrarunner, Randy Ellis and got to talk him. He was the celebrity runner for the training run and I also saw, El Mustapha Khoubiz, my good friend from Morocco had showed up. He needs to do some Ultras, but he is trying to make the Olympic standard for the Marathon Trials. Sometime a little after 7 we took off. We started out on the road, but we finally hit the trial after about a half mile. As soon as we hit the field, shoes were soaked and man was the water cold. We hit a hill at the beginning and we soon ran into a few more hills. This course was truly pretty intense. We finally made it to the big one, Hamburger Hill and headed up the highest point in 3 counties. I ran all the way up the hill, but it was strenuous. The hill was a turn around and we headed back down the trail. On one downhill I saw a doe cross right in front of me. This timber and the trail reminded me a lot of back home in Illinois. We made it to the last big hill before the return trip to the parking lot and I could not run all the up it as I could not get my footing. I hope we have some drier weather before the race to harden up the trail. We got back to the parking lot and no was one around, so we headed down the road and saw one of the last groups going on a different trail and we joined them for some bonus miles. We ended up back at the parking lot with 9 miles. Some others were heading back out, so we joined them.
We ended up running some of the trails by the lodge. In this group was K2 on the left, myself, Elaine, Johnny, and Joel taking the picture. On this part we got some more water crossings and some extra bonus miles on different trails. Total for the day day was at 11.5. When we got done, my fingers were so cold, I could not get my key back on the key ring. My feet weren't too bad, but my fingers were stiff. This was a great run, great lodge, and it always nice to see old friends and make new ones.

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about this blog, life, career, and just in general, a lot of soul searching. I am not for sure if I will continue the blog or not. Only 5 people read it, but I guess that doesn't matter. I write it because I like to write and it is a good way to communicate what is going on in our lives. I am very proud of my family and the things I have accomplished, but when I write that, I get comments that I make selfish, abased, arrogant type posts. Well, last I checked, it was my blog to write about whatever I want. I also get anonymous or fictitious name commenter's by a certain fellow blogger in town who feels, I guess jealous, that anyone else can have a blog or they might read mine instead of his. I am not for sure what all is behind that, but to each his own. So, who knows what I will do. I may continue, I may not. A lot depends on my time schedule and the rest on me. Thanks for the 5 who read the blog, we will see what the future holds.

Santa Came Early

Since the Thornton YMCA pool has been closed for maintenance, we have been going to the Owasso YMCA to get some laps in. I am on vacation most of this week, but have to go in on Christmas Eve off of my vacation because my boss if freaking out. I will be there about 5 or 6 hours and not with my family, but they will not have to go in. Funny how that works.
The kids enjoy going to Owasso better as they have a water slide and fountains. I don't like it as well as they only have two lap lanes and kids and people who have no concept of what the laps are for. The lifeguards do not do a real good job of policing the lanes. Once there was a huge lady taking up both sides of the lane. She wearing a hat and I could not figure out how she could swim and wear a hat, but I soon realized that that she was so huge that she stayed afloat an was in no danger of her head going under the water. I asked the lifeguard if he could talk to her ask to either move over or get out. She was just doing some float stroke and was only staying in the deep end. She was not going anymore than about 5 yards in her deep end. He did not want to talk to her, but he finally did and she got out and sat in the circular water area for the kids. Unfortunately my kids had goggles on and saw what was underneath and have needed therapy ever since.
Will had a double header basketball game at the Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club in BA. I have not been able to go to any of his games since I work nights, so it was a real treat to do so. As it happens, Julie had to work late, so I had all the kids. There first game was 6 pm and they another at 8 pm with an hour in between. They lost the first game, but Will made a 3 pointer and had some rebounds. In between times, we needed something to do and I suddenly realized that I have deprived my kids of Foosball and pool. Stuff that I grew up on.
After kicking their behinds at Foosball we ventured over to play pool. When I was a kid I spent most of my time in the pool hall. Not the best crowd to hang around with, but I really loved pool. I had several books by Willie Mosconi and my own pool cue at age 13 and could beat adults 3, 4, or 5 times my age. I realized that the kids had never ever played. Here is Wyatt looking sharp.
Shannon is zeroing in on the stripes. We played a couple of games and it was time to head in for the second game. This game was totally different. Will had 8 points, several rebounds, and some broken up plays. His team won by over 20 points in this game.
At work on Friday, my lead got me a special gift. A Paul Stanley KISS Mr. Potato Head. Being that I am a proud member of TATUR and a childhood KISS fan, the gift was quite appropriate.
In the mail today I got another Christmas gift of a Louis Garneau Thermal Cycling Jersey, Windproof Skull Cap, Nashbar Tights, and Long Finger Cycling Gloves. So, what better thing to do but go for a ride. I have not rode on the roads for a few months and I do not have a Mountain Bike. I have rode the trainer during all this time, but the ride today kicked my behind. It is amazing how different the trainer and the road is. Just a few months ago, I was doing 60 mile rides for fun and today a 26 mile ride was all I needed. It did not completely wipe me out like an Ultra, but I felt every minute of it. It was nice to be out again as I did not have any cold weather Cycling gear until now. It is supposed to be warmer tomorrow and maybe I can squeeze a ride in between storms. One thing I did not miss was most of the Tulsa drivers. All I can say is, God Bless all of you in a hurry to where ever it is that you need to go.

On a side note, I heard on the radio that the individual that hit the elderly cyclist and killed her earlier this year, plead guilty and is getting 7 years in prison. I am not for sure if this is justice or not. He was late for work, an illegal, and went on to work and did not even stop. Seems like more should have been done. My prayers and sympathies go out to the family.

Every Kid Needs A Bike

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20091220_11_A17_IzayaC1263

Ford Ironman 2009 on NBC

The big Daddy of them all, the Ford Ironman is showing tomorrow on NBC from 4:30 pm EST to 6 pm EST. Be sure and check it out. One of these days, I will be there too.

New Balance Promo Video

Awesome New Balance video about some Mountain running studs. I love my NB 100's and some of those trail shots are some trails I ran this last summer in Leadville. Great promo.

Happy Anniversary!

My how things have changed. It has been awhile since we had ran at Turkey Mountain and I thought what a better way to celebrate our anniversary than by a trail run on Turkey, but it has really changed.
They now have restrooms at the trailhead. I do not understand the concept for this as behind this is one gigantic port-a-potty. I guess this is for the ladies and to keep the freaks from freezing in the wintertime when they are trolling.
This is a view of the Tulsa skyline, but this area last summer was a gravel parking lot as they were putting in a new paved parking lot.
On the South side they have cut off the beginning of the Red trail and made it paved to connect to the East side. They also put in these new stone rocks.
Kind of looks like Moab.
This what we look like after 18 degrees and 9 miles of trail. This was a cold outing, but it made sure that you kept moving. I have always said it is one thing to be in shape and it is another thing to be in Turkey Mountain shape. Having not ran trails and hills in a long time, I was definitely not in good trail condition. After the run I looked like this.

Dogtired.

Today is our 19th wedding anniversary and it has been a wild ride going from Illinois to Kentucky to Kansas and now Oklahoma. We have been through 4 kids, several dogs, and numerous jobs. This journey has taken me from being careered focused and out of shape to qualifying for the Boston Marathon. I am now on a new adventure to tackle the triathlon world. This journey is never ending and I hope it never does. The search for who I really am has taken me far beyond what ever I had thought I could do. I owe my life to my wife, kids, and what endurance sports has given me. It has given me my life back and much more. So, Happy Anniversary dear and here's to many more.

Beautiful Day

Today was a great day. The morning was kind of dreary and humid with a little rain. Not too bad temp wise and a good time to head off to church. Enjoyed a great kids musical at Rhema and then headed to QT. When we came out of QT, the sun was out and I knew it was going to be a great day to get a run in.
Normally I would have opted for this, but temps were around 52 degrees with a light south wind and made for a great afternoon run.
I was able to wear shorts again for the first time in several weeks and headed out the door. It has been three weeks since the Route 66 Marathon and qualifying for Boston, so I decided to hit it a little harder for the first time in awhile. I decided to do about a 10 mile and throw in some Marathon pace miles. The following were my splits:

Mile 1: 8:06, feeling pretty good.
Mile 2: 8:02, cruising and decided to start picking it up.
Mile 3: 7:23, running good.
Mile 4: 7:08, definitely at Marathon pace.
Mile 5: 7:01, going a little faster than planned.
Mile 6: 7:16, really starting to feel the lack of speed work.
Mile 7: 7:22, I was hurting and decided to start backing it down.
Mile 8: 8:02, in recovery mode.
Mile 9: 8:04, a few hills on this mile.
Mile 10: 8:07, glad to be done.

It is amazing how easy it is get out of race shape. I have been swimming, biking, and running over the last three weeks, but without any speed work, it really shows. I am also about 7 or 8 lbs. heavier than I like to be. I chalk this up to Thanksgiving, slacking off after the Marathon, and trying new things in my diet. I have went back to some Paleo and switched back to Vegan. I am not for sure what works best yet for me, but I will keep trying.

I can honestly say that I am feeling more and more like a triathlete. I have been strictly a runner over the last four years and have added biking in the last year. Swimming has been a whole nother animal. Thanks to some good coaching from Duncan and tips from good friend Rob Chance, I have been able to improve to the point that where I think I can handle the swim in an 70.3 Ironman. I am still slow, but I have recently taken about 2 minutes off of my 1,000 yard time and I am actually at the point to where I can say that I look forward to the next swim. I have absolutely hated it, because I was not any good at it. Taking it up in my forties has been a real challenge, but I do not quit easily. I am eyeing the Lonestar 70.3 in April. It is the same weekend as the OKC Marathon, but I have done that twice and have already qualified for Boston. I think the beach at Galveston sounds pretty nice. Before too long, I will be swimming like this.