Cake Balls

Whew, what a busy day!

We started the weekend with a handful of shopping errands. The kids were on their best behavior, making the tasks much easier for me.

Before lunch we took a stab at making “cake balls”. Even though it was messy, the kids had a lot of fun. The rest of the day looked like this;

-Lunch at New York Pizzeria

-Played outside for a couple hours

-Cooked dinner (ground turkey, wheat pasta, with chunky marinara sauce.

-Went to the movies to watch “Puss & Boots”

-Finished the evening by taking the kids to Tutti Frutti for frozen yogurt

Tin Roof BBQ

I was excited to pick up the kids this evening! We didn't have a lot of time, so we decided to spend a relaxing evening at Tin Roof BBQ. The kids played on the large outdoor playground while Aly and I listened to a live band.

Salsa, Tree, and Dinner

Lazy day off

I grabbed groceries so I could cook dinner for Aly tonight. After my trip to HEB, I spent a couple hours cutting down the tree that fell on the garage last week. Then I spent the majority of the afternoon making a large batch of homemade salsa.

My dinner didn’t come out as good as I had hoped, but it was edible.

Aly and I went for a run though the neighborhood. Her knee is still bothering her, yet she finished feeling pretty good. We had a good run despite the return of warm temperatures, humidity, and bugs.

Run:

2.51 miles

36:01

14:21 pace

Demise of KWFIT coaching...

I ran with the KWFIT gang this morning. Before the run started I was pulled to the side by the director and questioned about my interest in the group. She said she had been directed to a blog post, where I stated I had lost interest and was not gaining anything from coaching KWFIT. She also asked me if I still wanted to be a coach.

Immediately I told her I wanted to continue coaching. Actually, I said; “I’m here, right? I use a lot of my personal vacation time to run with KWFIT”.

My running style is different, therefore I tend to run solo and talk to runners here and there as I pass them or they pass me. I don’t have the usual collective group of runners every week. This morning I had a long time to think about that encounter while I ran solo.

After mulling the thoughts over, I think my tenure at KWFIT has run its course. I have numerous friends that coach for other USA-FIT locations. It's almost embarrassing when we discuss the difference in the USA-FIT locations. I have lots to say about the matter, but I’ll keep most of them to myself. The same person that showed my blog to her before will probably show this post to her as well. Please don’t be mistaken; KWFIT has several great coaches and runners. They also have a few horrible coaches (if you want to call them a coach).

For the record I want to say that Coach Bonnie works tirelessly with the half-marathon group and she deserves a HUGE kudos for her effort.

I’ll end my rant with this. This year I have contributed the following to KWFIT:

-Presented a weekly seminar about heat related emergencies

-Remained active on the KWFIT Facebook page

-Worked hard to moderate the KWFIT FB page from unwanted spam/advertisement

-Used more than 36 hours of my own personal vacation time to attend the group run(s)

-Written several online “documents” for the runners

-Been positive and encouraged every runner I come across

-Given out tons of running injury advice

-Lead the half-marathon group in pre-run dynamic stretches

-I post additional runs 1-2 times during the week

The reason I continue to coach is because I love the sport. Clearly, I get very little in return. I do this as a labor of love. I’m not looking for huge accolades, but I’m offended that the director questioned my interest in the group. She made me feel very unappreciated. This blog is MY JOURNAL of MY THOUGHTS. Don’t worry about what you read, take a look at my actions.

I digress…

My run went well and felt surprisingly easy. I continue to run intervals of 8/2 when the distance is greater than three miles. I'm staying true to my schedule and my pace is quickly dropping. I turned around at the top of the Kingwood Lake hill which gave me 6.4 miles rather than the scheduled 7.0 miles. Later today Aly and I are going running, so that will tack on a couple more miles…

Run:

6.41 miles

1:13:22

11:27 pace

Second run of the day was on the trails with Aly. We had to alter our route because the mosquitoes were attacking us with vengeance.  We had a good run, even though Aly’s knee is bothering her. Hope this goes away so we can continue running together.

The double run netted me nearly 10 miles for the day. Even better, I feel like it wasn’t anything to it…

Run:

3.29 miles

48:44

14:49 pace

Bob Saget

Worked ~6 hours at Citywide Lawn & Pest

I worked with Tom yesterday for a few hours. I felt bad for rushing and adamantly reminding him I had to be done before 3pm. Tom dropped me off in Humble at 1:30, but there were still a couple jobs left for the day. I’ll make this up to him.

Aly and I enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Cadillac Bar. From there we went to the Improv Comedy Club to watch Bob Saget. He was really, really fun! His content was much different than I expected, although I had been warned that he was crude. Maybe I’m warped, but the louder, nastier, cruder they are the more I like it…

We show finished early, so Aly and I hung out at the house and watched a movie. 

I love my Texas Trail Nerd group!!!

I spent 3.5 hours at 4Wheel Parts, waiting for them to realign my truck. During my drive to Kansas I noticed it was pulling to the left… again. They said a “cam” came loose. Even though it was an unreasonably long wait, the truck seems to be tracking normally again.

I ran with the Texas Trail Nerd gang this evening. We had a total of ten runners for the easy three-mile outer perimeter loop of East End Park. It was exciting to see three runners (I was one of them) proudly sporting the new TTN club shirts! The cooler weather is showing in our pace as we logged another sub-11:00/mile average pace tonight.

After the TTN run I met up with Aly so we could run a couple miles of 4R/2W intervals around her neighborhood together. It was an easy run for both of us; in fact we added an extra interval just for fun!

Run:

5.69 miles

1:10:32

12:24 pace

Spring Creek BBQ Fundraiser

Worked 9 hours at MSC

It was an uneventful day at work. I’ve cut my availability down to one day a week. Hopefully this will help me extend my tenure at MSC.

After work Aly and I went to Spring Creek for a school fundraiser. I had a lot of fun meeting some of her friends.

We finished the day with a night run through the neighborhood. Aly has just begun running, but she is doing really well!

Run:

1.98 miles

27:57

14:05 pace

Visitors at the Fire Station

Worked 24 hours at HFD

Nice, easy day on medic one with Josh. Slow day, other than one VERY sick six-year old, who was having an allergic reaction.

Out of nowhere, my right knee has started bothering me. If I had to guess, I would say it’s the result of placing my feet up on a coffee table for a long time (The table is higher than the chair).

Later in the evening, Aly and Melanee visited me at the fire station for a tour. It was a great way to end my day at work.

Slave Driver!

Today was a WICKEDLY busy day.

As soon as we woke up, the kids, Mikey, and I spent three hours working in the yard. I removed ~$500 worth of dead shrubbery that didn’t survive the summer drought. It wasn’t fun, but the yard looked great afterwards.

After lunch we tried to carve the pumpkins we bought at the fall festival yesterday. Apparently the pumpkins are raw; because they were so hard we couldn’t carve them. I even used some of my tools for cutting wood and the pumpkin flesh bent them as well!

I hate doing a lot of “work” when the kids are home, but this was one of my few days off. So… we spent an hour or so cleaning the house, primarily the floors. Alison is such a HUGE helper and I couldn’t have done it without her.

Erin and I met early, which left me some time to see Aly later that night. We just hung out at the house and watched a movie.

It was another great day!

Kingwood FIT and Fall Festival

Ran with KWFIT this morning

The route started at the church and ran to the top of the hill at Kingwood Lake, near my house. The six mile run went a lot better than I expected. I was tired and the blisters on my feet are still tender. Andrea recently started running again, and joined the group for this morning’s run. It’s always nice running with people I know. The run was easy, partly because of the cool temperatures and partly because we ran intervals of 8/2. I’m stoked about the 12:10 pace, which includes our walk time.

I rushed to the Woodlands after the run to pick up Alison and Preston. After lunch at Los Vega’s we spent a couple hours at a local church Fall Festival. We had fun playing games, taking pictures, and picking out three pumpkins to carve later this weekend. By coincidence we saw Aly and her friends at the fall festival too. It was nice to see and talk to her for a few minutes.

The rest of the night was uneventful. The kids and I just played around the house.

Run:

6.36 miles

1:17:22

12:10

Pictures coming soon....

Back to my normal regimen; Work, Run...

Worked 10 hours at MSC

I wish I could say it was a good day, but it wasn't. My days at MSC are numbered. At least I burn tons of calories working in the warehouse. 

The Texas Trail Nerds ran at East End Park tonight. Everyone enjoyed the moderately paced three-mile outer park perimeter loop. My legs are heavy and I’m ready for a day off from running.

Meet with a new friend after the run. We just hung out at the park and talked. Her dog broke her leash and ran away. We logged a couple miles getting a new leash from her house and looking for the dog. I even ran a half mile back to my truck when she got home.

Run:

3.48 miles

38:11

10:58 pace

Walk:

1.50 miles

30:00

20:00 pace

Outdoor Date

This morning I started a new weight challenge with Jess. Maybe the challenge will help motivate me to lose some weight.

I spent the majority of the afternoon on an amazing outdoor date. Even though the date was a spur of the moment idea, it turned out great!

We started the afternoon with a kayak ride from River Grove Park to the other side of the West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge. We struggled with getting the kayaks in and out of the park due to the ankle-deep mud. The peaceful paddle ride made dealing with the frustrating & stinky mud worth our troubles. We had a lot of time to talk and joke around with one another.

After the boat ride we went for a leisure run. We started near my house and ran to the third bridge on Kingwood Lake, and back. Since she’s a new runner, I wasn’t expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised how well she did. To make the deal even sweeter, I’ve convinced her to run a half marathon! Ahhh, the beauty of bringing another runner into the fold... GOTTA LOVE IT!

We finished the evening with a trip to Subway. The healthier selection was her idea and it suited me perfect. I’ve done very well on my diet today. My daily deficit should be near -2,500 kcals!

Kayak:

4.6 miles

Run/walk:

3.0 miles

45:00

15:00 pace

Finally, a snake without a bad attitude...

It was another lazy day around the house. I'm truly enjoying the extra days off work. Visited with several friends during the day, which is always pleasant.

The lead the Texas Trail Nerds on a hike today along the W.I.T.H trail. We started earlier than usual, yet we still ran out of light. I finally cleared the limbs from the trailhead along Hamlin Road. Near the end of the trail we ran across a cottonmouth snake. Luckily, we were warned by another runner of his location. The snake wasn’t aggressive as most water snakes. There again, the temperature was cooler which is a direct link to their aggression… in my opinion.

I handed out a bunch of the club shirts after the run. I can’t wait to see these things all over town!

Walk:

3.68 miles

1:09:10

18:46 pace

Walking on blistered feet

My feet are feeling better today. My back is sore, but tolerable.

I didn't do much today other than unload my backpack and running gear bags. Later in the evening I met with a new friend for a leisure three-mile walk. I was surprised how well my feet tolerated the walk, however, latter that night I paid for it dearly. The blisters sealed up and filled with fluid, which was painful. Once again I popped the blisters and drained the fluid...

The walk and discussion were great. I didn't wear my garmin, so I don’t know the exact numbers. We walked a decent pace and were gone for about one-hour.

Walk:

3.0 miles

1:00:00

20:00 pace

Problems brewing...

Worked 10 hours at MSC

It was a tough day at my part-time job.

My tolerance level for whinny little boys pretending to be men is wearing THIN. MSC is a TOUGH job and I bust my ass for the company, but the bull shit makes it harder than it needs to be. Thankfully I have a dream job lined up; I even have a "new-hire" packet already!!!

In other news, during a DOT driver physical I found out I have cataracts in my right eye.

I had just enough mental & physical energy for a three-mile trail run this evening with the Texas Trail Nerds. Five members ran the outer perimeter of East End Park. We pushed the pace on the second half of the run, which was most evident by the lack of conversation. It was a great run!

Run:
3.0 miles
33:30
11:10 pace