Ringing out the old and bringing in the new!

Wow, it is the end of another year. We have had a really nice time with the girls over the Christmas time. It seems as though they are starting to relax and get into a routine. They both have a couple of weeks before they have to go back to school. Kathryn is going to work quite a bit and Jen is going to get her room for when she returns. Linda is starting to prep for another training that she will be doing in Boston in a couple of weeks. 

Tonight is New Years Eve - we are planning on going to a show called the Capital Steps. It is a show that has been being performed here for a number of years. We are looking forward to it. We are then off to Michael's Valley grill for a late dinner, then home to before midnight to bring in the new year. 2007 was another eventful year for all of us. As always, there was some bad, but mainly good. I am looking forward to 2008, there are lots of milestones. Of course, I will turn 50, Linda looks like she is going to be getting more and more training work and the girls will start their Junior year. We already have a couple of trips planned for the year. Linda and I will be going on a mission trip with our church in February to New Orleans. This is the third trip for our church in a year and a half. We are helping families rebuild. I really have no idea what to expect. I understand that it is still not close to being re-built. I am looking forward to going. I will be creating a separate blog for that trip so that the congregation can get daily updates. We are then planning a trip to Hilton Head to see Jerry and Sarah. I would also think that we will go back to the wine harvest in Paso next year. I look forward to reporting on all these things in 2008.

I will try to post soon into the new year - I have some business trips coming up quickly so I know that I will be preparing for those starting Wednesday. 

Happy 2008 to all.

Christmas Eve 2007

Today is Christmas eve day and it is snowing outside. We were a bit concerned that we would not have a white Christmas. All of the snow we had last week melted away yesterday. It was 53 and raining most of the day. It turned cold again last night and this morning we have been having lake effect snow since 9am. It looks like it is coming off lake Erie. Linda is working until 3 and the girls have just been relaxing. They just took off for the Y to get a little pre-holiday workout in. I went and finished up the shopping, there were a few little gifts that needed to be picked up and I had to get the standing rib roast for tomorrow.
Last night we drove around with the Wicus clan and looked at some of the homes where they had really put out the lights. Most of them were in Fairport. There were some pretty unique decorations out there. Tonight we are planning dinner with some friends and then we will go to the 11:00 pm service at our church. Other then that we have a couple of movies to get caught up on - Christmas in Connecticut and White Christmas.
Will update later.....
Have a Merry Christmas

I thought that this was a nice way to start Christmas Eve day - it was from my Upper Room Daily Reflections!

O HOLY NIGHT,
that deepening darkness above and around,
light-pierced and silence-shrouded,
out of which little children are called in
and seeking shepherds are sent out.
O night of nights,
you spread across heaven
and touch the earth,
surrounding God’s people,
capturing us in a moment of holy time,
like a globe protects a precious flicker of Light.
Come,
draw us in,
hold us together
while we wait for the birth of the Light of lights,
the One who will guide us into the world anew. Amen.

- Pamela C. Hawkins
Simply Wait

The Day After

We made is through the "big storm"! It did not end up being as big of a storm as it was advertised but it was still pretty good size. Probably ended up with 10" of additional snow, lots of sleet and really cold temps. This looked more like a February storm.

The schools are all closed today, which is somewhat odd since the roads are in really good shape. Linda and I are thinking that it is due to the holidays being near. The weather guy from Good Morning America was broadcasting live from Rochester this morning so they must have thought it was a pretty big storm.

I will try to get some pics tonight and post them up later.
Regards
Dan

Mid Afternoon Winter Storm Update

It has not been the event they advertised. We have probably had 6 or 7 inches of snow and sleet. It is now 2 pm and it is starting to snow  a bit more. We will probably get a few more inches of snow before it is over. Probably end up with just under a foot. Not a gigantic storm, but still a pretty good storm.

We have not moved from the house and will not be moving. We are watching the Bills at Cleveland. They are getting a little snow there as well. The Cowboys are next up so Jen and I have the fireplace going in preparation for that event. Kathryn is getting ready for her first final which is tonight. LJ is just hanging out as well. We might bake some cookies a bit later.

I will get some shots of snow as the storm starts to end and will try to provide an update a little later today.

In the meantime, stay warm and enjoy your day with your family.

Dan

Sunday Morning Update

Well, as is with many storms in Rochester, this one has taken a different path. The snow overnight was less than expected and the amounts this morning are going to be less - the reason however is not good. Much of the snow is now sleet - well with sleet, you get less depth, but it is more hazardous. It looks like we are going to cut about 5" off the total due to the conversion. Of course, sleet happens when the temps in the upper air is above freezing, rain falls and hits the cold temps at the surface - thus sleet. 

They plowed the streets overnight so it looks inviting in terms of getting on the roads. Not a good idea to venture out however! They say that the afternoon remains ugly in terms of heavy and blowing snow. 

Just called the church and Pastor Bill answered, he did not expect many folks to attend. Linda and I are about 14 miles from church and it is all back roads, we are not going to be venturing out that way. 

So our plan remains the same, fire in the fireplace, football and a roast for dinner. We might get out a little later for a walk. Will get out and take a couple of shots later this morning.

Expect another update around noon today.....

Have a great morning

Dan

Winter Storm Watch - The Official Start Time

Winter Storm Watch 2007 is a go!

The snow started to lightly fall around 7:30 pm, which is a little ahead of what they thought last night. I recorded a short video for you to review (I hope) that will give you a sense of what the start of a snow storm looks like.



Well as you can see it is not that exciting yet - just some tiny snow flakes - this is of course the leading edge of the storm. It seems that there are going to be a couple of punches to this storm.

Sometimes it is hard to understand just how much snow 12 or 24 inches really is. I shot three pictures that I hope will help. The first is a measuring stick. You can see the mark at the baseline of the stick. We will take measurements throughout the storm and at the end tally the total.




These other pictures are of a couple of key areas in our yard.

The one on the left is the end of our drive way - it is always a hoot to see how much this pile grows as the snowplow guy gets to the driveway. PS - having a snowplow guy is essential when living in Rochester.






The other is in our front yard which will probably be somewhat protected from the blowing snow. These of course are the before, I will post the after when the storm is over.





The weather folks maintained their forecast for this storm, so I expect we will not leave our home until Monday at the earliest. We will see!

Probably will not report again until the morning. Got to get back to the Syracuse basketball game. Everyone have a safe and happy evening.

Thanks Dan

Noreaster Update One

9:30 am Saturday Morning:
I love to watch the all the weather channels when we have a storm brewing. RNews seemed to have a fairly tame forecast last night, this morning they have become less tame, they have put the storm total between 9 - 25+ inches - of course much of this depends on where you are in the viewing area. We are no at the high or the low end, but probably more toward the high end. I am sure the the 25+ is due to lake effect which is impossible to predict. Channel 13, which is my favorite, just says it is going to be big. I have not seen anything from them this morning so I do not know if they have started to put depths out there yet. Of course, the weather channel talks about Boston more then anything. It is currently about 15 degrees outside and expected to climb to 21 for the high today. There is no wind at this time, we know that will change as the storm starts to arrive. No more to update at this time, we are going out for a little shopping. I will try to get some shots of the snow piles at the malls and shopping areas, they are already pretty impressive.
Later
Dan

It might be a Noreaster!

For those who are not familiar with the winters in the Northeast, the term Noreaster is probably not understood. The net of a Noreaster for us in Rochester is that it can, I repeat can, create a great deal of snow. Most of the big storms that I have been in here (big being 2-4 feet in a couple of days) are results of a Noreaster. Well, I decided this year to document the event on the blog. I will provide updates (with pics) a couple of times a day over the weekend.

Let me set you all up with what we are hearing. We have just been put under a Winter Storm Warning (we were under a Watch) from tomorrow night around 10pm to Monday morning. Right now they are saying we will get between 1 & 2 feet of snow during that period, we are in the 2 feet area. It is great to watch our weather folks, they do not get excited about a great deal when it comes to winter weather, these are different though.

We have had snow on the ground since Thanksgiving, in fact we had about 7 inches yesterday. It has also been cold and it would seem that it is going to drop tomorrow. If there is wind, we could get more snow with lake enhancement. All in all it is an exciting time.

The stores were starting to get packed, folks are storing up. I think we are all excited because it is on a Sunday which is a day of rest anyway. Not leaving the house just allows us to watch football.

Linda and I went and picked Jen up today from Syracuse, she is home for Christmas break. Kathryn has final starting Sunday night. Monday might be tricky, just depends on how long it last.

Well, at this point, it is cold and a little cloudy, maybe an inch or so of snow tonight. We are off to a party and Jen is off with friends.

I will report often and update with pics as things develop.

Later
Dan

First Snow of the Season

We had our first good snow of the season this week - probably got about of foot of snow over a two day period. Lot's of lake effect came in for this one. It is colder then normal so it seems as though our short fall is going to result in a longer winter.



It made it a little tough to run this week, so I have spent most of the time on the treadmill at the Y - I am going to try to get out on the canal later today. There is nothing better then a run on the canal after snow. They do a good job of plowing the path so it is safe to run on. You can always wear grippers when it is deeper.

I have still not made my mind up on what I am going to train for. I was feeling pretty good prior to getting sick during Thanksgiving. I had started to build my base back up - hopefully I will be able to continue building it up next week.

It is time to start blogging again

Clearly it has been a while since I have posted to this blog - I have been trying to see what it would be like to blog on my .mac website - it is not the same. I have this blog set up with many of the feeds that I like so I guess I am going to get back to this site to blog on a more frequent basis. Since my last blog, things have been going well. I have been getting my running back into some form and have started following weight watchers a little more religiously. That only means that I have convinced myself that it is time to get my head back into the game. Just finished Thanksgiving which was great, but I was a sick and this is the first year in a while that I did not run the Race for Grace. Between being sick and the weather being absolutely miserable for the race, we did not make it. We did have the girls home so that made up for it. It was great to see them and have them here - I cannot describe the joy! Oh well, there are many more post to come. I am going to start the training up for a race now that I am well so there will be many things to report.
Later Dan

Perfect Summer Weather

Our weather has been great this summer! We have had some heat and a lot of sun. The only down side is we have not had much rain. Today is picture perfect, high of 84 low of 60. Humidity is down a bit, but it is still there. Kathryn got up and ran 10 miles this morning and I ran 5 - the humidity was there. Yes, Kathryn hit her 10 mile mark which as all runners know is a major milestone. You enter a different club of runners at the 10 mile mark. You also get to treat yourself to pretty much whatever you want to eat. Linda and I bought her some chocolate from the store this morning that she should enjoy. Jennifer ran with me on the canal which was great. Overall a great way to start the day.

The other big news is the birth of Samantha Lynn Midura, Bonnie finally had her first child on Thursday August 9th at 10:17 pm. Samantha took her time joining us, but made a grand entrance weighing in at 7 lbs and 12 ounce. Linda and the girls now want to get out to see her. I would not be surprised if that happens soon. She is a beautiful baby...

I also weighed in this morning and I have lost between 10 & 12 pounds over the past couple of weeks. It has already started to make a difference in my runs. They feel a lot better and I am able to go longer. The meals have been really good, however I do think that I will go back to weight watchers after I finish this month's meals up. I really like having boca burgers, light potato chips, red lentil soup, and weight watcher meals. I will miss having low fat yogurts. I really like the web site for Nutrisystems, having to type in all the food you eat every day helps. There is a similar site for weight watchers which I will try. All of these plans work if you stick with them for a long period of time. If you don't neither will work. I did however get a great start so I am hopeful that I will get to my goal..

We will report with more news later. PS - Happy Birthday to my mom.

Quiet Time - Over

You may have noticed that I went "dark" for a couple of weeks - well, it has been intentional. With the news of the "boilermaker" next year and a renewal for running, I thought it was probably time to get serious about getting the weight down. Now this is not easy, I must admit, I enjoy eating! I like all foods in large quantities. I also love to drink good beer and wine. I have found a lot of great beers over the summer. I have also found a new love for going the Red Wings games with Linda - for those unfamiliar with Rochester, the Red Wings are the AAA baseball team. It is a great date, the tickets range from $5 - $10 per seat, and there is not bad seat in the house. They also have great food and beer, so how could this not be a great place.

Well, last week I decided to start a diet - my challenge was deciding what diet. After much research and discussion with friends, I decided to try nutri-systems.
I ordered the food while I was on my California trip, which was the last time I posted to the web. I started the actual plan on Monday, July 30th. This was after a weekend that consisted of Red Wings game on Friday, dinner out of Saturday and then golf and dinner at home on Sunday - the Sunday dinner. Of course all of these events were treated as though they were the last meal I was going to have so not calories were spared.

Monday came around and the plan started - I selected Nutri-systems because I wanted something easy - how hard can it be when they send you all the food. It was one of the key reasons I opted this plan versus Weight Watchers. Well, it is not quite that simple. You still have a lot of planning and tracking to do, and they do not provide all of the food. In fact from what I can tell, the food they provide makes up about 40-50% of the daily calories. Oh, well so much for easy. That is OK, because when you know it, I just find I have to plan a bit more then I had hoped. The first couple of days were challenging. The portions are really small - the daily calories for me are about 1800, which make me a little tired and weaker for the first three days. It should also be know that all of the foods are not going to be good - my lunch on the first day was terrible. My breakfast the next day was also pretty bad. As you can imagine, I was starting to get concerned about the meals. Well the good news is that I have now had 6 days worth of food and the other meals have been fine. I have also learned how to plan and what other foods I need. I like the website they use for tracking food, weight, measurements and other notes. Overall, things are now going pretty well - now the tough part of sticking with it. Much of that will happen as weight loss occurs. This is really important for getting myself in a position to start training for the halfs again.

Well, now that I am out of the closet on the diet, I will start to report progress.

Later
Dan

HUMAN LOVE INVOLVES ATTACHMENT. Thus, if I do not nurture my primary friendship with God, I may unwittingly turn to my human friends for basic spiritual sustenance. It can be hard to lean on the everlasting arms of the sometimes hidden Divine Friend. … Friendship with God usually requires a conscious awareness of something beyond the physical bounds of material life — an inward attention to a still, small voice.

- Stephanie Ford
Kindred Souls

California Dreamer

Well, I am sitting in sunny Southern California enjoying the sun and surf - well, not the surf part. Just got through with a nice little run outdoors - it was pretty nice. I can see where it would be easier to keep your running up out here - there is no real winter to deal with, so running outdoors, year-round it pretty simple. I am in Torrance so I did not get to run in a great area, mainly got to run around car plants and refineries - sounds like fun.

Last week ended up pretty good, did not get all my miles, but got most of them. Should be OK this week - probably hit the treadmill at the hotel tomorrow and then try to get a run in before I take the flight on Wednesday night back east.

I flew JetBlue from Rochester - Kennedy - Long Beach today - it is an all day affair. I do however like flying JetBlue, the seats are bigger and it is nice to have a TV. Got caught up on some reading and finished my presentation for Wednesday.

Well, I think I am going to go try to find some decent seafood near the beach..

Later

The Training is under way

Three days into the training for the Boilermaker and all is well. A total of 10.5 miles and the paces are pretty good. My goal this week is to get in 18-20 total miles. The weekend looks like it is going to be good for a canal run so I am confident. I may try to get some speed work in tomorrow or Friday. That is always a good way to change things up.

Roger found the RV that we are thinking about getting for the weekend next year.



Now that's an RV. It has all the essentials except the hot tub.

I am about to get settled in on my decision to run Austin again this year and perhaps a west coast event. Not going to do Atlanta, did not really like the event. I need to get some dates final and get the training schedule worked out. Much to decide!

Looks like Kathryn is on plan to run the Rochester 1/2 - I am going to see if I can volunteer to work the event. It should be fun.

I liked this quote from a daily devotional that I get on mail.

MAKE US LIKE THE WIND — ever-moving and ever moving others. And with joy we will dance with the leaves. In submission we will linger in the shade, cooling the skin of those scorched by the sun’s heat. In awe we will pause and be still enough to hover over creation, admiring your world and waiting for your command. And when you move us, we will fly with more strength, reminding people that you are present even in times you may seem invisible. Breathe into our souls, Lord, and make us like the wind, like your Holy Spirit — in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

- Ciona D. Rouse
The Africana Worship Book: Year A

The Boilermaker 2008

Well, it would seem that a new goal has been established for a running event. The Boilermaker in 2008 - http:/www.boilermaker.com/about.html Take some time to look at the site, this race is world famous. It is a 15k with gusto.
Next year, about this time I will be turning 50, another good friend of ours will have just turned 50 by the date of the race. We are going to use this race as an opportunity to show what you can do when you turn 50.

I am sure there will be more to post as we train and get near the date. For those like myself, who need some help keeping track of time, I have put a little countdown clock on the page.

See you soon.

4th of July, 2007

It's the 4th, time for BBQ, parades, races and fun. This morning, Kathryn, Jennifer, Matthew and myself got up at 7:00am to get to our 5 mile race that started at 8:30. Great weather for the race, it rained just enough to cool things off a little. All our times were good. This of course came after having brisket last night. The brisket turned out pretty good. I am going to put it in the smoker about an hour before the ribs are finished today to let it warm up. Today's menu is brisket, pork ribs, mac salad, brocolli salad, baked beans, hot dogs for the kids. There are also some deviled eggs, a veggie tray and some chips and homemade salsa to start things off.
We are having a few folks over, but it looks like there will be plenty to eat. The weather looks like rain, so we will probably be forced indoors. We need the rain so I don't think anyone will be unahappy with eating indoors.
I hope that everyone takes the time to reflect on how fortunate we are to live in such a great country. Our freedoms have come at a high price and we should be thankful and careful to not take advantage of those who live in parts of the world where freedon is not normal and where people are less fortunate.
To a happy and safe 4th of July....

It nearly the 4th! time for the Brisket.

It's the 3rd of July which means we are preparing for the 4th. Of course the 4th will start with our 5 mile race, but it then quickly moves to BBQ. I am getting the smoker started today with a brisket, which we will share with some friends who are coming over for dinner tonight. Then I will start it up again tomorrow for some pork baby back ribs. There is nothing better then smoking brisket and ribs. Of course, being from Texas, this brings back alot of great memories. My dad loved to smoke both brisket and ribs. (I think he liked ribs a bit more) Out by the pool, drinking a cold bud or tecate in the 90 degree heat. What fun we all had. The tradition is being carried on with my family, the kids know that when I am getting ready to smoke anything, it is an event. We grill year-round and often, but we do not smoke except one or two times a year. So when we do it is special. Yesterday i had to get the meat, charcoal, hickory wood, and blend the rub. The rub this year is a combination of many rubs I obtained throughout the year - one from Austin, one from a local BBQ place in Rochester and then a little extra brown sugar. Last night I also started to soak the hickory in a little red wine.
This morning I trimmed the brisket (6.5 pounds) and applied the rub - I want to get the brisket up to room temperature and allow the rub to sit on it for an hour before putting on the smoker. I will start the smoker at about 9 or 9:30 and then around 10 the meat will be put on. Most say an hour and a half a pound, I find between 6 and 7 hours. We will see, the internal temp should get to around 185. One recipe I read suggest that you take it off at 175 and wrap in in foil and then put it in the smoker for another hour. I might try it out.
Well, let the smoking begin...

Of course with all of the hoopla around smoking the brisket, I also really am grateful to have a couple of days with family and friends. Last week there was a tragic car accident in Fairport that took the lives of five girls who had just graduated from high school. I cannot imagine the pain that those families must be going through. It does however remind us all of how precious our time is on this earth - we should enjoy each moment we have with our loved ones. My prayers are certainly going out to the families of those girls, my thoughts however will be on enjoying every moment with friends and family.

Happy 3rd of July!

Training Update

Things have been going pretty well on the running front over the past couple of weeks. I have been focused on getting the weight down a bit as well as starting to get my base built back up. This week I even threw in a little speedwork. Next week I will start to keep track of the miles and time, I have been lax in that. The girls and I will be running our first local race of the season on July 4th - the Firecracker in Fairport. It's 5 miles and pretty hilly so it should be a good test for all of us. I have not decided what races I am going to run out of town again. I am thinking about doing the Austin Half again and will probably look at the race in Phoenix.

The weather here has been really hot and dry - today we started to get a little cool down which is really nice. We really need some rain however, things are looking pretty dry. The garden however is thriving - we have a large number of tomatoes starting to appear. I think it is going to be a robust tomato unlike last year.

Just finished a pretty good book by Don Miller called Blue like Jazz. (http://www.donaldmillerwords.com/bluelikejazz.php) I would stongly suggest you read it. He talks about being a Christian in more normal terms. One of the things I found interesting is how much he talks about the negative effect the fundamentalist have on most peoples views of what it is to be a Christian. Of course, he is from Houston where the Southern Baptist are alive and well. He talks alot about the influence of the republican party - not in a way many on the left do, in a way that makes sense to me. I found I was able to relate to much of his experience.

On a final note, I threw up a new family web site located at http://web.mac.com/dharp98/iWeb/The%20Harpers%20Site/Welcome.html Not too much up, but a few pics of some of the recent trips.

God Bless everyone and lets all have a safe and happy 4th...

Let's get ready to rumble.......

It is easy to see that I have been off the blog for a while, that is simply because I cur my running down to nothing. I have been trying to recover from a sore back which has really been a challenge since the Atlanta Half....It seems to finally be gone. Of course I have put back on a little weight and my routine is all but gone. Enough of that! I started some minor runs about 3 weeks ago and am at a point where I am going to get into a training routine. I am going to train primarily to get my times in good shape for the 5K and 10K circuit. I would like to get to 27 minutes on the 5K and 65 minutes on the 10K. This should allow me to get into half marathon form again for Austin.
I am off to Chicago today so I am hoping to find a couple of new places to run. Will keep the updates coming. The next race for me is the Firecracker 5 mile in Fairport on July 4th. I will be running with the girls so it should be fun. I would be great to get to 55 minutes for that race. Will see how it goes.
See you later...

It is still winter

Hard as it may seem to believe it is still winter - April 17th and we did not get out of the 30's. It rained all day, and was dreary. It has made running outside nearly impossible. It does look like a warming trend is just around the corner, we are supposed to start to see the 60's this weekend. Our fingers are crossed.

The news from yesterday was tragic - 33 students and teachers were killed at Virginia Tech University by a troubled student. Having two girls in college brings this tragedy a little closer to home. There are no words to express the sorrow for the families of these students.

I still need to update from the Atlanta half, will probably get to it this weekend. This weeks running is starting to feel pretty good. My hamstring and back seem to be getting well stretched and my focus is slowly coming back. I am amazed at the mental side of running, one would not think that it requires patience, it does.

Will get on over the weekend and hopefully get caught up.
Later

A little late - Race Day in Austin

OK, I know that I am behind in this post, I did however want to finish it up. I was attempting to provide a daily sanpshot of the events for my half-marathon in Austin. The day of the race was pretty exciting. Linda and I had to get up really early, the race started at 7am and they wanted us to start getting to the starting area around 6am. I always find that coffee is the best thing to start the morning with on race day and today was no exception. We then started our way to the starting point, the good news was that our hotel was only about 1/2 mile walk so we did not have to deal with transportation issues. There was however a bigger issue, it was really pretty cold - probably around 35. I was not quite sure how to dress knowing that it would warm up when the sun started to rise. I decided to keep my shorts on which would turn out to be the wrong decision. The starting line was on the Congress Ave. bridge, there were thousands of people in the starting zone, there were hundreds of restrooms and the lines were really long. It was still dark, but the background of the city lights helped - it was pretty energized. We met some really nice folks while we were waiting, a father /son team, a couple of kids from one of the nearby military bases and some kids from UT. I find it really neat to just talk with folks prior to a race. Linda decided to go back to the hotel, while I got in line for the race. We all gathered on the bridge, they played the National Anthem and at some point the starting gun sounded, not before a really nice fireworks display. It took me about 8 or 9 minutes to get to the starting line, but we were off. It was really cold and my thighs were frozen and they never warmed up (thus the result of the shorts decision) It was a pretty tough race, there were lots of hills after mile 7 and they seemed to never end. I ended up walking up a couple of the longer ones at the end. The last big hill ended up on the back side of the capital. We rounded the capital and then we were on Congress street. You could see the end and it was pretty flat to get there. All I can remember was being focused on the end. Linda said she was yelling at me, I did not see nor hear her, but I was glad she was there. Getting to the end was really cool, I was really tired and having a little trouble breathing, but I knew I had finished something that I really worked hard for and I was elated. I went to the area where runners gather after race to get some food. I sat with a fellow and just rested and talked. I caught up with Linda right outside that area and we went back to the hotel so I could get cleaned up. We spent the rest of the day with my sister and her son visiting some of the local pubs in Austin, eating and just relaxing. The race went on for several more hours. I went back to watch other runners come in. It is so neat to see each one of them finish, you know that they all have a story as to how they got there. You also know that something drove them to train and put themselves out there.
Running is an individual sport, you simply go out to be faster or longer then you were before. You train for weeks with a goal in mind and then you execute against that goal. We had a great time in Austin, and I am planning on going back next year for the race - I hope to have a better time and maybe, just maybe I might be running the full marathon at that time.
At the time I am writing this, I have also completed the Atlanta Half Marathon which I will provide more detail on in my next entry. I hope to get caught up soon because I have to start training again, not sure for what yet, but I have to start again. Later

Its Easter

Hard to believe that I have not posted in over a month - lots has been happening over that time. I did run another half marathon in Atlanta which I will write a separate post on. For today, I just wanted to get the juices flowing again. It has been a busy month between vacations, travel for work, and getting the girls home for Easter. It seems like a whirlwind time period. It is time to settle in a bit, keep the travel in check and rest up. More importantly, it is time to get back on some running and eating routine that will result in getting back to a lower weight and get my speed back up to a reasonable pace. I am going to spend the next week getting prepared for a training program - the question that I need to answer at this point is if I am going to take on the training schedule for a marathon - it is a big commitment of time, but it also requires that I lose 30 pounds. There is no way that I can carry this weight for that amount of time safely. It would help if our weather would get a little better. Right now it is cold and snowy. We had a inch of snow on the ground this morning - its Easter for goodness sake.

Oh well, I am sure that the decision will be made over the next few days on the marathon - regardless, I am going to run another half marathon somewhere this year - I want to shoot for a better time than my other two. The girls want to train for the Rochester Half, which would be great, but we are looking at being in South Carolina at that time. It will all work out.

This Easter was pretty good - the girls came home and we were able to get to the early service - we missed having the sunrise service this year - they held it inside due to the snow. I do not feel as though I was able to spend any real quiet time this year to reflect on the true reason for Easter.

Well, we are driving down the thruway right now, just dropped one of the girls off at school in Syracuse - thought it would be a good time to start to write again. I will make sure that I get caught up this week.

Later

Saturday, Day 2 of the Austin Half Marathon

Linda and I got up early on Saturday and departed from my brothers house in Georgetown to head for the hotel in Downtown Austin. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency which was the race headquarters. We arrived around 10:30 am and they had a room ready for us which we were grateful for. We had planned to meet some friends who were driving in from Houston for lunch around 12:30 so we had a little time to spare. For those that have never been to a marathon event, there always seems to be an expo in the registration area so we decided to go register and see what kinds of goodies were are the expo.

You go and pick up your packet, activate your chip and then stroll around and look at all the running goodies. Shoes, clothes, power drinks, power gels, special displays for your running medal and bib - there was even a table for the Marriott time share in Las Vegas. Its really quite fun to walk around.

We finished when our friends, Tom and Sue Ann, were about 15 minutes out so we waited for them. When they arrived, we found a really nice French Bistro in town that was really great about letting us sit for 2 hours to get caught up. The waiter was perfect in getting our food to us slowly. It was great to get caught up. After lunch we took a nice walk around town - ended up going into a place where I have gotten hot sauces during past trips called the Tears of Joy Hot Sauce shop which is on 6th street. I picked up a little sauce to bring back to New York and am really pleased with the result. They left and Linda and I sat in the lounge and rested up. It was really nice, we met so many nice folks from all over who were going to be running in the race. We went to dinner at the hotel and met some more folks from Canada and Washington State. Then it was time to settle in, race day was to start early the next day. Below are a few shots of some of the sites in Austin. The first is a picture of the Hyatt from the other side of the river - which is the side that downtown is on. The next is a shot of some of the buildings in the downtown area.

The shot at the bottom is of the Congress St. bridge which is where the race will start early on SundayAll in all a really nice second day to our trip, the question that was still lingering for me all day about my back. I think the walks and some stretching I did helped a great deal. So I felt as though I was ready for the race.

As Promised - Day One

My wife and I arrived in Austin on Friday, February 16th around 11:30 am - of course we had to get up at at 4:30 to catch the early flight. This was one day that we were helped by a delayed flight. Parking was tough because of the big snow storm we had prior to leaving. We had 21 inches on snow on the Wednesday prior to leaving. It was really kind of cool - we have not had a good size snow storm in a while.
When we landed in Dallas, which was our connecting airport, it was 30, when we got to Austin it was 40. We were hoping to get to a little warmer client. My mom lives in Georgetown, so we got our car and started in that direction. It was at this point that Yahoo maps proved wrong so we took a little detour while trying to get to our destination. Took mom to Chili's for a nice lunch (only had to get on two business calls while at lunch) and then had a nice visit at her place. My brother also lives in Georgtown so we drove over and settled in for the night.We had a great time eating a little Italian food and getting caught up. Got to bed pretty early since we had been up for so long. Ended up getting a pretty good nights sleep. It is always a treat to get to visit the family in Georgetown, it seems as though we just start where we left off. As you can see in the picture, it ended up being a really nice day, the temp went up to 65, so my hopes were raised that race day would be warm.
I decided to stop taking my muscle relaxers on Friday so that I could have some time to detox - they were starting to make me feel a little groggy all day. I was hoping that this with some walking would loosen my back up a bit. It seemed to be working. When I woke up on Saturday, I was sure that I was going to run the race - I was not sure I was going to be able to finish though. More about Saturday in the next post.

The Run is Done

I have waited nearly a week to talk about my first half marathon, there is so much to write about that I needed time for it to soak in. The most important thing was that I finished, not with the time I wanted but I am happy with the result based on some of the factors. My official time was 2:43:00, 12:27 pace. I was hoping to run at a 11:30 pace of better which is where my training times were coming in. Do not read this as being unhappy though, I was so excited to cross the finish line, even as I type these words tears come to my eyes. The hours of training are all worth it when you cross that finish line.
I want to really tell the story of this journey in a series of post, starting with the day we arrived in Austin. With that I will start there with my next post. On a final note for this post though, this was one of the most exciting and rewarding things I have ever done. There is a closeness to God when I run and there were many times during the race when he provided me with the strength to finish. (Not to mention my wife who was there all the way with me)

A Week Away

Well it is a week (and a day) from race day. As one might expect things have not gone as smoothly as I would have hoped. Last week I ran outside for the first time in a while, nice easy 4 miler to the Y and then a mile on the treadmill to get 5 in. Then I put a little speed on for about a 10th of a mile to burn off a little lactic acid. Pretty sure I extended a back muscle a bit too much. Started hurting the next morning. I thought it would go away, ended up going to the doctor on Thursday and got some muscle relaxers. Have been taking them for a couple of days and they seem to be helping. I also got a little cold to top it off so I have some meds for that as well. I am confident that all will start to get back to normal early this week. I had hoped to be able to get some light runs in this week to keep loose. Regardless, I should be able to make the race. It will be nice to run in warm weather again. It has been wicked here for the past three weeks. We are not getting above 20 and it is windy and snowy at time. Of course it is nothing like the weather in the snow belt. They have seen 100 inches of snow in some places over the last 3 weeks. THAT IS A LOT OF SNOW BY ANY MEASURE!

I did get my bib number for the race - it is H1269 - you can go to the following link at any time after the race to get the times and updates. http://onlineraceresults.com/event/view_event.php?event_id=1466.

OK now for a really amazing story. When I was doing an 8 mile tempo run at the Y a couple of weeks ago I noticed a young lady and her husband running on a couple of tread mills, you could tell they were training for something because she had her GU packets. When she was finished I asked if she was training for a race and she said she was training for a half marathon. I asked where she was going to run and she said Austin. What do you think that odds are of that. Well it gets even more odd. I said I was running in that race as well and then I told her I was going to run in Atlanta in March - she said she had just signed up for that one as well. Her husband was going to run the Marathons as both. We have since exchanged mail notes and will hopefully catch up at the races.

I just put my play list together for the race and it includes a little bit of everything. Here is the list.
In The Secret - Mercy Me
The Reason - Hoobastank
The Feel Good Drag - Anberlin
ThE BEST SONG IN THE WORLD - Mandy Moore
Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol
I Ran (So Far Away) - A Flock of Seagulls
Someday We'll Know - Mandy Moore and some guy
Breakaway - Kelly Clarkson
Takeoffs And Landings - The Ataris
03 Misc - _0729134216 - Vertical Horizon
Speak To Me/Breathe - Pink Floyd
On The Run - Pink Floyd
Time - Pink Floyd
The Great Gig In The Sky - Pink Floyd
Money - Pink Floyd
Us And Them - Pink Floyd
Fever - Michael Bublé
Kissing A Fool - Michael Bublé
How Can You Mend A Broken Heart - Michael Bublé
Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Michael Bublé
Sway - Michael Bublé
Progeny - Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard
The Wheat - Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard
The Battle - Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard
Telephone Line - Electric Light Orchestra
Out of My Heart - BBMak
Track 07 - Evanescence
Head On Collision - New Found Glory
Down In Flames - Relient K
In the Cold - Acceptance
U Make Me Better - Bo Bice
Homesick - Mercy Me

I wanted to have some faster music for the first 3 - 4 miles, then a little Pink Flloyd Dark Side of the Moon to settle into the next 3 miles. Michael Buble is great for the mid point of the race, it is uplifting but not to much so. Then one of my favorites from Gladiator. Bringing in the last 2-3 miles is a great blend of fast and uplifting.

I was hoping to get to test it a bit, but with the back, my running has been limited. I think it will work however because it is the approach I took on my longer runs during training.

I wish I had dropped a little more weight before this date, I am going to have to be more focused over the next few days. Mentally I am ready, physically I will ready.

Later

It is really winter

Well old man winter has finally hit. We have had a week of cold and snow and it would seem that it is going to be around for a while. It has made it difficult to get out and run so I have spent most of my time on the treadmill. The Austin race is less then 4 weeks away and I feel pretty good. I have started to eat right again in hopes of losing a little of the extra pounds before the race. I also just signed up for the ING Half in Atlanta in March. Linda and I have made plans to stay with friends while we are there. It should be great.

The training is going well, I am a little tired of running. After the Austin race, I am going to have to find a new running routine. I am thinking about running with one of the Saturday morning groups. I am also going to add back in a little strength training and stretching, probably YOGA.

The girls are back in school getting settled into their second semester. I am pretty sure they were ready to get back to their friends. The next time we all get back together is in March for our trip to Mexico - by then I am sure we will all be in need of a little sun.

Thought you might enjoy some pics of the winter here in Rochester.
Later

The Countdown Clock

Thought it would be nice to have a countdown clock for the Austin Half Marathon. Only 46 days left - need to really get focused on weight loss and speed. I have figured out how to adjust my training to allow for the extra weeks. This is really going to come at a perfect time. I am quite sure that Linda and I will be ready to get out of the snow (which to date we have had none)

The goal is to drop 10 - 15 pounds in 46 days - should be doable......

Later