Merry Christmas!

He gave up his place with God and made himself nothing.  He was born to be a man and became like a servant. ~Philippians 2:7

BACK IN THE SADDLE

Hopped aboard the magic bus for the first time since IMFL '09 and rode the trainer for an hour.  That's a period of 6-weeks and 5 days!  That's a long time.  The longest I've gone in...I don't know when.  Why did I pick today?  Not sure.  Maybe it was because I was drinking coffee, browsed the movies on hulu and found Prefontaine.  I got inspired.  I also realized I needed to start building back my base.


I rode for an hour and my HR didn't get above 130.  I watched the last hour of the movie on my trainer....I know.  I eventually looked down at my HR monitor and I was at 106 so I stepped it up a little.  Definitely wanted to stay aerobic but that was a little too aerobic.  It felt good to go for my stationary ride.


I also signed up for Memphis in May Olympic tri.  It's in May.  I know.  This year's MiM is a qualifier for the USAT Age Group Nationals held at the end of September in Tuscaloosa.  My goal is to qualify for that. 


I love a goal!

Great Weekend

Just got back from a really fun weekend of hunting and fellowship with my long-time friend Jeff.  I've known the guy since 9th grade and roomed with him in college.  We've been friends every since.  Were in each others weddings.  My oldest, Alex, went with me and he ended up getting a real treat.  More in a smidge.

Jeff lives in the SW corner of Oklahoma, Altus.  It's were I graduated from high school.  Home of the bulldogs!  I digress.

Jeff is a great lover of hunting...he's also very good at it.  The picture below is just a few of the monsters he's taken.

The mounts hang in a cabin Jeff shares with one of his friends.  The two built it together on his friends land.....and it's a lot of land, with a lot of deer roaming.  And other forms of wildlife.  It's beautiful country and excellent for hunting.

 

The cabin's about 1300 sq. ft. with one large living area, two bedrooms and two baths.  Perfect.  That's Jeff on the right and Alex next to him.


We got in Saturday afternoon, hunted that evening and all day Sunday before driving back Monday morning.  It was three hunts total, a lot of good conversations and plenty of food.  Too much, actually.


Anyway, the Sunday evening hunt was adventurous for Alex.  Plenty of deer were in sight but ended up being a little too far to try and take.  But lo and behold another predator came on the scene.  It ended up about 100 yards away and will soon be on the wall.

A beautiful bobcat weighing about 25 pounds with a gorgeous coat.  Alex was thrilled.

O Tannenbaum

The tree went up last night, a little later in the year than normal.  I spent a few days out of town (see post below) so the timing wasn't right.  Certainly the tree can't go up without me around, right?

My job is to bring it in, make sure it's secure in the stand and put the lights on.  I kind of went easy on the lights last year...didn't like it.  So this year I had to make a run to the Christmas tree light store for more.  

I plugged them in and they all worked...WHEW!

Once my job is complete I sit back and watch...my favorite part.  I love to watch the ornaments get unwrapped and listen to the stories being told.  There's a story for every one isn't there?  Good stories.  Stories that cause you to reminisce.  It's a good thing.

O Tannenbaum! 

NY, NY

Spent a little time in NYC this week....pretty fun.

As meetings go it wasn't typical.  Usually at these types of things it wouldn't matter if it was in Paris, New York, San Franciso or Bald Knob, Arkansas...one conference room looks like another which looks like another.

This one was a bit different.  Only because I made it different.  I came in early and stayed late.  I wanted to see the city, at least a little.

It didn't start out great though.  I was scammed by the cabbie to the tune of $$$.  I learned post-scam to never accept a ride from someone who asks...they're not liscensed.

This guy wasn't liscensed...he was nice...just not liscensed.  I took his picture and sent it via text to my wife in case I was abducted.  I wasn't abducted.  He actually took the most direct route to my destination (I know because I google mapped it).  The only thing missing from me was the word "tourist" monogrammed on my back!

I got in around 2pm and the official order of business was a group dinner at 7pm.  So I hit the streets.  I had no idea where I was going, but I hit the streets.

Who passes up 'Five Guys' burgers and fries?  I didn't. 

I did pass up most of the stores...including D&G, Dolce and...something, I forget.   I did take a picture and sent it to my wife.  She was jealous.

I ventured north towards Times Square and Central Park via the subway.  It's a pretty awesome sight when you first see the city at night after walking up to the street from the train...

...even the McDonald's sign has some brilliance to it!

I learned this in short order...you better be ready.  If you're not you'll either get trampled, run over, honked at or verbally scolded in one way or another.  I was definitely a rookie in the subway.  I stood back and watched people buy their tickets from the machine for a few minutes so I knew what to do.  The probably thought I was stalking or something.

I observed this as well....there's a lot of thin people in NYC because they walk everywhere...or take a cab...but they walk a lot.  Notice I said thin, not necessarily healthy because while they're thin, they're all going to die of lung cancer.  I couldn't believe the number of smokers.  Tobacco Road would be proud. 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxvEoaJc-OM&feature=player_embedded

LR Marathon, Part Deux

The time has come!  Training for the Little Rock Marathon has begun.  I've built a training plan and I plan to stick with it....this time.


After my first Ironman (Wisconsin, 2007) I decided to run the Little Rock Marathon.  I figured, why not.  I had already done a lot of running in preparation for the Ironman so that, surely, gave me a jump start on training for just a little old marathon, right?


Well...a funny thing happened on the way to the finish line.  Well, O.K. I'll say it, a lot of time elapsed on the way to the finish line, like 4:42:and change.  My marathon at the Ironman was 4:57:and change.  So the absence of swimming 2.4 miles and biking 112 only netted me 15 minutes.


The truth is I did not train properly for the LR Marathon in 2008.  I disrespected the distance.  I paid the price and got exactly what I deserved.  I will not make that same mistake again.


I'll lay it out right now...my goal for the 2010 LR Marathon is a sub-4.  That's already a stretch goal but, what if I could qualify for Boston?  I'd have to run a 3:30!  Now that's a stretch goal!