Been Too Long

Well, sounds weird, but I've deliberately avoiding the blog. In some small way, I feel like I am narrating my life, while keeping everyone up to date. Not that people care, but I also like to look back in time to see what my thought were as things happened.

I've been avoiding this, because I had to reveal that I lost my job recently. I really didn't tell anyone because I hate the look people give you, and I hate that every conversation thereafter begins with, "so how's the job search?" I know people are asking because they are concerned, but when it is going bad, you get taken down a notch every time they ask. If you get asked multiple times, that's multiple notches, and I like the notch I'm on now and would prefer to get to a previous notch up not the other way.

Before you clowns all call and ask, I am working now and have been for a couple weeks. I took a contract job. It pays OK, but there may or may not be long term opportunity. I'm working on a big project (several hundred million $$$$$). If it goes well, there will most likely be opportunity, especially to those that contributed. If not, then I will probably be let got.

Other Stuff:

Emily had her first ER visit this weekend. That is a horrible experience. Carrie and I talked and strangely, the 7 hour visit didn't seem that long. Clearly the hard part is watching your baby hurt. Turns out that she had a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI). I'm told that this is not uncommon amongst girls. I've never had one, so I don't have any perspective on the discomfort, but I can't imagine that it isn't fun.

I'll post about the whole ordeal once it is over. Today, she is still upset and doesn't stray too far from mom.

Helmets Continued

Shortly after my fall, I took about two minutes to figure out where I was. I don't think that I was fully concussed, but my bell was definitely rung. Then, I jumped back on the bike and continued. Every few minutes, the whole crew would stop and make sure that everyone was still on track. When they saw me, they had quite a laugh.

In all, the trail is about 10 miles. I made it five miles in and our group of seven turned into a group of four. Three others turned around early. About half way back to the start, I look down to see that my front tire was flat, and it was starting to get dark. Great!

I walked it in and took some more clever insults from my buddies. All this said, I think I am going back in two weeks. With a helmet.

Once I got home, my ear was in need of cleaning. I jumped into the shower and rinsed off as much as I could. Then I asked Carrie to clean my ear with peroxide. She did a great job, but there was one area she didn't clean. A small chunk of my ear had dirt underneath it. She just couldn't do it. By the way, I hope you don't have to feel the pain of someone rubbing a Q-Tip on a messed up ear...it hurts.

Then, I had to call my mom. Mom can do anything. She came over with a whole kit of first aid supplies. She laid me down on the couch and went to work. She pulled back the chunk of my ear and cleaned inside. By the way, that hurts. All this said, I am very thankful to have friends that think enough of me to invite me mountain biking. I am thankful for a wife that watched my baby and let me go, and did as much first aid as she could handle. Finally, I am thankful that my mom drops everything to come over at 9:00 at night to fix me up.

Helmets Are For Wimps

Tonight some friends from work invited me out to go mountain biking. I've never been mountain biking, but it sounded fun. By the way, I haven't been on my bicycle in around 10 years. Again, sounds like fun. Riding a bike is like, well, riding a bike.

As we all meet up at the trails, I notice that everyone has two things that I don't. Helmets and water. I understand the water, and I just forgot. Next time I will surely bring a water bottle. I grew up riding bikes. My brother and I probably logged 1000 miles on our bikes as children. Mom and dad would give us a ride to some places but the majority of our travel to school, the pool, the park, or to friends houses was on our bikes. All of this riding, and I never wore a helmet. Helmets are for wimps. Also, I consider myself a bicycle expert - mostly based on my experience as a child.

The trail started kinda rough. It took me a while to get used to the gears and the braking, but I quickly got into form. There are a couple of accomplished riders and they take off and get way ahead of us. I settled into the middle of the pack. I wasn't the slowest nor the fastest. About 10 minutes into the ride, DK, the guy that organized this ride, wiped out right in front of me. I made sure he was OK, then I pointed and laughed. Apparently, when mountain biking, wipeouts are very common. We stopped and (they) got some water. We chatted and laughed at DK for a moment, then took off again.

Right when we took off, there was a giant downhill slope that was all gravel. The slope was so steep that I had to lean back in my seat and ride low to avoid flipping over the handle bars and I zoomed up the other side. All of the fast riders were on top of the hill to see who had the guts to attempt to ride down this hill. This guy did!

A couple minutes later, there was another steep hill and I again zoomed down it...no problem. Then with all of my accumulated speed, I climbed up the other side...problem. Right at the top of the incline, there was a large tree root, so I was just going to jump it! Well, that didn't happen. My front tire hit the root and stopped. Problem is, I was still moving. I flipped over my handle bars. When you ride, most of your upper body weight is on your hands, so when you flip over, your hands are under you and there is nothing to break the fall. Well, nothing except the top your head. The first part of my body to hit the ground was my head, just over my right eyebrow. Then my right knee, right shoulder and finally right ear. That's right, my right ear:




Be sure to check out the ol' blog tomorrow to read the rest.

Father's Day

As Father's Day approaches, I took a second to reflect on being a dad.

I know it is impossible to believe, but there was a time in my life when I wasn't the best athlete around. My freshman year of high school, I went out for the freshman basketball team at Southwest High School. I made the B team. The B team is for the the 13th-24th best players. Unfortunately, the B team only plays a few games each season. After our B season, ended, I was good enough to be called up the to show! I was put on the A team. (not he cool one with the van). My dad went to every game. (back info, my Dad hates basketball). While on the A team, I never got to play. Literally, there was a stretch of several games that I never played a minute but my dad was always in the stands.

One time I told my dad not to come to the game that night. The game was an hour away and I hadn't been playing. I remember it like it was yesterday, he told me that he was going to be at every game because he wouldn't miss me getting on the floor. Well, that night, I didn't get a chance to play and my dad was up in the stands. He paid the two bucks to enter the gym, drove an hour away and watched me sit on the bench hoping to play, but he was there. By the end of my freshman year, I played a few games and became a capable backup post player, and he was there.

Just to feed my ego, I want to tell you that I worked my way to a starter by the end of my sophmore year on the JV team at Southwest then ultimately made the all district team at Crowley High.

Whenever I think back at all the thousands of things my dad did for me, the top of the list is always his attendance to a sport that he doesn't like, to watch me sit on the bench just in case I got a chance to play. I know that no matter what Emily does for fun, I won't miss a game, match or meet. Let's just hope she plays a sport that I understand. Swimming, Volleyball, or Basketball.

Thanks Dad,

BW

Growing

We're in Trouble

Saturday night, I got to see a old buddy. You know, the kind you don't see for two years, but when you do, it was like only a day or two had passed.

Before I go, I had to stop by the gas station and gas up. While in line to pay, the lady in front of me was asking the cashier for some cigarettes. First about her. Short, young, and overweight. The cashier carded her for cigarettes, so she looked like a late teenager maybe young twenties. Her order: Marlboro Reds, two boxes. After getting her ID back, she slides her credit card in the machine and it gets rejected. She acted like there was something wrong with the machine and tried again. Rejected again. She looks at the cashier as he shrugs his shoulders. Then she grabs a second card! Swipes and and shocker...rejected. So she tries it again and again it was rejected. Then she leaves with her smokes still on the checkout counter.

In this day of healthcare debate and taxes on the rich and such, I learned a lesson from this girl. You can't fix stupid! If you have zero dollars in your account and are over you credit limit, do you need to be spending $11 on cigarettes at a convenience store? Let's break it down.

1. She's overweight, clearly she was not taking care of herself physically. Especially considering her age. Are you ever going to have more free time to exercise than you do at that age, and is it ever easier?

2. She's a smoker. Probably not helping item #1 by the way. I don't really have an issue with people that smoke as long as it isn't around me. I think it is nasty, but don't we all have a habit that someone else thinks is nasty? I wonder if she read the warnings on the side? Isn't that the solution to our healthcare problem...warning labels?

3. She's out of money. Not only is she out of money, she is clearly living on credit cards and credit card debt. If she was to shred those cards and live on cash, she'd know that she was out of money. More concerning is that I'm sure she knew that she was low on money, yet she had $11 to spend on smokes. Not milk, or bread or diapers or soup, but smokes! So, she is mounting debt and wasting money.

4. She is shopping at a convenience store. About a quarter mile away is a giant Wal Mart (with significantly lower prices), yet she chose the most expensive place to shop. Maybe this feeds into #3. I've never priced cigarettes, but I'd be willing to bet they are much cheaper at Wal Mart than Shell. Any bets?

What I quickly realized is that this girl is most likely in poor health (or soon will be) and has no money...HELLO HEALTHCARE, and HELLO TAXES! There are tons of people out there who make responsible decisions that just need a little help, but this girl just feeds my cynicism. How can I gladly pay my taxes, when I know people like her are taking them to buy smokes at Shell? Maybe she does deserve healthcare, but what if her health problems are self imposed? Should I have to ante up for that?

Maybe in my land of rainbows and unicorns, she left the Shell and said, "what am I doing?" Shortly after that, she threw away all her cigarettes and lighters and such. Then she used the money once wasted on smokes at Shell and started paying down her credit card debt. She also started walking 2 miles 4 times/week. Two years later, she was down 35 lbs. and paid off, then shredded her credit cards. Good For Her!

You write the end of this story...I want to, but don't believe my ending.

I'm Right! You're Wrong!

I was listening to two people argue over some political stuff (we've all done it). Then I realized that nothing ever gets accomplished in these arguments. Just to make the point, find someone with an opposing viewpoint on abortion. Now I have heard lots of people argue opposing sides of this subject many times, and after the first such argument, I have never heard a new thought. Yeah, it's still the woman's body, and yeah, it's a living thing. Then why do we argue these things. Have you ever known anyone to say, "wait, you're right, abortion is wrong! I am against it now." No, nobody has ever changed their viewpoint..at least not based on your thoughts (things can happen in their own life that alters their beliefs).

One day I was watch that silly new show, The Marriage Ref. It is dumb show that will be quickly cancelled, but it does have an interesting idea. Choose a winner! So I decided to make some rules to decide how to pick a winner of an argument. Here is how to determine the winner:

1. Once it gets to name calling...you lose. Here are some common examples. "you're an idiot", "racist", "loser", etc. At this point it is no longer about the issue, and you've clearly made it personal...you lose.

2. If you tell someone to put their mouth on part of your body. "Eat this ", "kiss that..." for example. Once it gets here, you've ran out of good points.

3. Finally, if it gets to cussing and/or screaming. Pretty self explanatory.

Here are some fun topics to try this out on: Abortion, Death Penalty, Health Care, Religion, Israel vs. Middle East, the bailout, Gay Rights, Welfare, and there are many, many more. Enjoy!

Just Close Your Eyes!

Lately, Emily has been either sleeping great or not at all. Just once, I'd like to crawl in her little head to figure out why she does what she does sometimes. Why does she put everything in her mouth? Yesterday, we couldn't get her to open her mouth for food, but I was playing with her outside and she put a bunch of dirt in her mouth. Why?

Saturday night, she started crying around 11:00 or so. Normally, we let her cry for 5-10 minutes to see if she will put herself back to sleep. About 75% of the time, this works and she will cry for a minute, then fall back asleep. Well, Saturday was the "other" 25%. Once she gets a good cry going, it is hard to listen to. She sounds like she is in such pain. Like she was sleeping on a bed of fire ants.

I walked into her her room and she was rolling around in her bed just screaming. I picked her up and held her to my chest to comfort her. Most of the time, she'll quickly calm down as she is being held. Most of the time... This night was different. As I held her, she would kick me and push herself away from me with her legs and scream. Then, I would move her legs and pull her in again, but she would push with her arms and legs (trying to get free?) I never could get her under control and had to call in the big guns. Carrie. For whatever reason, when Emily gets completely out of control, only mom can soothe her. So I bring her to Carrie and a few minutes later, Emily is asleep.

Now I can't sleep. I am a bit upset that I'm not what she wants. I understand that babies always have a natural bond with mom, but I want some of that too. As my mind wonders, I think to myself:

"The sad part of all of this, is when she is older, she won't realize the sacrifice of time, money and sleep. She will be upset with me because I told her to change her clothes to something more appropriate. She will be upset because her curfew isn't where she wants it. I just wish that I could video all of these moments when we are up late on a Saturday night and all we want to do is calm her down and let her sleep peacefully. Let me record Carrie changing her sheets at 4:00 in the morning because she threw up in her bed. Fact is, we will never get full credit for these moments, nor should be expect credit. We aren't raising this girl for credit."

Then I got a backfire....Do I appreciate my parents enough, because they did these same things for me. Having a kid gives you perspective on a lot of things, but strangely, I got perspective on sacrifices made 36 years ago through a 7 month old baby. Thanks Mom, Thanks Dad.

OH NO!

As I hold baby Emily, I catch a whiff of unpleasantness. Carrie won't be home for at least 30 mintues, so I guess I'm on my own on this one. She is in a very good mood, so this shouldn't take but a second.

I pick her up and set her on her changing table, a small dresser about 3 feet high with a changing pillow on top of it, and all of her gear in a basket (wipes, diapers, powder, etc.) I pull off her shoes and pants and see that we have a "problem." Seems that Emily scored a victory over Mr. Pampers, and consequently over Mr. Onsie too. I realize now that I am going to have to strip her down and change all of her clothes. So I get the messy diaper off, and reach for the wipes....none left.

What do you do, when you have a half naked baby with poop all over the place and no wipes? Well, the wipes are in the closet about 5 feet away...do you see a bad idea forming in my head? I take one giant step toward the closet and grab the wipes and return to the table....wrong box. This box of wipes has clothes that she has outgrown. So I again take one giant step toward the closet locate the wip....OH NO, the baby rolling off the changing table!

I dove across the room and reached her just as she hit the floor. I was able to catch "most" of her, but she still took a bump. Did she break anything? Does she have a concussion? Is she breathing? All of this worry creeps up on me. Luckily, I caught enough of her that there wasn't even a bruise. She cried for about 30 seconds, probably more from my reaction than the fall. If I didn't feel bad enough, now I have poop all over me, her and the floor. I finally got everything cleaned up and she quickly returned to a very happy baby. As for me, I just want to apologize to her and have her say, "no big deal, I'm good."

As a parent, you are not allowed an off day or even an off second. I can only imagine what happens when they start walking.

All kinds of stuff

I guess this is my blog and I can post whatever I want. If you don't like it, then you can just be wrong.

1. Carrie turned in her two week notice this week and will go to part time starting the middle of April. I know that it will make things easier on her and ultimately will be better for Emily. I am just amazed at the pink mafia. There are tons of "good for you" and "it's best" type comments. Exactly how do they know? If I was to announce that I was quitting my job to take care of the kid, I can guarantee there would be lots of raised eyebrows. Why the double standard?

2. I realized this week that nothing is more polarizing that politics! I read through several arguments of people for/against the healthcare bill. One thing that I read a lot is that it is the "right thing to do", and that it "only affects the rich".

I believe that it is hard to take a moral stand for something that costs you nothing. The true beauty of giving is the sacrifice. If you will remember, David was going to create an alter to God and a man wanted to donate the land to David and the wood and supplies too. David refuesed and said, "[I will not] offer burn offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing" (2 Samuel 24:24)


If you truly believe that it is "the right thing to do" then how much are YOU willing to pay? If the answer is zero, then the double standard is revealed. If it is right, then you should willingly give! If you believe that the right thing to do is to give blood, yet you have never given, how much should I listen? If you believe it is right to give money to those without healthcare and you haven't given to these people, how much should I listen?

This is one thing that I struggle with. I know that I should be compassionate. I know that I should help others, and I know that I don't do enough. Truth is, we are ALL rich! If you are reading this on a computer or cell phone, then you are rich! (just ask the people in Haiti) It is just more comfortable to say "the rich" and define them as people who make more than me, fact is, I got a house, two cars, a computer, two TVs....I got more than most and chances are so do you. Should I give willingly, or should I wait for government legislation forcing me to give, or even better, shoud I support a bill that forces others to give! Even better?

3. One more healthcare bill note. Part of the bill will require all restaurant with more than 20 locations to print the calorie count on the menu, because this will improve healthy eating....hmmmmm. How did this work for warnings on cigarettes? How did this work for warning on beer/alcohol? Fact is, government can't save us from us. People are lazy and cheeseburgers are easy. By now, if you don't know that a bacon cheeseburger is bad for you, you got bigger issues. Of course it is, but I can drive through and get one and it tastes good.

I would love to know your thoughts on these things. If you have intelligent, well thought out comments, feel free to leave them. (remember, ignorance will be censored!)

March Madness

It's been a few weeks since the marathon and I've told the story of my run to dozens of people now. Most people agree that finishing a marathon is a monumental feat and the time doesn't matter. I agree....for other people. Had I been able to jog the whole thing or been able to give it my all, I would be happy, but I was hindered by something that I have never had to face. Cramps and dehydration ruled my run, not fatigue. Therefore, I am getting ready for another marathon. Not sure when or where, but I gotta do one to satisfy myself.

Since the marathon, I have been sick three separate times, so training has been slow, plus we got snow...again. Exactly how does this global warmining thing work? Hopefully, I'll be able to kick this last bout and get out running again soon. I know Banjo is getting stir crazy in this house, she needs to run!

Emily is growing a developing. She has started to crawl which isn't a good of a thing as I thought. It just means that we have to keep an closer eye on her now. She can get from one end of hte room to the other in a hurry. Hope everyone is doing good. I'll try to write more again soon.

Done!

The last stretch of the marathon seemed to be the easiest. AP rejoined me to go across the line. There was the final left turn, then you could see hundreds of people on both sides of the street cheering, laughing, and enjoying a perfect day. AP points out Carrie and Emily. They wave, smile and take pictures. By now, my legs are on fire and I've been trying to run on my heels so my calf would stay stretched. (notice the picture. You can tell I am running funny to accommodate my calf.)

When the finish line was visible, you could see the crowd, you could see the large balloon arch, and you could see the finish line. At that point, I really felt like I was going to cry. I don't know if it was from the physical pain, or the emotional joy, or countless things in between. Because I am too proud, I held back and made a mean face, because I am a MAN. Maybe I'll punch a wall later!

I crossed the line, the announcer said my name and I FINISHED! Just as I crossed, a nice lady says congratulations and puts a medal over my head. Carrie and crew came over, congratulated AP and me as we all walked to get free stuff. As a finisher, I got a nice shirt, and a bag of samples and stuff. AP tried to get me to go to the medical tent to get an IV of fluids, but again I am too proud. I've earned this pain and I've earned this hurt.

Notice the picture, not a drop of sweat on me, AP is wet and shiny, I'm dry as a bone! I finished a marathon. I was good enough to realize that I can do it, but bad enough where I gotta do another and keep it together.

Random Marathon Things:

* There are hundreds of volunteers that make this race possible. People handing out water, people handing out medals, and countless other that help you through all 26.2

* There are dozens of people along the route that are just well wishers. Not associated with the marathon, but people who live along the route that root for and encourage everyone.

* Running with a partner is the best thing you can do to run a marathon

* Running with a partner is the worst thing you can do to run a marathon

* Having family and friends to support me is the only way I could have realistically made it. A friendly face along the way is better than a strong wind at your back (but I would prefer both)

* There is no chance that the weather could ever be that perfect on race day.

* If you ever run one, wear the shirt the next day. I got a couple of extra, "congrats" at lunch and at the grocery store on Sunday.

* I'm not sure I whether I would have finished without AP, but either way, I was glad to have him. He was both a coach and a friend on the course. He served our country in Iraq, so he was already a hero to us all, but he was my personal hero Saturday.

If anyone is in the mood to run one, I can't encourage you enough. Provided you do the training and have realistic goals for yourself, it is a life goal that can be crossed off and never taken away. I feel like a boxer that got beat up for 12 rounds, but got hooked on the sport! I'm running again tomorrow...6 miles. Wanna run?

Miles 20-26.0

AP and I said goodbye to the wives and my sister and headed north to the finish line. This stretch included some really pretty parks. Almost all of the run was along blacktop or concrete, but there was a stretch along a paved trail in a park. Luckily, there was not very many people running with us because the path was narrow and there was a dropoff to get around people.

At this point AP looks over at me and says, "Brad, you're not sweating anymore." For those of you who have played sports with me know that nobody sweats like I do. I rubbed my forehead and it was like sandpaper with salt, but very dry. Also at this time, I started seeing spots. When I would look at something white or shiny (like a street sign), the image of it would last for several seconds like I had image burn in. I'm not doctor, but that can't be good.

I feel like the spots were a result of low blood sugar. I ate a light pasta dinner Friday night and skipped breakfast that morning. This stretch is around 12:30-1:15, so I had gone 18 hours with no food other than jellybeans and GU. Maybe the decision to not eat was a bad one. I was so scared of an ugly "bathroom" incident that I wanted a clean system before I ran.

Clearly the lack of sweating was a result of dehydration. I just couldn't replace fluids at the rate I was losing them. I drank 1-3 cups of water at every water station (and there were about 20), but clearly I need more. There is one more common issue that accompanies dehydration....cramping. Suddenly, I start hopping on my left leg as my right calf clenches up. At one point, I don't stretch out the cramp just to show AP, there was a deep "hole" in my calf from the back of my knee down to my upper Achilles area where the muscle just tensed up. For the rest of the race, I could no longer jog more than 60 seconds without stretching my right calf.

In all my days swimming, playing basketball, volleyball, and all my training runs, I've never had a cramp...ever. I proudly stated that I never stretch, because I never needed too. Well, leg cramps are for real! So now I am trying to run more on my heels to force stretching as I run. Sadly, I couldn't enjoy the downhill part of the race. When running downhill, you don't stretch your calf, because the slope reduces the stretch, so I cramped up more during the "easy" part.

Meanwhile, I am trying to stretch every 60 seconds, and AP is really wanting to go. He is still staying with me. I can only imagine how frustrated I would be with someone if I was being slowed by them to this extent, but he wouldn't desert me. I must have said it 10 times, "just go ahead, I'll be OK." - I lied. By now, I was carrying a Gatorade bottle that we would fill up at every water station, but I was too hobbled to carry it, so AP was carrying it for me. If you carry a half full bottle, the water sloshes and makes it twice as heavy. Not usually a big deal, unless you are 23 miles into a run.

Finally, AP and I limp past the 25 mile mark, 1.2 miles to go and he finally takes off without me. I was fine on my own. At this point, we we in downtown and you could see the crowds start to cheer for you. Then I get to the 26th mile. 0.2 miles left.

The last .2 miles and post race next....

Miles 13.1-20

It's all down hill from here.....

Even though 13.1 is the technical half way point, we are still heading south. Right at mile 13.5, I look ahead and see a nasty hill. I know you think it may be topographically impossible, but these 7 miles were all uphill, even though we crossed the turn around point. To me, the half way point is when you start moving toward the finish line this is the "turn around point." - about mile 17.5. Mile 13.5 and mile 20 are the same point, as you loop back. It is also very depressing to see people run past you. Those guys are 6.5 miles ahead of me!

After mile 17.5, we are heading back to the finish line. At this point, I am only running every other minute. I would jog 60 seconds then walk 60 seconds. Somewhere prior to hitting the TCU campus, we saw a bunch of frat boys handing out tiny cans of beer. What kind of idiot would drink a beer while running a marathon? So I grabbed one! AP told me that it was a horrible idea, but I couldn't' pass up the comedy of the situation. I'm running 26.2 miles and toward the end, I thought how funny it would be to blog that I drank an 8 oz beer. I managed a swallow, maybe two before I realized that AP was right...horrible idea. Not only does it not satisfy your thirst, the carbonation blows up in your stomach. I am now tired, sore, hot, sweaty, and am either going to burp or throw up! Luckily, I was able to burp out all of that air and then I quickly tossed the beer out. Actually, AP carefully placed the beer on one of the cones that guarded us from traffic.

Comedy aside, I'm really deteriorating. Toward the end of this stretch, I have surpassed my longest training run, and I can tell. I'm really starting to break down. AP is a rock, he is encouraging me and all but carrying me to each mile as I beg him to "just go on, I'll be OK"

As we approach mile 20 we see the Carrie and Emily again. This time the AP and Brad posse has grown by 2, AP's wife, and my sister. Apparently, there was some fun at my expense. My sister reminded me that I said, "I really don't you understand just how bad I feel." - not a typo.

Miles 20-26 coming soon.

Miles 6-13.1

Shortly after mile 8 all of the half marathoners peeled off and the field got very thin. AP and I said so long to our third running partner and we headed further south while he got to turn back north.

At mile nine, I was able to muster the first smile I had in a while. Carrie was on the side of the road holding Emily high on her shoulders. As I approached, Emily was wearing a shirt that said, "Run Daddy Run" - Love, Emily. (how great is my wife, I didn't know she had a sweatshirt made)

Carrie provided us with some Gatorade, jellybeans and some Gu (runners gel). What a welcome site. To be running next to a sweaty man, chasing mostly sweaty men and a few sweaty women, I got to see my wife and baby. That really provided us with a spark. Our pace has slowed at this point, but we are still moving at a decent pace. At 13.1 miles, our time was 2:25 (still on pace!)

Between mile 10-13 something happened. I didn't see him, but I'm pretty sure someone tackled me, and beat the heck out of me. I started getting sore, tired and sick. AP is a warrior and wanted to go, but I was melting down quickly. Without him, I really could have quit at the half way point, but he kept me going.

2nd half updates to come.

Marathon morning through mile 6

Saturday morning started early for me. I woke up around 5:00 because I wanted to make sure that I didn't forget anything, even though I set everything out the night before from socks to IPOD.

I met AP downtown and we got in line. There is an enormous amount of people in line for the start. They put everyone in corals, which means slow people in the back. We were in the back! After the national anthem, I could see that people were starting to go, but it would be 6-7 minutes before we crossed the start line.

Our plan was to average 11:00 minute miles and finish under 5 hours. The first 6 miles were easy. AP was like a robot. Right, left, repeat. He set the initial pace a steady 10:20/mile (oops). The weather was perfect, there was a slight breeze and plenty of sun. This first quarter of the race was generally shoulder to shoulder people. There was never a time when you couldn't reach out and touch 4-5 other runners.

By the time we reached the 6 mile mark, everything is going smooth, we are going to dominate this race and beat our goals! (miles 7-13 tomorrow).

The Day Before

Well, tomorrow is the 2010 Cowtown Marathon! People keep asking me, "are you ready?" I think I am. I went outside a minute ago because I left something in the truck and I wanted to just take off and run. I think it crawls in your head! I ran so much in training and the last week, I've done almost nothing in order to rest my legs. I'm ready!

This is why I have the best wife ever. I'm going to describe the night of our 3rd anniversary....About right now, my mom is deciding if she wants to read on! Carrie has been sick for a few days, not time to call the hospital sick, but congested, sneezing runny nose sick. This started Wednesday (our anniversary). We knew we weren't going to go out and stay out late for our anniversary because we got some time together last weekend. I knew I had the best wife ever, when she said, "I am going to sleep in the guest bedroom so I don't get you sick before your big run." How awesome is that? Or maybe she just wanted to get rid of me for a few nights?? I am going to believe that she did it "for" me, not "because" of me. The last thing I need before a big run is to get congested.

I will post how the run goes next week.

Feb. 24

Today is our 3rd anniversary. This year has given me a daughter, I still have a job, my family is a year older, but still in tact, and my wife is a year better. There is a lot to be thankful for. Three years is a relatively small percentage of my life (8%), but I can't really remember how I got along without Carrie, and now Emily. Below is what I wrote last year, I don't know if I can improve on these thoughts, so I decided to keep them here as an archive. Who knows maybe next year, I'll copy it again.

Today is our 2nd anniversary. Where does the time go? I can clearly remember my friends and family nagging me about, "When are you going to settle down?" This question haunts single people once the turn about 20 or so. I was single until I was 33 so I got to hear it over and over and over (repeat). The answer is simple...now. I was single for 33 years because I had not met Carrie! God allowed me to wait a while before we met, but it was the most worthwile wait of my life.

Yes, two years ago today, Carrie, a few friends and family and I were on the beach in South Padre Island, TX. It was a warm windy day and we got married on a grassy lawn overlooking the beach and the crashing waves....and the bulldozers. I really feel like a small ceremony with a few close friends is the way to go. I wouldn't change anything about that day, except, I would have loved to have had the opportunity to meet Carrie's dad and have him walk her down the isle, but Billy (Carrie's brother) filled in and everything was perfect.

Looking back, I know that I married the perfect girl, not perfect, but perfect for me. Nobody ever fully appreciates the things in their life until they are gone, so I hope I can stop and appreciate her today!

Stuff and Things

I thought I would scatter shoot a few things today:

1. We got 12 inches of snow last weekend! In my life, I've never seen so much snow, and it was the good stuff. Not too dry where it wouldn't stick together for a snowball or a snow man, but not too wet where you could do damage with the snowball. Right now there are people who are rolling their eyes (12 inches hmmph). I am amazed by these people. Ok, you get more snow, that doesn't diminish our fun in the snow. These are the same people that dismiss your broken finger by telling you that they broke their arm. You know, the one uppers! Screw you, I got 12 inches of snow, it was a lot, and I had fun in it. I don't care that you got 2 feet.

2. We lost power during the snow storm too. I feel like Carrie and I could have toughed it out with no heat, but we had a baby with us and we were willing to keep her in the cold. A good friend opened up his house to two adults, one baby and a dog. When you look back, that's a big favor to ask. Thanks K, you were a good friend!

3. Why do we still have Olympic events that rely on 100% judging. It seems that every Olympics there is a judge who gets paid off, or you have the Eastern Bloc voting, etc. I am calling for the immediate end to all events that rely 100% on some "expert" judging who gets the gold and who gets the silver. Before you go nuts and cry foul, we can figure it out. Skating will just have certain mandatory jumps or twists that have to be done in some sort of order and if so, they get the points, maybe we could set up a few hurdles out there and they would have to jump and spin over and around them. There is a way that we could do it. I just don't like that we rely on human integrity to judge. When you are based solely on the human interpretation, you are way to vulnerable to cheating and inconsistency, at least put some objective measures in. Sorry, synchronized swimming, you are out!

4. Finally, remember the Duke Lacrosse rape case a few years back. You see this poor young pretty black girl accusing these rich, privileged, white guys of rape. Come to find out that it never happened, only after "the public" ruined the reputation of a bunch of young men, coaches and the school. Well, I remember clearly Jesse Jackson and several other civil rights leaders grandstanding on her behalf. Well, she needs your help again now, Jesse. It seems that she threatened and tried to kill someone! She was charged with 1st degree attempted murder, Arson, Assault and battery and a couple more. My guess is that civil rights guys will stay away from this one. She served her purpose for them already!

Point Of No Return

As you may or may not know, I try to be careful with my money. I have a hard time commiting to anything that is expensive. It takes me months to purchase a vehicle or upgrade the house. I always think, "do I really need this now?" Two weeks ago, I went into Sheplers with the intentions of getting some new boots. I tried some on, walked around in them to see how they fit, then I looked at Carrie and said my old boots are good enough. Maybe I can make it through the spring with them.

All that said, I finally plunked down $100 to run the Ft. Worth Cowtown Marathon. That officially means that I am in. I've been verbally commited for a while, but I can always wiggle out of a verbal comitment (see White Rock Marathon).

I'll keep an update of progress. So far, my longest run ever, was Saturday at 17 miles 2/3 of a marathon.

what a day

This morning, 3:00 Emily decided that she no longer wanted to be asleep and she wanted Carrie and me to join here amongst the awake. Some days she does so good sleeping and some days, not so much. Then, on the way to work, this idiot hits me on I-35.

Why is it that 95% of drivers see the 4 signs that say "lane ending merge right" and yet there are a few who zoom past everyone until the very last second and expect to cut right into traffic. Well, today, Mr. C cut it a little too tight and hit me. Then he was so conviced that it was my fault for not rolling out a red carpet for him to cut me off that he summoned the police. No injuries, very very little damage to the vehicles yet he calls our the police like they don't have better stuff to do. Sorry little old lady reporting a break in, Mr. C wants to report that his Accord got a minor scratch on it while crossing the yellow line and cutting someone off. My truck got a 1 inch scratch in the bumper (the part that wraps around the side next to the wheel). I was perfectly willing to drive off and say, "whatever" Now I have police reports and insurance paperwork. I believe that 1 in scratch will need to be fixed at the body shop! Can't have a scratch on a truck!

I always get really disturbed by people that think their time is more important. Anytime someone cuts in line, all they are saying is that their time is more important than everyone else in line. If someone zooms ahead of 10 cars in a closing lane, he is just saying that his time is more important than the 10 other cars. Then to call the police is to say that his time is more important than the policemen's time. "Whatever your doing, stop and help me address the scratch on my Honda!!"

I try to not let things get to me, but man people love to push those buttons. Imagine my joy to learn that my insurance, thus far, as paid $0.00 toward the birth of Emily. More to come on that nonsense. I can only handle one thing at a time and this grand canyon sized 1 in. scratch is first!