Books Read in 2017

"Woodlawn:  One Hope, One Dream, One Way" by Todd Gerelds, Mark Schlabach
"Finding My Road" by Ino Cantu, Thomas Woltz
"And The Walls Came Tumbling Down" by Frank Fitzpatrick
"Behind The Wall To The Boston Marathon 2016" by Bill O'Shields
"Unsportsmanlike Conduct:  College Football and the Politics of Rape" by Jessica Luther
"Living Out Loud:  Sports, Cancer, and the Things Worth Fighting For" by Craig Sager with Craig Sager II and Brian Curtis
"The Baseball Whisperer:  A Small-Town Coach Who Shaped Big League Dreams" by Michael Tackett
"Son of Bum:  Lessons My Dad Taught Me About Football and Life" by Wade Phillips with Vic Carucci
"The Plot To Scapegoat Russia:  How The CIA and the Deep State Have Conspired to Villify Russia" by Dan Kovalik
"Crisis Of Character" by Gary J. Byrne
"Big Data Baseball" by Travis Sawchik
"Coach Wooden And Me:  Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off The Court" by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
"Mighty, Mighty Matadors:  Estacado High School, Integration, and a Championship Season" by Al Pickett

New Restaurants in 2017 - 54

Across The Street Diner, Corsicana, TX (May 27, 2017)
Babe's Chicken Dinner House, Sanger, TX (October 11, 2017)
Bakers Ribs, Inc., Weatherford, TX (April 27, 2017) +
Beer 88, Lynchburg, VA (February 4, 2017) +
Blue Baker, College Station, TX (September 3, 2017)

Bodacious Bar-B-Que, Tyler, TX (August 12, 2017)
Bolivar Street BBQ, Sanger, TX (October 4, 2017)
Bone Daddy's House of Smoke, Denton, TX (November/December 2017)
Burger Time Machine, Denton, TX (July 12, 2017)
Casa Torres Mexican Restaurant, Decatur, TX (July 25, 2017)

Cowboy Chicken, Waxahachie, TX (September 28, 2017)+
Dix Coney Island, Denton, TX (May 24, 2017) +
Dos Chiles Grandes, Bridgeport, TX (July 11, 2017)
El Fenix, Denton, TX (November/December 2017)
Five Boys Ranch, Bridgeport, TX (April 18, 2017) +

Grumps Burgers, Cleburne, TX (May 10, 2017) +
Hamburger Depot, Lumberton, TX (June 19, 2017) +
Home D Pizzeria, State College, PA (June 24, 2017)
Joe's Pizza & Pasta, Decatur, TX (May 3, 2017)
Julio's Mexican Restaurant, Chico, TX (May 23, 2017)

Keller's Newberry Diner, Newberry, PA (June 24, 2017) +
Kincaid's Hamburgers, Weatherford, TX (June 22, 2017) +
Koffee Kup Family Restaurant, Hico, TX (July 22, 2017)
Kroll's Diner, Bismarck, ND (September 16, 2017)
Leeper Creek BBQ, Decatur, TX (September 26, 2017)

Little Frilly's Tex-Mex, Decatur, TX (October 3, 2017)
Luigi's Italian Restaurant, Denton, TX (October 17, 2017)
Lupi's Pizza Pies, Chattanooga, TN (July 8, 2017)
Mama Juanita's Mexican Restaurant, Huntsville, TX (May 29, 2017) +
McKenzie's Barbeque, Huntsville, TX (January 12, 2017)

Meyer's Elgin Smokehouse, Elgin, TX (May 28, 2017) +
Mi Casita Mexican Food, Waco, TX (January 21, 2017)
Mighty Fine Burgers, Round Rock, TX (May 27, 2017) +
MOD Pizza, Spring, TX (October 6, 2017)
MOOHYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes, Denton, TX (August 1, 2017)

O'Charley's, Lynchburg, VA (May 11, 2017)
Old Chicago Pizza and Taproom, Waco, TX (June 1, 2017) +
Oscar's Mexican Restaurant, Abilene, TX (December 27, 2017)
Pancheros Mexican Grill, Bismarck, ND (September 16, 2017)
Pastafina Italian Ristorante, Weatherford, TX (May 31, 2017) +

Plaza Mexican Bar & Grill, Goodlettsville, TN (November 5, 2017)
Ray's Drive In, Lufkin, TX (January 9, 2017) +
Richie's Grill, Hawkins, TX (February 10, 2017)
Rio Mambo, Weatherford, TX (June 21, 2017) +
Rock City Burger Company, Bridgeport, TX (April 26, 2017)

Rooster's Roadhouse, Decatur, TX (June 6, 2017)
Slovacek's, West, TX (May 18, 2017) +
Stillwater Barbecue, Abilene, TX (December 28, 2017)
Sweet Boy's Diner, Bowie, TX (May 16, 2017) +
Verona Pizza & Italian Restaurant, Decatur, TX (Spring 2017)

Village Kitchen Restaurant, Jacksboro, TX (May 17, 2017)
Waverly House Restaraunt, New Waverly, TX (October 28, 2017)
The Woodhouse Restaurant, Bismarck, ND (September 15, 2017)
Yesterday's Diner, Bridgeport, TX (September 20, 2017)

A Good Day; December 10, 2017

I figured it out.

Yes, I figured out what I did today -- sometime between 4 and 7:30 a.m. this morning, that is.

Perhaps my best friend, Bill, was going to the B-CS Marathon in College Station to support the approximately ten runners in his training group that were running the marathon or half marathon.

I always enjoy the time that I get to spend with him.

And was possibly looking forward to hanging out with him earlier today.

Meanwhile, the 30K in Sugar Land is a race that I announced a couple of years for race director Andy Stewart.

I haven't continued just because I didn't have fun as there were a number of impediments - and absolutely nothing negative on Andy - for me doing the things I do well.

The biggest is Sugar Land's noise ordinance and no amplified sound prior to 7 a.m.

There's a rhythm that eminates from making pre-race announcements into the rest of the day and without being able to do that, it takes a lot of the good feel out of the job that I was doing.

I was meeting and exceeding Andy's expectations, but I didn't enjoy the process with the site logistics.

I had a friend that was participating in it and, of course, I knew many people that were running it.

To be in College Station for the 7 a.m. start, I would had to have been up and leaving shortly after 4 a.m.

And the time logistics were similar for the 30K and its 6:30 a.m. start.

As each half hour passed laying in bed, while still needing more sleep to recover from Friday evening and Saturday's adventures, the goals for the day changed.

At about 7:20 a.m., I realized that I could get up, get showered and make it to The Church Project for their 9 a.m. service.

I texted my friend Leanne and asked if she and her husband Jim were going to be there and she affirmed that they were.

I arrived just before the service started and a few minutes later, a mutual friend, Dawn, showed up.

While I have always enjoyed being in church - and sitting - with my family, especially my daughter, there was a different comfort in worshipping God together with my friends.

Even though I have visited there two or three times before, I had never heard their Pastor speak before and his message didn't disappoint.

It was from John 1 and spoke about how darkness is real, being without Jesus is being in darkness and that our entire life is darkness unless we let Jesus into it.

It supported his point that in this Christmas season that we as believers and followers of Jesus Christ have the light that the world needs - and that we need to share it more than we ever have in the past.

Leanne was adamant about me getting to meet their Pastor and I enjoyed the exchange.

They invited me to go to lunch with them at Cilantro's and as always, we had a great visit.  Like Bill, Leanne and Jim are among my very best friends.

I made it home, visited with my daughter for a little bit and then went to a pair of women's college basketball games.

First, I saw East Tennessee State University take on the University of Houston at Texas Southern University's gymnasium as Hofheinz Pavilion is undergoing renovations.

Then I went over to Houston Baptist University to watch them host Huston-Tillotson University, which is located in Austin.

The trip in for ETSU was so that Montgomery HS star Malloree Schurr was able to play in front of family and friends.

That's one of the college basketball traditions that I love.

It was really no contest as UH, which is pretty good this year, easily won a physical 88-69 contest with the Buccaneers.

Over at HBU, the Huskies struggled against Huston-Tillotson, which is a member of the Red River Athletic Conference.  (Prior to returning to NCAA Division I athletics, HBU was an RRAC member.)

Huston-Tillotson held the lead early in the third quarter and then later tied it at 70-all before dropping a 76-72 decision to the Huskies.

I then made stops at Barnes & Noble - to pick up a new book after finishing my most recent purchase, "Coach Wooden And Me:  Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off The Court", written by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - and HEB before making it home.

I had dinner, helped Waverly with some HR forms that she needed to complete (more on that in a week or two) and sat down to punch out the content here.

I'm glad I made it to church.  I need to be there more often.

If you're willing to allow God to feed your soul, it is a place to be fed, spiritually.

What Am I Going To Do Tomorrow?; December 9, 2017

How do you solve the "What do I want to do?" problem?

Or "What makes me happy?" dilemma.

I struggle with these two constantly it seems, but I'm not unhappy or depressed.

It is just that I don't have the same type of drive that others do.

I'm around endurance athletes alot.

I did what I originally set out to do and that was run a marathon.  I'd like to get one more in, but I'm thinking that it might not happen in January.

I can live with that.  I will support my daughter's effort to do her first completely.

I've finished 54.  That's more than some people who would like to finish one have done.

I'm thankful for the resources that I've been given to do those.

But it just doesn't mean anything to me to do an Ironman or qualify for Boston.

I think a large part of it is that in doing some of the things that I enjoy - writing, announcing, promoting others, etc. - my skill set is as strong as there is (when I want to do those things).

Meaning I'm in a higher percentile of those with my same interests.

Again, I'm thankful for those abilities and opportunities to use those skills.

Yet I sit here at 8:30 p.m. and ask myself, "What am I going to do tomorrow?"

Plenty of options, but I can't say that one is going to make me any more happy than the other.

Thus the dilemma.

Today was good.  I ran a 5K last night in La Porte, then drove to Lake Charles before the roads possibly froze (not that there was any precipitation or anything).

I ran the Swamp Stomp Half Marathon.  I ran OK.  I've got some issues I'm trying to figure out.

I was disappointed with the visibility or existence of mile markers on the course.

Never saw three of them before mile 7 (the only one with a sign).

Never saw eight or nine.  Time between seven and 10 seemed acceptable, but 15 minutes between 10 and 11?  I wasn't walking, which would have produced that.

And 2:31 for the last tenth of a mile?  No way.

Drive home was brutal coming across FM 1960 from Atascosita all the way to Cypresswood where I turn to go to my parents.

My grandmother was there.  She's 92 and got cleared to travel after some of her recent health challenges.  It was great to see her.

My cousin and his wife and their two girls were there.

Waverly came over and spent time playing with Aubree and then we had a good dinner at MOD Pizza over here by the house.

I have nothing to complain about.

I have much, much more than many people.

And with everything, I'm really, really thankful.

Weekend Musings; November 20, 2017

Sunday I ran a race that I had been part of its event production team for a very long time.

I left the group in July four days after the annual Fourth of July race it puts on.  It was over a switch of the finisher's item that runners would receive for completing three of its races.

To me, it was bait and switch and I couldn't stand with a microphone in my hand and extol the virtues of the organization with that business behavior.

Secondarily, I didn't know about it ahead of time.

And when I raised the issue of it being "bait and switch" I was told that I "think too much" and that if people wanted refunds they would be granted them.

It was just a cavalier attitude that wasn't consistent with who I am - and the things that I stand for.

I signed up to run with an individual that is a respected leader in our running communities as he moves closer to his 1,000th race finish and 101 half marathons to go with his 101 marathons.

However, he was sick and couldn't make it on race day.

I chuckled, though, five minutes before the start when the race announcer, who had taken my place, was going through all of his accomplishments without even confirming that he had shown up.

Since I was the last one to cross the start line, I knew that some point in the race I would come in contact with an individual that it would be good to have a conversation with.

It came within mile one.

I could have ignored the individual and later claimed that I never saw them.  That, of course, would have been a lie.

I could have just said "Hi!' and kept running.  I thought about this and it probably would have been OK.

I ran up behind and to the right of her and joked about it being bad karma to wear the race giveaways on race day before finishing the race.

Long story short, over the next twelve and a half miles, our discussion covered a lot of ground and it was a good one to have.

I'm glad that I made the effort and I'm thankful of her willingness to share and be friendly - and to forgive me of any errors.

Within the next 24 hours, I cleared the way on my end for communications via Facebook.

They sent me a friend request and I accepted it; however, I pretty much immediately unfollowed.

Am glad they're happy, but there's things that I just don't want to see.

They're "great people", but a particular line was crossed regarding feelings through it all and it isn't one that I can easily come back from.

Back to the race, I started last so as to not attempt to draw any attention to myself, given that I had worked with the team before.

The initial plan was for me to announce right up to the start time of all three races and then run them as this was the year that I turned 50.

I saw numerous people that I knew out on the course.

Really got the biggest kick out of my friend at the first water station near the race's finish.  I always get a hug from her when we see each other.

She's very empathetic to my personal situation, and I appreciate it.

There were some folks that were surprised to see me, including the producing organization's CPA.  He was one of the strongest in saying how much I was missed.

I really appreciated that too.

Obviously, people didn't know the reason why.

Others were like, "Why weren't you announcing today?"

I looked to give my medal to somebody from the team who just comes out and does what needs to get done without any fanfare, but they didn't appear to be there.

I'll have to figure out how to get it to them sometime soon.

And finally, I was appreciative of the individual who walked back to the parking lot with me.

One runner commented on a Facebook post, "It's always good to see you running and not announcing.  I'm glad you left the fun to somebody else."

I responded with, "Even though I announce better than I run, I enjoy putting on a bib as much as you do."

And that's the truth!

Looks like I'll sign up for the 25K on Sunday.

I did, but missed the HARRA discount code in the HARRA weekly e-mail because Houston Masters Sports Association doesn't state on its website that it is where it is going to be.

Again, I'm thankful that I have the money to do these types of things, but it is just a shame that you can't go to the race web site and get an explanation of everything that's needed to know.

It also wasn't explicitly in the Constant Contact mailer that HMSA sent out.

Otherwise, the weekend was pretty good with doing the broadcast with Dan Morgan over the Lone Star Christian Sports Network and the Texas Sports Radio Network of Houston St. Pius X and San Antonio Antonian on Friday night, then announcing the NXN South Regional at Bear Branch Sports Park in The Woodlands on Saturday morning.

Was very thankful for my daughter cooking me dinner Saturday night before Sunday's race and then enjoyed her company for a meal Sunday evening before we went and visited my Mom.

Race Day Reflections: Post Race Ten For Texas

I’m a very fortunate individual and often times, it takes a little time to kind of decompress and take account of the day’s good fortunes.

I didn’t stumble on a pile of money.  No, something much greater actually.

Just a realization of all of the great experiences, opportunities and people that God placed in my path today.

I believe that we let our lives become so busy that we don’t take the opportunity to reflect upon the goodness of life that we sometimes miss in appreciating.

After Waverly and I went to get breakfast at The Egg and I after this morning’s race (Memorial Hermann Ten For Texas in The Woodlands), I came home and napped for a little more than three hours.

It was much needed after a long drive home from Decatur Thursday evening and a busy day of work, preparing to announce today’s race and covering Texas private and parochial high school athletics in the late evening.

However, when I got awake and checked my phone like so many of us do, I saw a post on Facebook from my Mom, who is back in Pennsylvania with my Dad to visit my 92-year-old grandmother, that her brother Fisher had passed away earlier on Saturday afternoon.

As I write, I don’t yet know all of the details, but my Mom is from a family of ten.

Seven of her siblings had passed on before.  Well, one of those seven – Tommy – actually nobody is quite sure because the family hadn’t heard from him in decades.

I share this not from sympathy for me – although my Mom and her family’s relatives would certainly covet your prayers, but rather to explain how we believe.

While I have accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior – something that I don’t share as much as I need to, and have to make an effort to have the personal relationship with Him, at times, I have questions that could best be interpreted as doubts.

Yet, most of those times, my doubts are put to rest when I see events unfold as I did today.

My parents simply went back to Pennsylvania three Wednesdays ago to visit my grandmother.

However, as they were a day or two from leaving to return this past Wednesday, my grandmother’s heart rate had fallen to 40 and while not in distress, she went to the hospital and was admitted.

They put in a pacemaker, but my parents changed their flight to return this coming Wednesday.

During their first two weeks back, my Mom went to see her brother before he passed today.

I believe that God puts us into positions that we can only explain are as a result of His direction in all of our lives.

While my Mom was there for my grandmother, she was able to see her brother what proved to be one last time before he passed – and had she not gone into the hospital she wouldn’t have been able to be back in our family’s hometown when he did.

Earlier today, I spoke with a fellow endurance sports athlete Peter Bardenhagen near the finish line of today’s race.  All of the runners from both the 10-miler and the 5K had left the start line area and were running their races.

It gave us about 20 minutes to carry on a great conversation.

Peter complemented my daughter, Waverly, who when the previously scheduled National Anthem singer didn’t show she stepped up and sang it today so very well.

As I spoke briefly about her, I explained that there was a moment that I realized that Waverly possessed a certain God-given ability to where I had the confidence that she could handle the moment that she did today.

It was of a young woman in our endurance sports community who had a special needs child who passed away more than six years ago before her ninth birthday.

I was friends with that woman at that time and she had asked me to lead her daughter’s memorial service and for Waverly, just a sophomore then, to sing.

I shared with Peter that I saw Waverly step up to the platform in front of a packed chapel of about 300 people, including the young girl’s classmates.

She placed sheet music – on the podium - with notes that had been marked after practicing the song with her Choir Director at Spring High School, as she needed to sing the song in a different key.

And she did so very well, even reaching down – in mid-song – for a tissue (which in the moment I thought she was needing because she became emotional but rather it was) to dab a running nose.

In that moment, I believed that she had a special “it” to be able to handle a pressure situation and perform with such poise.

What I didn’t know is that three years to the day, January 17, 2014, my sister would pass away and Waverly and I would need to perform the same roles in the midst of a storm with our family.

In 2011, we simply believed that God allowed for us to use our talents that He gave to us to comfort and help bring peace to a hurting family and friends, but He was preparing us for a day that we didn’t know soon would come.

It is times like these that we don’t often take the time to give God the glory in those abilities – and opportunities.

Waverly never goes to a race expecting to sing, despite what one race director this year believed.

And, in fact, there have been times – short of a pinch of a situation like today – that she’s either not been interested in singing or she just wasn’t feeling that she could do her best.

I’ve always appreciated her honesty in communicating effectively with me.

Yet we both know, especially with me announcing, that it allows – for a short period of time remaining – for us to share the Gospel in a soft, unobtrusive way with saying, “here to sing our National Anthem, Liberty University graduate Miss Waverly Walk from Spring.”

Many believers know that Liberty University is a Christian university.

Many who do not believe or have not heard the Gospel message may also have never heard of Liberty – and by hearing it today on race day, maybe they’ll see the commercials on TV for the University or Google it online when it crosses their mind.

We have to be willing to be ready to give witness when called upon or put ourselves in a position for God to take and use our effort to reach more for Jesus Christ.

I also had the opportunities to have two meals with my daughter today and we spend this time to reflect and discuss a lot of this – and these types of things.

The one thing that we’re both placed in is situations where people place a lot of trust not just in our abilities, but rather how we handle ourselves.

While, for example, I got paid as part of the race’s budget for the services I provided, The Township staff still places an incredible amount of trust in me to use wisely discern many different situations and to do so extemporaneously. 

I’m honored and humbled by the responsibility and trust placed in me.

Because I don’t have to be micro-managed, and am more than just a voice, it frees the team up to handle other situations.

I think people hear my voice on race day and see one thing, but there’s a lot more to what I do.

I was especially pleased that aside from two situations where The Township needed to ensure that the courses were totally clear, we basically got the races started on time and without major issue.

We had to juggle a little bit during the awards today, but let me provide a little bit of a background.

I certainly understand that athletes want to get their awards and go.

I also appreciated that it got hot today too

All of The Township races have an opportunity for a member of the Board of Directors to be represented.

At Muddy Trails back in April and today at Ten For Texas, it was Director Laura Fillault.

We also had the on-site representative from Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center, Linda Nelson.

While we wanted to get the 5K awards going first, we wanted to make sure that we had a picture opportunity for the sponsor and The Township’s benefit with our 10-Mile overall winners before Laura and Linda departed.

Then we shifted to the 5K awards.  We handled the overall, the masters and the grandmasters and were starting to work our way down the list starting with our most experienced athletes first – and there were 10-year age groups instead of five-year.

We had the timer reprint them, but in the meantime, transitioned over to the 10-Mile awards.

It pays to be able to adjust on the fly, keep things moving and to balance between adequately recognizing the athlete’s accomplishment while letting them get on with their day – especially given the conditions.

As a race announcer, I’m all about making that finish line experience as special as I can be.

However, I have my limits.

When I covered Texas private and parochial high school athletics from 1994-2001, I told myself that if I did anything that I was aware of that a young person got a bigger head from my efforts that I would back down or away.

It is fun to see the effect that recognition has on people, especially in a positive sense.

There was a female athlete today whose spouse gets recognized for his abilities day-in and day-out – and they’re certainly well deserved.

Yet, while she had already picked up her award, she, her husband and their two children stayed just long enough to her name announced.

It was cute, but I got it.  It is good to be recognized for doing well.

Although, some take it a bit too far.

I won’t mention the individual’s name, their gender nor their place, but simply that they asked me – in the moment – to present their position in an accurate and alternate way simply because “it sounds better that way”.

I was stunned.  And didn’t.

In actuality, although I wasn’t thinking on my feet then, I did present it the way that I was asked when the athlete crossed the finish line.

There were so many people that I came into contact with today.

I’m so grateful for those opportunities to interact.

I was especially excited for my daughter to spend time this morning with a couple of teachers who are athletes that were to provide her wisdom – for today – and an ability to call upon – in the immediate future – if she wanted to work in that teacher’s district.

Again, I’m just floored at how well people accept – and trust – my daughter.

I was on-site early this morning – arriving just about 5 a.m.

The first person I saw as I pulled into the Market Street garage before they started to control access to it?  My best friend, Bill Dwyer.

It is always good to interact with Bill as we’re able to help each other relax and get ready for a busy morning, given our different sets of responsibilities.

The final thing that I want to share, if you’re still reading, is in the preparation that The Township put in to today’s race from a safety and security standpoint.

As part of the race team, I was shared the race’s Emergency Response Plan.

All 42 pages.

In the post-Las Vegas world, the team was prepared for everything.

I had a woman get upset with me when I asked her to leave the start line area because she had gotten on the inside of the metal fencing before the start of the Kids’ race.

If she’s running with her child, that was one thing, but she wasn’t.

While not likely, she could have been strapped with explosives.  If she was and I didn’t take action, would I have been able to deal with knowing that I could have done something to stop it?

Honestly, having read the plan before the race, I was cognizant of the risks after waking and before I left my house, but once I got out there and going, I never really thought about the possibilities.

In hindsight though, I might have been one of the first persons that somebody could have picked off as I’m in front of the start line all the time before the start of the race.

So I’m certainly thankful that I’m able to sit here in my chair, write and share my experiences with you.

I try my best not to take any and all of these moments for granted.

Please don’t stop running races in light of the risks associated, but be vigilant in looking out for your safety and of those around you. 

It all can happen in the twinkling of an eye.

Punching It Out; September 13, 2017

I keep saying that I want to write more.

I'll just have to force it out in smaller pieces to make sure that I do it.

Just got done putting 45 minutes on the elliptical machine here at the Hampton Inn in Decatur this evening.

Wanted to make it an even hour as I normally do, but the pepperoni calzone from Verona Pizza was just a bit too filling.

I'm looking forward to running the Bismarck Marathon on Saturday.

I haven't covered 26.2 miles (or more) since last December and I'm not running this race because a woman that I know is running it.  Ha!

The goal was to run the Nebraska State Fair Marathon three weeks ago for a marathon in my 34th state, which would have made me a bit more ready given that I rarely follow any type of conventional training.

Run another marathon to get ready for the next one is how I used to do it.

My weight is up just a little bit, but nothing terrible.

I raced a pair of 10K's this past weekend that were a few seconds faster on both that I had run on the same weekend two years ago.

Call it progress regardless of the size of the time improvement, right?

Going to Bismarck comes at the expense of me not announcing the Toughest 10K Kemah for the first time -- well, since a long time.

There's a specific reason why I walked away, but at the end of the day what I did and do is a luxury to an event.

You can still get a race started on-time, recognize runners and get the awards done efficiently and quickly -- maybe or maybe not that you can get somebody who can do it as well.

At the end of the day, though, the majority of the runners really, really don't care who does that -- as long as it gets done.

My only disappointment is that I won't be involved in the race being the 2018 RRCA National Championship 10K.

It is a designation that I believed was completely achievable by the race production team and that I pushed the race director to bid on.

I'll take credit for that.

As I've said before, I can't work every race - and, quite honestly, I don't know that I want to anymore.

I'm actually enjoying a lightened load.

I turned in my bid for the Memorial Hermann Ten For Texas with The Woodlands Township Parks and Recreation Department this week.

If nothing's changed, it is a race that I am looking forward to doing for the first time ever.

This has come about as a result of the lack of involvement of one of their long-time sponsors.

I think I've also mentioned that I'm getting back involved with Texas private and parochial high school athletics.

In doing so, I just have to be careful how much time I spend on my butt preparing content to the promotion of the sports and the kids that play them.

I saw the headlines of articles about how sitting for prolonged periods of time could increase the risk of death.

The article recommend getting up and moving every 30 minutes.  I pretty much did that today at the office - and intend to stay as active in the future.

Although one item in my life hasn't gone how I had expected it to, I like my life - and I'm thankful for each day God gives me to live it.