All in all, a really good trip to Los Angeles this weekend.
After the long 10K Saturday morning, I got the opportunity to take in two more college basketball games -- and another 10K on Sunday.
Everything about my trip was really predicated based on the hotel I selected, where I got a pretty good rate given the Los Angeles market.
The Friday night basketball game at the Galen Center was close enough -- 8-10 miles -- that I didn't have to get up on one of L.A.'s busy freeways while people were trying to get home from work.
The race Saturday morning was no more than 15-20 minutes away as well Saturday afternoon's basketball game at Loyola Marymount University.
Before the LMU game, I went to downtown Los Angeles -- not too far northeast from the Galen Center -- to register for Sunday morning's Run For Rememberance 10K.
I went east all the way on Slauson Avenue and then went north on Broadway, which put me right in the middle of L.A.'s barrio.
Some of it reminded me much of being in El Paso last October when I was very close to the border with Mexico.
Thing is: I never felt unsafe. However, when you travel in a major city, anywhere, you learn to be very, very aware of your surroundings at all times.
Packet pickup was at the Millenium Wilshire Hotel, just off of 5th Street. Surprisingly, I was able to park in an underground garage, go in and register (paying cash) and be back out on the roads en route to Loyola Marymount in about a half hour.
I arrived at LMU about an hour before game time and had the chance to walk around campus a bit. Smaller campus, but beautiful no less.
The basketball, however, was bad.
Both Loyola Marymount and their opponent, the University of San Diego Torreros, aren't having a great basketball season. It is very easy to see how Gonzaga wins the West Coast Conference year-in and year-out.
Friday night, I paid $15 for a courtside seat and saw a pretty solid women's Pac-12 basketball game.
$21 got me a chair-backed seat two rows behind the LMU bench with nobody around me, but I had the ghosts of Red Auerbach and John Wooden sitting beside me and three kids kicking the seats in front of them, which rattled my entire row.
All I could take was a half and I moved into the upper section, which was sparsely populated, for another quarter before I left.
Flying home (where I'm writing the majority of this), I can't even tell you who won. Haven't even looked. LMU pulled ahead of the University of San Diego, but I had beetn tweeting that it was just simply "bad basketball".
When you're in L.A., you worry about navigating all of the freeways and not getting stuck in a ton of traffic.
For me to get to Hope International University, where a pair of NAIA powerhouses would square off, I would have to take the 405 South to the 105, go east until I reached the 605, go south and pickup the 91 -- I think the Riverside Freeway -- until I got to 57, where I would go north.
I had plenty of time. I got a bite to eat at a place called Pieology Pizzeria, which is a bit like Subway, Freebirds and Chipotle but with pizza pies.
Design your own pizza and have your own thin-crust in about 7-8 minutes. Pretty impressive and pretty tasty too.
I found Hope International - after driving past the gym once -- early enough where I was able to see the second half of the women's game between Hope International and Biola University.
However, I was there to see the men's game. Oh, and the admission fee was just $5.
Biola University, under Dr. Dave Holmquist, has been an NAIA power for 30 years. He entered the year just shy of 900 wins and was sitting at 910 entering Saturday's game as the 10th-ranked team in the nation.
Meanwhile, Hope International, who honestly I had never heard of before, was coached by Bill Cezch and was 7th.
Both schools are faith-based, Christian institutions -- and they play some pretty good NAIA-level basketball.
A lot of the guys at the NAIA level can play at the NCAA Division I level, but some just aren't a fit where the stakes -- as a revenue sport -- are a little higher.
Both teams averaged in the 70- to 80-point range, but neither team had passed the 40-point mark at halftime.
It was a defensive battle all night long. There were a lot of missed shots, but it wasn't necessarily because of bad shot selection. Both teams hammered it inside, which you see less and less these days at the NCAA Division I level. And for the most part, the referees let them play.
It was refreshing and enjoyable to watch versus an upper level AAU or summer league basketball game.
Hope International beat Biola by just over 10 points, which they've done quite a bit since Czech took over a program that had gone something like 20-288 in the previous 10-11 years before he took the job after spending 15-plus years at Fullerton Union High School.
Sunday morning had an early wakeup call for a 7 a.m. start, something I'm very familiar with as much race announcing that I've done.
I left the hotel at 5:15 a.m. and planned out the right route that put me in Beverly Hills by about 5:40 a.m., which I needed because there had been a long line to get into the parking structure for a set of shops called The Grove.
I actually broke to the start line at about 6:40 a.m., because it was a little chily at 52 degrees (which turned out to be perfect to run in).
The race was to pay honor to fallen first responders -- and to thank them for their service in the greater Los Angeles area.
For a first-time race with both a half marathon and a 10K in a major city with a pretty good crowd, the event production team, I think, hit a home run.
They had some waves - by about 90 seconds each. I was in the fourth wave and I crossed 5 minues after the first gun sounded.
Mario Lopez was the celebrity host. (Check out his instagram feed for the crowd selfie that he took and you'll see Mr. Non-Expressive himself there in the sea of runners.)
For the 10K, it was right out onto Beverly Blvd., left on to La Brea, right onto Melrose and then east to turn left on to the Paramount Studios lot, which was actually pretty cool.
We passed the mile 3 mark - after going through a section set up with displays of officers whose watches had ended while on duty -- and before we exited the property, they had the red carpet laid down.
It is one thing to have it at a local race in Houston, which I don't do, and totally another thing to do it in L.A. on the Paramount lot.
It was right out of their grounds and run the course in reverse to the finish.
I think I was in the upper 1:04 range after racing 7-plus miles the day before without having any regular miles on my legs.
Thought about both my sister and my grandfather while I was running on the course, which I pretty much always do while I have time to think.
I ended the day back at LAX to get ready to fly home and had one of my great Sunday phone calls with my daughter -- one of the great privileges I get as a parent while she's off to school at Liberty University.
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Long Course and Long in the Tooth; January 23, 2016
I ran the Coastal Run/Walk For Foster Youth 10K that was produced by the Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology.
It was no more than about 5 miles from the hotel here in Culver City and you're treated with planes taking off overhead out of LAX as they head out east over the Pacific before making their turns back to the west.
Lots of funny stories to share from today's adventures.
I wouldn't call my recent reduction in running and racing (a relative term for me) burnout, but my "want to" has definitely shifted.
I didn't decide which race I was going to run until the lady at the registration table said, "That's OK. Take your time to decide. Both races are $40."
I couldn't mark 10K fast enough!
$40 for a 10K is a good value. For a $5K, let me just make a donation to the charity. :-)
The 5K with this race started at 8:30 a.m. and the 10K started at 9:00 a.m.
That's a little odd for us involved in event production in Texas with one exception: you didn't have the two races really overlapping at all.
Apparently, it also messes up your overall course distance too.
We ran on a road called - for those familiar with the area - Vista Del Mar.
After a second loop between maybe Napoleon and Imperial Highway, we made the right-hand turn off of Vista Del Mar and down into Dockweiler State Beach, where the finish line was.
Somewhere on the way to the finish line, my hamstring started to cramp. Not enough miles. I get it, but I overheard a female runner talking to her friend that the course was long.
Like probably more than 7 miles!
If it was seven miles, then I'm OK with my time. Not that I was counting on a lot after the 31:24 last Saturday at the ABB 5K.
But I definitely confirmed this morning that there was no way that the marathon would have been enjoyable last Sunday. At one point this morning, I started to think at the end of the second loop on Vista Del Mar that I had been out there too long!
The funniest story though took place no more than 15 minutes into the race.
After making the first turn, I passed a gentleman who had a full head of white hair. I saw him in the parking lot. He had a space blanket around him that he got out of his trunk.
It was from the 2002 L.A. Marathon.
As I passed him, I heard him say, "Looking good there old man!"
I was wearing my Liberty University running shirt that Waverly had gotten me her first year on campus. So I couldn't say what I was thinking.
What I did respond with was, "I'm not as old as you think I am."
And I took off.
I just wanted to make sure that I beat him.
And I did.
I didn't even look at him the two times that we cross paths on the out and back on the four-lane road that served as the majority of our course.
Sheesh. For the record, I just turned 49 almost three weeks - and I don't feel that old either.
I guess I need to cut my hair down all the time to where the grey and or white - whatever you want to call it - doesn't show ever.
Unbelievable. California for you, I guess.
It was no more than about 5 miles from the hotel here in Culver City and you're treated with planes taking off overhead out of LAX as they head out east over the Pacific before making their turns back to the west.
Lots of funny stories to share from today's adventures.
I wouldn't call my recent reduction in running and racing (a relative term for me) burnout, but my "want to" has definitely shifted.
I didn't decide which race I was going to run until the lady at the registration table said, "That's OK. Take your time to decide. Both races are $40."
I couldn't mark 10K fast enough!
$40 for a 10K is a good value. For a $5K, let me just make a donation to the charity. :-)
The 5K with this race started at 8:30 a.m. and the 10K started at 9:00 a.m.
That's a little odd for us involved in event production in Texas with one exception: you didn't have the two races really overlapping at all.
Apparently, it also messes up your overall course distance too.
We ran on a road called - for those familiar with the area - Vista Del Mar.
After a second loop between maybe Napoleon and Imperial Highway, we made the right-hand turn off of Vista Del Mar and down into Dockweiler State Beach, where the finish line was.
Somewhere on the way to the finish line, my hamstring started to cramp. Not enough miles. I get it, but I overheard a female runner talking to her friend that the course was long.
Like probably more than 7 miles!
If it was seven miles, then I'm OK with my time. Not that I was counting on a lot after the 31:24 last Saturday at the ABB 5K.
But I definitely confirmed this morning that there was no way that the marathon would have been enjoyable last Sunday. At one point this morning, I started to think at the end of the second loop on Vista Del Mar that I had been out there too long!
The funniest story though took place no more than 15 minutes into the race.
After making the first turn, I passed a gentleman who had a full head of white hair. I saw him in the parking lot. He had a space blanket around him that he got out of his trunk.
It was from the 2002 L.A. Marathon.
As I passed him, I heard him say, "Looking good there old man!"
I was wearing my Liberty University running shirt that Waverly had gotten me her first year on campus. So I couldn't say what I was thinking.
What I did respond with was, "I'm not as old as you think I am."
And I took off.
I just wanted to make sure that I beat him.
And I did.
I didn't even look at him the two times that we cross paths on the out and back on the four-lane road that served as the majority of our course.
Sheesh. For the record, I just turned 49 almost three weeks - and I don't feel that old either.
I guess I need to cut my hair down all the time to where the grey and or white - whatever you want to call it - doesn't show ever.
Unbelievable. California for you, I guess.
Friday, January 22, 2016
Few Miles Shy of Hollywood; January 22, 2016
A good friend of mine in Dallas, Jacob Phillips, the cross country and track coach at Dallas Baptist University, is trying to blog every day.
I'm going to pull for him a lot to be successful because I'd like to, but am not getting it done.
I enjoy expressing myself. Just trying to get things out of my mind and make sense of life.
Although I certainly have little to complain about.
It is Friday night. I'm in Los Angeles. It has been a long day.
I was up at 3 a.m. Central time to make it to my desk by 5 a.m. (made it at 4:50 a.m.) so I could get my work done and leave by 9 a.m.
My flight to LAX left just before noon, landed here at about 1:30 p.m. Pacific, got my bag, picked up a rental car from Enterprise and made it to the Marriott Courtyard here in Culver City.
The goal this weekend is to see three college basketball games and run two races.
The first basketball game is out of the way: saw #12 Stanford send USC to their fifth loss in seven games and move to 15-4 on the season and 5-2 in Pac-12 play.
The Trojans play in the Galen Center - a beautiful facility just across the street from the USC campus. Had some time before the game to see the outside of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which has such an incredible history over the last 80-plus years.
Back to the basketball game: I couldn't have been more impressed with the play of 5-8 freshman point guard Marta Sniezek for the Cardinal.
She was a Parade All-American who hails from the Washington, D.C. area with four siblings either played or play college athletics and is the second youngest of a family of 10 children.
Her coach, the legendary Tara VanDerveer, told this to the Palo Alto Online newspaper about Sniezek -- and it is spot on.
"Marta is a heady point guard, sees the floor well, works hard. Her assists were great, scored when she needed, but she's really a great distributor. She's smart and she's a student of the game."
Yep. Without a doubt.
The Trojan that I was most impressed with was #41 Temi Fagbenle. Learned just now that she transferred from Harvard after graduating from there with a degree in anthropology. Wow.
She's 6-4, from Nigeria, a Parade All-American like Sniezek and competed in the 2012 London Olympics for Great Britain.
Not a big girl, but physical and sometimes gets away with some calls despite her aggressiveness and quickness.
USC has such a rich women's basketball legacy with the McGee sisters, Lisa Leslie, Cheryl Miller and their current coach, Cynthia Cooper.
All of their numbers have been retired by the school.
Some may wonder how I can just make a trip like this by myself.
I've just decided that I'm not going to let the lack of certain things in my life keep me from enjoying it.
As I've stated before, I'm an introvert.
I'm perfectly comfortable doing things by myself. Sure, it would be good to have company, but I can let the lack of good company place me in a dormant state of life.
So I keep busy and cram as much into it that I can.
I hope to run a 10K in the morning with basketball games at Loyola Marymount and Hope International in the afternoon and evening.
Hope you'll make it a great day too!
I'm going to pull for him a lot to be successful because I'd like to, but am not getting it done.
I enjoy expressing myself. Just trying to get things out of my mind and make sense of life.
Although I certainly have little to complain about.
It is Friday night. I'm in Los Angeles. It has been a long day.
I was up at 3 a.m. Central time to make it to my desk by 5 a.m. (made it at 4:50 a.m.) so I could get my work done and leave by 9 a.m.
My flight to LAX left just before noon, landed here at about 1:30 p.m. Pacific, got my bag, picked up a rental car from Enterprise and made it to the Marriott Courtyard here in Culver City.
The goal this weekend is to see three college basketball games and run two races.
The first basketball game is out of the way: saw #12 Stanford send USC to their fifth loss in seven games and move to 15-4 on the season and 5-2 in Pac-12 play.
The Trojans play in the Galen Center - a beautiful facility just across the street from the USC campus. Had some time before the game to see the outside of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which has such an incredible history over the last 80-plus years.
Back to the basketball game: I couldn't have been more impressed with the play of 5-8 freshman point guard Marta Sniezek for the Cardinal.
She was a Parade All-American who hails from the Washington, D.C. area with four siblings either played or play college athletics and is the second youngest of a family of 10 children.
Her coach, the legendary Tara VanDerveer, told this to the Palo Alto Online newspaper about Sniezek -- and it is spot on.
"Marta is a heady point guard, sees the floor well, works hard. Her assists were great, scored when she needed, but she's really a great distributor. She's smart and she's a student of the game."
Yep. Without a doubt.
The Trojan that I was most impressed with was #41 Temi Fagbenle. Learned just now that she transferred from Harvard after graduating from there with a degree in anthropology. Wow.
She's 6-4, from Nigeria, a Parade All-American like Sniezek and competed in the 2012 London Olympics for Great Britain.
Not a big girl, but physical and sometimes gets away with some calls despite her aggressiveness and quickness.
USC has such a rich women's basketball legacy with the McGee sisters, Lisa Leslie, Cheryl Miller and their current coach, Cynthia Cooper.
All of their numbers have been retired by the school.
Some may wonder how I can just make a trip like this by myself.
I've just decided that I'm not going to let the lack of certain things in my life keep me from enjoying it.
As I've stated before, I'm an introvert.
I'm perfectly comfortable doing things by myself. Sure, it would be good to have company, but I can let the lack of good company place me in a dormant state of life.
So I keep busy and cram as much into it that I can.
I hope to run a 10K in the morning with basketball games at Loyola Marymount and Hope International in the afternoon and evening.
Hope you'll make it a great day too!
Saturday, January 9, 2016
The View From Pearl, Mississippi; January 9, 2016
In 361 days, hard to believe, I will turn 50. Incredible.
I don't feel 49. I don't know what that's supposed to feel like. Maybe my mental age is a lot less. Wait, I'm probably sure of that. :-)
I don't know that I've ever considered myself to be a follower, but I do know that I many times do my best in a behind-the-scenes support role. I thrive on it. Does it mean that I avoid the risk of always leading? Maybe. Maybe not.
Even though I've told Waverly never to have regrets, I think this year is going to be about not looking back. And that's not to say that I have been.
Or maybe it is that I shouldn't second guess myself or do things that maybe I really just don't want to do anymore.
Case in point today here in Pearl, Mississippi. I was signed up to run the Mississippi Blues Half Marathon in Jackson - a race that I've done both the half in 2009 and the marathon in 2012.
I've been sick the last week battling off a stomach virus. It is in the 50's here and when the alarm went off at 4:45 a.m. (for a 7 a.m. start), it was raining pretty well.
At about 5:15 a.m., I told Waverly to go back to sleep in her bed and I tried to do the same in mine. I would miss seeing my friends in Steve Boone and Angela Tortorice, but I know where to find them!
When I finally got moving at 7:45 a.m. and peeled back the blinds in the hotel room, guess what: no rain and it looks like a pretty nice morning to run.
I don't know that I would call it burnout, but a good bit of my "want to" has went. And that's OK.
So, I've also made a decision to not run next Sunday's Chevron Houston Marathon, which would have been my 10th. Crazy, you say? There's one line of thought (getting to "Veteran Status") where you could say that.
However, I will be writing the article for Texas Runner and Triathlete on the race and I'm excited about that. It will be the first time since 2003 that I've made a decision not to "run Houston" (the original notion of "Run Houston", not the current market rendering) and I'm great with it.
I'm going to concentrate in 2016 about working hard on my announcing, slowing down a little (to me although you may think otherwise) and trying to enjoy life even more than I already have been.
This will be heresy to some, but I learned this two years ago when I had to speak at my sister's Memorial Service: Nobody will come and remember you based on how many things you did, they will be there because of who you were and the things that you stood for.
Waverly and I will be driving tonight to Gastonia, North Carolina and then she'll be taking me to the Charlotte airport on Sunday where I'll fly home and she'll drive on north to start the spring semester of her junior year of college at Liberty University.
So proud of her, the beautiful young woman inside and out that she has become, what she stands for and the opportunity that she has to serve God with the talents and the abilities that He has given her to have an effect on the lives of young women that resides on her hall and the boys and girls that she'll teach in the classroom in years to come.
If you're reading, please pray for safe travels for us both today and tomorrow.
I don't feel 49. I don't know what that's supposed to feel like. Maybe my mental age is a lot less. Wait, I'm probably sure of that. :-)
I don't know that I've ever considered myself to be a follower, but I do know that I many times do my best in a behind-the-scenes support role. I thrive on it. Does it mean that I avoid the risk of always leading? Maybe. Maybe not.
Even though I've told Waverly never to have regrets, I think this year is going to be about not looking back. And that's not to say that I have been.
Or maybe it is that I shouldn't second guess myself or do things that maybe I really just don't want to do anymore.
Case in point today here in Pearl, Mississippi. I was signed up to run the Mississippi Blues Half Marathon in Jackson - a race that I've done both the half in 2009 and the marathon in 2012.
I've been sick the last week battling off a stomach virus. It is in the 50's here and when the alarm went off at 4:45 a.m. (for a 7 a.m. start), it was raining pretty well.
At about 5:15 a.m., I told Waverly to go back to sleep in her bed and I tried to do the same in mine. I would miss seeing my friends in Steve Boone and Angela Tortorice, but I know where to find them!
When I finally got moving at 7:45 a.m. and peeled back the blinds in the hotel room, guess what: no rain and it looks like a pretty nice morning to run.
I don't know that I would call it burnout, but a good bit of my "want to" has went. And that's OK.
So, I've also made a decision to not run next Sunday's Chevron Houston Marathon, which would have been my 10th. Crazy, you say? There's one line of thought (getting to "Veteran Status") where you could say that.
However, I will be writing the article for Texas Runner and Triathlete on the race and I'm excited about that. It will be the first time since 2003 that I've made a decision not to "run Houston" (the original notion of "Run Houston", not the current market rendering) and I'm great with it.
I'm going to concentrate in 2016 about working hard on my announcing, slowing down a little (to me although you may think otherwise) and trying to enjoy life even more than I already have been.
This will be heresy to some, but I learned this two years ago when I had to speak at my sister's Memorial Service: Nobody will come and remember you based on how many things you did, they will be there because of who you were and the things that you stood for.
Waverly and I will be driving tonight to Gastonia, North Carolina and then she'll be taking me to the Charlotte airport on Sunday where I'll fly home and she'll drive on north to start the spring semester of her junior year of college at Liberty University.
So proud of her, the beautiful young woman inside and out that she has become, what she stands for and the opportunity that she has to serve God with the talents and the abilities that He has given her to have an effect on the lives of young women that resides on her hall and the boys and girls that she'll teach in the classroom in years to come.
If you're reading, please pray for safe travels for us both today and tomorrow.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
When Life Turns, Lean In; July 24-26, 2015
It's always good to have backup plans. That way you'll - more than likely - not be too disappointed.
This weekend was a good case of that.
A former co-worker of mine, while I worked at Tulare Regional Medical Center in Tulare, California, Jennifer Dilgard, had made plans to participate in the four-mile Shawshank Hustle in Ohio this past Saturday.
Another co-worker, Lisa Watson, was flying in from California to do it with her.
Both of these ladies were a large part of any success I had at that facility as an interim CIO.
I had originally planned to as well, but I wasn't paying attention how popular the event was and -- it sold out!
When did I find this out? Immediately after I purchased the airplane ticket.
So I was still going to go, meet up with them before and after and do four races this weekend (Fri. night, Sat. morning, Sat. night in Lexington, KY and Sun. AM in Cincinnati) -- adding to my counts of races in north American cities or towns.
However, there was something that needed to be taken care of here on Sunday evening that only I could in reality do and I had no guarantees if I did it on Thursday evening or Monday evening if the same outcome was to be expected.
I didn't need a big, costly shock in my world.
Making it all easier to be palatable was that my ticket was on Southwest, which allows you to bank the money if you cancel before the flight departs.
I saw races in Granbury on Friday night, Longview on Saturday morning, Arkadelphia, Arkansas Saturday night and the local Run For Wellness 5K on Sunday morning.
Agressive. Lots of driving. And without a lot of rest.
I was able to get a hotel room in Marshall with my Marriott Rewards for two nights with discounted points.
After putting in three and a half hours Friday morning and getting to having worked 45 billable hours at my client, I headed north.
However, a slow leak that I had in my rear driver side tire was seemingly getting worse as I made my way up Highway 59 towards Marshall.
I arrived, checked in and took care of a number of things in my room before crashing at about 6 p.m. It had been a mildly stressful week and in reality, I needed a bit of rest.
Yes, I woke up right around midnight.
Eventually, I got out of bed at about 4 a.m. and went down to the car to get my bag, which had my running gear. I figured that I could take the car across the road to the Shell station and air up the tire and head to Longview for a 7:30 a.m. 5K.
When I went out, well, it was flat. I wasn't going to be going anywhere. Now I had to come up with some different plans.
Eventually, when I went to the front desk and asked the clerk who they would recommend locally to fix a flat, they had a pair of recommendations but also offered the use of a portable tire air compressor.
I had a good breakfast at IHOP, which was adjacent to the Fairfield Inn & Suites just off I-20 and Highway 59, and then came back and aired the tire up enough to drive it and shut off the warning on the car's computer system.
I went to Hometown Tire there in Marshall. They were busy. Seemed to be a rash of tire issues this Saturday as the receptionist remarked to multiple people of such.
Thirty minutes or so later, they had patched the flat tire, charged me $15 and I headed back to the hotel. When I got there, I offered the two ladies lunch if there was any place that they wanted to order it from. However, they declined. I told them that it was the least that I could do after saving me from having to get a tow truck. (Thank goodness I had enough cash with me, which is rare, in case.)
So the new plan?
One that I had short-circuited on the way up to Marshall and that was to start my path of trying to run at least a mile in all 254 Texas counties.
There's a brand new running club that just started recently - as reported in Texas Runner and Triathlete magazine - by those that are seeking to run a 5K in every county.
It is led by retired Air Force officer Mary Kaplan, who is well into the 170s, I believe.
I was introduced to her in Kosse two years ago at the Greyhound 5K by the Seven Hills Running Club's Ken Johnson and I put her quest on to Texas Runner and Triathlete last year.
I figured that since it took me parts of 12 years to meet my first goal of running a race in 100 Texas cities or towns that it would be sometime in my early 70s until I could run a race in all 254.
As it turns out, looking at my list of Texas cities and towns, I've actually run a 5K race or longer in 54 counties, including 40 where I've actually finished in the county seat.
Will I repeat those counties and run at least a mile in them again? Probably. Especially if they are on the way to the next county in a trip. Obviously, west, south and central Texas are the biggest areas to cover.
So at about 11 a.m., I located the Harrison County Courthouse in Marshall, walked around and took some pictures and then headed out for a warm mile-plus.
My plan is to run about 12 to 13 minutes in each to make sure that I cover the mile.
For the first time ever, I actually tracked each my using the Map My Run app on my phone.
They were tough miles, especially in the 95 and greater heat, and as you can expect the average pace got slower with each one.
Harrison County (Marshall) -- 1.26 miles / 10:22 pace
Gregg County (Longview) -- 1.18 miles / 10:30 pace
Upshur County (Gilmer) -- 1.36 miles / 10:48 pace
Wood County (Quitman) -- 1.18 miles / 10:49 pace
Hopkins County (Sulphur Springs) -- 1.24 miles / 10:52 pace
Franklin County (Mount Vernon) -- 1.28 miles / 11:29 pace
Titus County (Mount Pleasant) -- 1.30 miles /11:47 pace
What I didn't do - in that heat - was to take some salt tablets (not that I had them with me) because even though I was getting fluids in me, my legs were cramping and that is largely the reason for the slower paces in the last two counties.
Titus County was actually by chance. I was hoping that I would be able to get in Marion County in Jefferson, which I had to pass through to get back to my hotel in Marshall.
I didn't even realize it as I was making my plans to cross beneath I-30 and head through Daingerfield and on to Jefferson.
I think that this may end up being a fun quest.
Regardless, I was up this morning at 5 a.m. and on the road by 5:45 a.m. to ensure that I made it back to North Park Baptist Church as Waverly was co-leading worship in song this morning as our regular music leader had plans to be gone this weekend.
Two weeks from now, she'll be in Lynchburg ready to start her junior year at Liberty University. My how the time flies.
This weekend was a good case of that.
A former co-worker of mine, while I worked at Tulare Regional Medical Center in Tulare, California, Jennifer Dilgard, had made plans to participate in the four-mile Shawshank Hustle in Ohio this past Saturday.
Another co-worker, Lisa Watson, was flying in from California to do it with her.
Both of these ladies were a large part of any success I had at that facility as an interim CIO.
I had originally planned to as well, but I wasn't paying attention how popular the event was and -- it sold out!
When did I find this out? Immediately after I purchased the airplane ticket.
So I was still going to go, meet up with them before and after and do four races this weekend (Fri. night, Sat. morning, Sat. night in Lexington, KY and Sun. AM in Cincinnati) -- adding to my counts of races in north American cities or towns.
However, there was something that needed to be taken care of here on Sunday evening that only I could in reality do and I had no guarantees if I did it on Thursday evening or Monday evening if the same outcome was to be expected.
I didn't need a big, costly shock in my world.
Making it all easier to be palatable was that my ticket was on Southwest, which allows you to bank the money if you cancel before the flight departs.
I saw races in Granbury on Friday night, Longview on Saturday morning, Arkadelphia, Arkansas Saturday night and the local Run For Wellness 5K on Sunday morning.
Agressive. Lots of driving. And without a lot of rest.
I was able to get a hotel room in Marshall with my Marriott Rewards for two nights with discounted points.
After putting in three and a half hours Friday morning and getting to having worked 45 billable hours at my client, I headed north.
However, a slow leak that I had in my rear driver side tire was seemingly getting worse as I made my way up Highway 59 towards Marshall.
I arrived, checked in and took care of a number of things in my room before crashing at about 6 p.m. It had been a mildly stressful week and in reality, I needed a bit of rest.
Yes, I woke up right around midnight.
Eventually, I got out of bed at about 4 a.m. and went down to the car to get my bag, which had my running gear. I figured that I could take the car across the road to the Shell station and air up the tire and head to Longview for a 7:30 a.m. 5K.
When I went out, well, it was flat. I wasn't going to be going anywhere. Now I had to come up with some different plans.
Eventually, when I went to the front desk and asked the clerk who they would recommend locally to fix a flat, they had a pair of recommendations but also offered the use of a portable tire air compressor.
I had a good breakfast at IHOP, which was adjacent to the Fairfield Inn & Suites just off I-20 and Highway 59, and then came back and aired the tire up enough to drive it and shut off the warning on the car's computer system.
I went to Hometown Tire there in Marshall. They were busy. Seemed to be a rash of tire issues this Saturday as the receptionist remarked to multiple people of such.
Thirty minutes or so later, they had patched the flat tire, charged me $15 and I headed back to the hotel. When I got there, I offered the two ladies lunch if there was any place that they wanted to order it from. However, they declined. I told them that it was the least that I could do after saving me from having to get a tow truck. (Thank goodness I had enough cash with me, which is rare, in case.)
So the new plan?
One that I had short-circuited on the way up to Marshall and that was to start my path of trying to run at least a mile in all 254 Texas counties.
There's a brand new running club that just started recently - as reported in Texas Runner and Triathlete magazine - by those that are seeking to run a 5K in every county.
It is led by retired Air Force officer Mary Kaplan, who is well into the 170s, I believe.
I was introduced to her in Kosse two years ago at the Greyhound 5K by the Seven Hills Running Club's Ken Johnson and I put her quest on to Texas Runner and Triathlete last year.
I figured that since it took me parts of 12 years to meet my first goal of running a race in 100 Texas cities or towns that it would be sometime in my early 70s until I could run a race in all 254.
As it turns out, looking at my list of Texas cities and towns, I've actually run a 5K race or longer in 54 counties, including 40 where I've actually finished in the county seat.
Will I repeat those counties and run at least a mile in them again? Probably. Especially if they are on the way to the next county in a trip. Obviously, west, south and central Texas are the biggest areas to cover.
So at about 11 a.m., I located the Harrison County Courthouse in Marshall, walked around and took some pictures and then headed out for a warm mile-plus.
My plan is to run about 12 to 13 minutes in each to make sure that I cover the mile.
For the first time ever, I actually tracked each my using the Map My Run app on my phone.
They were tough miles, especially in the 95 and greater heat, and as you can expect the average pace got slower with each one.
Harrison County (Marshall) -- 1.26 miles / 10:22 pace
Gregg County (Longview) -- 1.18 miles / 10:30 pace
Upshur County (Gilmer) -- 1.36 miles / 10:48 pace
Wood County (Quitman) -- 1.18 miles / 10:49 pace
Hopkins County (Sulphur Springs) -- 1.24 miles / 10:52 pace
Franklin County (Mount Vernon) -- 1.28 miles / 11:29 pace
Titus County (Mount Pleasant) -- 1.30 miles /11:47 pace
What I didn't do - in that heat - was to take some salt tablets (not that I had them with me) because even though I was getting fluids in me, my legs were cramping and that is largely the reason for the slower paces in the last two counties.
Titus County was actually by chance. I was hoping that I would be able to get in Marion County in Jefferson, which I had to pass through to get back to my hotel in Marshall.
I didn't even realize it as I was making my plans to cross beneath I-30 and head through Daingerfield and on to Jefferson.
I think that this may end up being a fun quest.
Regardless, I was up this morning at 5 a.m. and on the road by 5:45 a.m. to ensure that I made it back to North Park Baptist Church as Waverly was co-leading worship in song this morning as our regular music leader had plans to be gone this weekend.
Two weeks from now, she'll be in Lynchburg ready to start her junior year at Liberty University. My how the time flies.
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Summer Vacation Report; July 12, 2015
It's 3:30 a.m. We're here at O'Hare. Early.
Wanted to make sure that we had no issues to board our 5:17 a.m. flight back to Houston.
Waverly is due to sing a special this morning during church services at North Park Baptist Church.
All's good.
Another vacation in the books.
I have no idea what the mileage was on our rental car with Alamo (as their systems were down when we returned the car earlier), but the wheels saw Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Our annual summer trip has been a tradition since Waverly was about eight or nine.
Since she spent five weeks last summer working four Christian summer youth camps in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Texas last year, we didn't get to do it.
I still took a week's vacation by myself and saw eight new minor league ballparks in seven days and ran a couple of races in North Carolina.
This year was no different. Sort of.
The original plan was to stay closer to the midwest, but Waverly thought that she would be able to see her friends with Lift Ministries that were working camps again this year in Ohio.
However, we learned that the Ohio camp was the following week (or next week).
But Dad heard one thing and thought forward on a second item to change up the trip a little bit.
Waverly is going to be a resident adviser this year - her junior year - at Liberty University.
While she will have available "off days" each semester, I could just forsee that it was going to be difficult for her to get away and make the five-hour drive to Pennsylvania to see my 90-year-old grandmother in central Pennsylvania.
And through some casual dialogue with her, I realized that the Lift team was going to be at Cairn University in Langhorne, Pennsylvania.
So the plan was to "Go East, Young Man" - to play off a popular saying from the past.
We had two races planned - one for me to definitely run and one for us to do together.
I also had six "new to me" ballparks on the schedule.
We would fly here into Chicago and then immediately head to Grand Rapids, Michigan where we could catch the West Michigan Whitecaps, who play in the Midwest League.
That decision was kind of predicated that the only Sunday race I could find was a 5K in Shelby, Michigan - about an hour north of Grand Rapids and Muskegon.
It turned out that it was this little lakeside community's first time to put on a race and they did it in style. The Stony Lake Sparkler 5K.
Great, great atmosphere for a community race. Completely well done.
And it turned out that Waverly wanted to run it - even though she had run the 26th annual Baytown Bud Heatwave the day before. A 5-miler in broiling heat and humidity.
I like to race myself, even though I'm slow. However, I know that the opportunities to run a race with my daughter, even though she's 20, in the years to come will likely diminish.
Therefore, it is something that I completely cherish.
The vacation time is something that I value and cherish as well.
We usually have things that are set or fixed - a hotel that we need to make, a ballpark to go to or somebody that we have planned to see - and then if we see something else that looks interesting to explore we do so.
Sunday's plan was to stop by Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan and Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on the way to our second of eight consecutive nights in a Marriott hotel, Findlay, Ohio.
But something happened along the way as we approached East Lansing: Waverly noticed that a friend from Liberty had just checked in at a local place of business. She checked the hours, learned that it was close to the Michigan State campus and off we headed in that direction.
Waverly totally surprised her friend, Grace.
It was great. It was an example of when you have the chance to do something, you do it.
Try your best to live your life with absolutely no regrets. Every day.
We spent some time there and I had a chance to meet Grace and we both met her mother. They were sharing time together at a Painting With A Twist location.
All good.
From Findlay on Monday, we would head to Columbus to see the ballpark that is used by the New York Yankees' AAA affiliate, the Clippers.
On the way, we stopped in Marion to see the Warren Harding Memorial - a structure that was constructed in the late 1920s and is beautifully maintained.
Beautiful newer ballpark, but what was special for me is that the Columbus area for many years was actually the Pittsburgh Pirates' top minor league ballclub in the late 60's and early 70's and some of my favorite Pirates as a child had spent time there: Stargell, Sanguillen and Al Oliver.
We drove by Ohio Stadium - on the way to the game - where the National Champion Buckeyes play, but I'll get a chance to see that in about two weeks.
And then we saw John Glenn's boyhood home in New Concord, Ohio as well as the Muskingum College campus before passing through West Virginia into the greatest Commonwealth of them all: Pennsylvania.
We broke up the drive to Langhorne by staying in Bedford, Pennsylvania on Monday night, which left us a three-and-a-half hour drive Tuesday morning.
One of the many things that we try to accomplish on our vacations is to eat local.
Over the last 40 years, we've seen Wal-Mart wipe out hundreds of Mom and Pop businesses across America, if not North America.
So in Bedford, we had dinner at O I P (which is also in my hometown of Tyrone, Pennsylvania).
And then we set out for an almost 3-mile run in downtown Bedford.
The following morning would take us to Cairn University in north suburban Philadelphia and Waverly was able to spend about three hours with some of the friends and staff that she had worked with the previous summer.
We could have stayed longer, but the staff members had responsibilities with campers after lunch that ended at 1 p.m. And the Lift team will be in our home church this coming Sunday as they head to the last camp of their summer at LeTourneau University in Longview.
We were able to be a part of the morning Camp worship service where we heard an excellent message brought by EJ Swanson that God is less concerned about where we've been in our past but more concerned about where we're headed - in our walk with HIm and where we'll spend eternity.
Something that, as Christians, we don't do a good job of communicating with in our ever-changing world.
We're afraid to say: We're concerned that - without a relationship with Jesus Christ - you're going to spend eternity in Hell.
It was on to Reading - about an hour and a half east of Philadelphia - where we took in one of the oldest ballparks in the minor leagues, the rechristened FirstEnergy Stadium.
Originally built in 1950, it still embraced the club's great history, including an affiliation of almost 50 consecutive years (since 1967) with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Before the game, we had a great cheesesteak hoagie at Mike's Sandwich Shop, less than a mile from the ballpark. Great stuff.
The next morning, we drove to see my grandmother in Tipton, Pennsylvania - between Altoona and State College, just off of Highway 99.
My Dad and Mom were already there with my two nieces.
We stopped in late Wednesday morning to the Berkey Creamery at Penn State for some ice cream because the way that we were going to depart would have taken us out of the way to go there.
We spent a good six hours with my grandmother. I had been in to see her about five or six weeks ago.
She's done incredibly well on her own since my grandfather passed away last April. I'm very, very proud of her. Being without my grandfather has been very hard on her, but she's persevered with whatever time God continues to grant her here on this earth.
One of the things that I like to do when we get home is to take in Texas Hot Dogs in Altoona and Waverly and I took my two nieces, Haylee and Hunter, with us before we headed west to Youngstown, Ohio, where we would spend the night.
The plan was on Thursday morning to see a game in Eastlake, Ohio - the home of the Lake County Captains. However, weather got in the way.
Before we made it there, we saw William McKinley's Boyhood Home and Memorial in Niles as well as the First Flight Exhibit of Neil Armstrong in neighboring Warren.
With the ballgame in Eastlake cancelled, we moved on to our next stop: Maumee, Ohio.
We would stay there, but would venture north to Sylvania for the running of the Ohio Michigan 8K.
A rectangular course that would venture into Michigan for about two-thirds of the race and finish back in Ohio close to the original start.
We started the first two miles off at about an 11:11 pace, which Waverly really masters well (i.e. not going out too fast). But with favorable weather, temperature-wise (it was still humid), I started to pick up the pace and we negative splitted each mile with the last .97 miles in 9:56 as I got her under 54 -- a few days after she went 55:25 in the heat in Baytown.
In the meantime of all of this, we were looking for a race for Saturday morning and Waverly reminded me that she had never been to Wisconsin.
So we kept the original vacation plans of staying in Beloit, Wisconsin Friday night and going to see the Beloit Snappers, also of the Midwest League.
There were a number of options in south Wisconsin, but we settled on a two-loop, trail 10K in Middleton, just north of Madison.
When I ran the Sunburst Half Marathon in 2009, finishing down the sideline of Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, I was struck by the beauty of Notre Dame's campus.
I think most colleges in America are maintained in such a way to be visually appealing places.
Notre Dame doesn't disappoint, especially combined with its incredible legacy.
Waverly attends Liberty University a place that its founder, Jerry Falwell, Sr., wanted to be for evangelicals that Notre Dame is for Catholics and Brigham Young University is for those of Mormon faith.
We spent an hour or so there and then was back on the road to Beloit, Wisconsin -- and Waverly's 47th state to visit (Michigan earlier in the trip was no. 46).
She has Minnesota, North Dakota and Rhode Island remaining.
(I'm already scheming on how to make Minnesota and North Dakota work. I did both of my half marathons in those two states on the same weekend a few years back.)
Prior to going to the Snappers game Friday evening, we found a great Italian restaurant in South Beloit, Illinois -- Anna Maria's -- and then ventured around Beloit College.
The Snappers' ballpark, Pohlman Field, was one that was without a lot of the current bells and whistles that many minor league ballparks have: the big video scoreboard.
However, Beloit is the kind of community where it really doesn't matter that much.
It was the first game of the four that we made it past the seventh inning stretch as the Beloit pitcher carried a no-no into the sixth inning before giving up a pair of hits and a run. (They would go on to lose 9-1.)
Saturday morning we were up early for the trip to Middleton. An 8 o'clock start, we were on the road at 6 a.m.
The race was on the mixed-terrain trails of the Pheasant Branch Trail Conservatory. Fortunately that I had mapped things out the night before, as the race website didn't have detailed instructions on how to get there.
I let the race director know when I got there that it is something that they should add to their site for people like myself that look at RunningintheUSA.com for races wherever they go.
And a reminder to me to ensure that the races that I work with that they do the same.
The first loop, we used Waverly's same plan: start out slow and then see how the race unfolded.
It was in the upper 60s with mid-to-high humidity. As it warmed up, the start of the second loop was a little bit more of a challenge, but the shade in the back two-thirds of the loop quickened the pace.
A great effort all in all.
Back to Beloit, we made our way west across the Rock River to Jerry's Cafe for a great breakfast that easily rivaled The Egg & I at home.
Tired of paying the tolls and all of the aggressive drivers on the Interstate, I chose to take the "off the beaten path" to get to our next stop: Elgin, Illinois.
Our plan Saturday evening was to see a game at Kane County, just south in Geneva.
However, being totally exhausted from the week - a "working vacation" as my friend Rick Cook called it - and with rain in the immediate forecast, I could see the one of two MLB-affiliated minor league teams in Illinois another time.
We ate a hot dog place called Maxwell's in Elgin or Dundee, IL (not sure which it was) before getting a little sleep to make it to ORD, Alamo and United with as little stress as possible.
One of the things that I've been able to train Waverly well on is planning in travel. She's learned, especially with her travels earlier this year to Kenya and Tanzania, that it pays off.
We were up at 1 a.m., out of the hotel by 2:10 a.m., dropped the car off at 2:45 a.m., at O'Hare at 3:05 a.m and checked in no later than 3:20 a.m. for a 5:17 scheduled departure.
Great trip. Great time. Great memories.
Wanted to make sure that we had no issues to board our 5:17 a.m. flight back to Houston.
Waverly is due to sing a special this morning during church services at North Park Baptist Church.
All's good.
Another vacation in the books.
I have no idea what the mileage was on our rental car with Alamo (as their systems were down when we returned the car earlier), but the wheels saw Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Our annual summer trip has been a tradition since Waverly was about eight or nine.
Since she spent five weeks last summer working four Christian summer youth camps in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Texas last year, we didn't get to do it.
I still took a week's vacation by myself and saw eight new minor league ballparks in seven days and ran a couple of races in North Carolina.
This year was no different. Sort of.
The original plan was to stay closer to the midwest, but Waverly thought that she would be able to see her friends with Lift Ministries that were working camps again this year in Ohio.
However, we learned that the Ohio camp was the following week (or next week).
But Dad heard one thing and thought forward on a second item to change up the trip a little bit.
Waverly is going to be a resident adviser this year - her junior year - at Liberty University.
While she will have available "off days" each semester, I could just forsee that it was going to be difficult for her to get away and make the five-hour drive to Pennsylvania to see my 90-year-old grandmother in central Pennsylvania.
And through some casual dialogue with her, I realized that the Lift team was going to be at Cairn University in Langhorne, Pennsylvania.
So the plan was to "Go East, Young Man" - to play off a popular saying from the past.
We had two races planned - one for me to definitely run and one for us to do together.
I also had six "new to me" ballparks on the schedule.
We would fly here into Chicago and then immediately head to Grand Rapids, Michigan where we could catch the West Michigan Whitecaps, who play in the Midwest League.
That decision was kind of predicated that the only Sunday race I could find was a 5K in Shelby, Michigan - about an hour north of Grand Rapids and Muskegon.
It turned out that it was this little lakeside community's first time to put on a race and they did it in style. The Stony Lake Sparkler 5K.
Great, great atmosphere for a community race. Completely well done.
And it turned out that Waverly wanted to run it - even though she had run the 26th annual Baytown Bud Heatwave the day before. A 5-miler in broiling heat and humidity.
I like to race myself, even though I'm slow. However, I know that the opportunities to run a race with my daughter, even though she's 20, in the years to come will likely diminish.
Therefore, it is something that I completely cherish.
The vacation time is something that I value and cherish as well.
We usually have things that are set or fixed - a hotel that we need to make, a ballpark to go to or somebody that we have planned to see - and then if we see something else that looks interesting to explore we do so.
Sunday's plan was to stop by Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan and Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on the way to our second of eight consecutive nights in a Marriott hotel, Findlay, Ohio.
But something happened along the way as we approached East Lansing: Waverly noticed that a friend from Liberty had just checked in at a local place of business. She checked the hours, learned that it was close to the Michigan State campus and off we headed in that direction.
Waverly totally surprised her friend, Grace.
It was great. It was an example of when you have the chance to do something, you do it.
Try your best to live your life with absolutely no regrets. Every day.
We spent some time there and I had a chance to meet Grace and we both met her mother. They were sharing time together at a Painting With A Twist location.
All good.
From Findlay on Monday, we would head to Columbus to see the ballpark that is used by the New York Yankees' AAA affiliate, the Clippers.
On the way, we stopped in Marion to see the Warren Harding Memorial - a structure that was constructed in the late 1920s and is beautifully maintained.
Beautiful newer ballpark, but what was special for me is that the Columbus area for many years was actually the Pittsburgh Pirates' top minor league ballclub in the late 60's and early 70's and some of my favorite Pirates as a child had spent time there: Stargell, Sanguillen and Al Oliver.
We drove by Ohio Stadium - on the way to the game - where the National Champion Buckeyes play, but I'll get a chance to see that in about two weeks.
And then we saw John Glenn's boyhood home in New Concord, Ohio as well as the Muskingum College campus before passing through West Virginia into the greatest Commonwealth of them all: Pennsylvania.
We broke up the drive to Langhorne by staying in Bedford, Pennsylvania on Monday night, which left us a three-and-a-half hour drive Tuesday morning.
One of the many things that we try to accomplish on our vacations is to eat local.
Over the last 40 years, we've seen Wal-Mart wipe out hundreds of Mom and Pop businesses across America, if not North America.
So in Bedford, we had dinner at O I P (which is also in my hometown of Tyrone, Pennsylvania).
And then we set out for an almost 3-mile run in downtown Bedford.
The following morning would take us to Cairn University in north suburban Philadelphia and Waverly was able to spend about three hours with some of the friends and staff that she had worked with the previous summer.
We could have stayed longer, but the staff members had responsibilities with campers after lunch that ended at 1 p.m. And the Lift team will be in our home church this coming Sunday as they head to the last camp of their summer at LeTourneau University in Longview.
We were able to be a part of the morning Camp worship service where we heard an excellent message brought by EJ Swanson that God is less concerned about where we've been in our past but more concerned about where we're headed - in our walk with HIm and where we'll spend eternity.
Something that, as Christians, we don't do a good job of communicating with in our ever-changing world.
We're afraid to say: We're concerned that - without a relationship with Jesus Christ - you're going to spend eternity in Hell.
It was on to Reading - about an hour and a half east of Philadelphia - where we took in one of the oldest ballparks in the minor leagues, the rechristened FirstEnergy Stadium.
Originally built in 1950, it still embraced the club's great history, including an affiliation of almost 50 consecutive years (since 1967) with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Before the game, we had a great cheesesteak hoagie at Mike's Sandwich Shop, less than a mile from the ballpark. Great stuff.
The next morning, we drove to see my grandmother in Tipton, Pennsylvania - between Altoona and State College, just off of Highway 99.
My Dad and Mom were already there with my two nieces.
We stopped in late Wednesday morning to the Berkey Creamery at Penn State for some ice cream because the way that we were going to depart would have taken us out of the way to go there.
We spent a good six hours with my grandmother. I had been in to see her about five or six weeks ago.
She's done incredibly well on her own since my grandfather passed away last April. I'm very, very proud of her. Being without my grandfather has been very hard on her, but she's persevered with whatever time God continues to grant her here on this earth.
One of the things that I like to do when we get home is to take in Texas Hot Dogs in Altoona and Waverly and I took my two nieces, Haylee and Hunter, with us before we headed west to Youngstown, Ohio, where we would spend the night.
The plan was on Thursday morning to see a game in Eastlake, Ohio - the home of the Lake County Captains. However, weather got in the way.
Before we made it there, we saw William McKinley's Boyhood Home and Memorial in Niles as well as the First Flight Exhibit of Neil Armstrong in neighboring Warren.
With the ballgame in Eastlake cancelled, we moved on to our next stop: Maumee, Ohio.
We would stay there, but would venture north to Sylvania for the running of the Ohio Michigan 8K.
A rectangular course that would venture into Michigan for about two-thirds of the race and finish back in Ohio close to the original start.
We started the first two miles off at about an 11:11 pace, which Waverly really masters well (i.e. not going out too fast). But with favorable weather, temperature-wise (it was still humid), I started to pick up the pace and we negative splitted each mile with the last .97 miles in 9:56 as I got her under 54 -- a few days after she went 55:25 in the heat in Baytown.
In the meantime of all of this, we were looking for a race for Saturday morning and Waverly reminded me that she had never been to Wisconsin.
So we kept the original vacation plans of staying in Beloit, Wisconsin Friday night and going to see the Beloit Snappers, also of the Midwest League.
There were a number of options in south Wisconsin, but we settled on a two-loop, trail 10K in Middleton, just north of Madison.
When I ran the Sunburst Half Marathon in 2009, finishing down the sideline of Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, I was struck by the beauty of Notre Dame's campus.
I think most colleges in America are maintained in such a way to be visually appealing places.
Notre Dame doesn't disappoint, especially combined with its incredible legacy.
Waverly attends Liberty University a place that its founder, Jerry Falwell, Sr., wanted to be for evangelicals that Notre Dame is for Catholics and Brigham Young University is for those of Mormon faith.
We spent an hour or so there and then was back on the road to Beloit, Wisconsin -- and Waverly's 47th state to visit (Michigan earlier in the trip was no. 46).
She has Minnesota, North Dakota and Rhode Island remaining.
(I'm already scheming on how to make Minnesota and North Dakota work. I did both of my half marathons in those two states on the same weekend a few years back.)
Prior to going to the Snappers game Friday evening, we found a great Italian restaurant in South Beloit, Illinois -- Anna Maria's -- and then ventured around Beloit College.
The Snappers' ballpark, Pohlman Field, was one that was without a lot of the current bells and whistles that many minor league ballparks have: the big video scoreboard.
However, Beloit is the kind of community where it really doesn't matter that much.
It was the first game of the four that we made it past the seventh inning stretch as the Beloit pitcher carried a no-no into the sixth inning before giving up a pair of hits and a run. (They would go on to lose 9-1.)
Saturday morning we were up early for the trip to Middleton. An 8 o'clock start, we were on the road at 6 a.m.
The race was on the mixed-terrain trails of the Pheasant Branch Trail Conservatory. Fortunately that I had mapped things out the night before, as the race website didn't have detailed instructions on how to get there.
I let the race director know when I got there that it is something that they should add to their site for people like myself that look at RunningintheUSA.com for races wherever they go.
And a reminder to me to ensure that the races that I work with that they do the same.
The first loop, we used Waverly's same plan: start out slow and then see how the race unfolded.
It was in the upper 60s with mid-to-high humidity. As it warmed up, the start of the second loop was a little bit more of a challenge, but the shade in the back two-thirds of the loop quickened the pace.
A great effort all in all.
Back to Beloit, we made our way west across the Rock River to Jerry's Cafe for a great breakfast that easily rivaled The Egg & I at home.
Tired of paying the tolls and all of the aggressive drivers on the Interstate, I chose to take the "off the beaten path" to get to our next stop: Elgin, Illinois.
Our plan Saturday evening was to see a game at Kane County, just south in Geneva.
However, being totally exhausted from the week - a "working vacation" as my friend Rick Cook called it - and with rain in the immediate forecast, I could see the one of two MLB-affiliated minor league teams in Illinois another time.
We ate a hot dog place called Maxwell's in Elgin or Dundee, IL (not sure which it was) before getting a little sleep to make it to ORD, Alamo and United with as little stress as possible.
One of the things that I've been able to train Waverly well on is planning in travel. She's learned, especially with her travels earlier this year to Kenya and Tanzania, that it pays off.
We were up at 1 a.m., out of the hotel by 2:10 a.m., dropped the car off at 2:45 a.m., at O'Hare at 3:05 a.m and checked in no later than 3:20 a.m. for a 5:17 scheduled departure.
Great trip. Great time. Great memories.
Friday, July 3, 2015
This Week's Excellent Reads; July 3, 2015
"Breathing Is The Key To Persuasive Public Speaking" (Harvard Business Review)
"What's Got Into Rick Perry?" (National Review)
"World-class triathlete Lionel Sanders battled drug addiction" (USA Today)
"How Data From Wearable Tech Can Be Used Against You In A Court of Law" (Huffington Post)
"40 Questions For Christians Now Waving Rainbow Flags" (The Gospel Coalition)
"What's Got Into Rick Perry?" (National Review)
"World-class triathlete Lionel Sanders battled drug addiction" (USA Today)
"How Data From Wearable Tech Can Be Used Against You In A Court of Law" (Huffington Post)
"40 Questions For Christians Now Waving Rainbow Flags" (The Gospel Coalition)
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