Miles and Miles - 5/25/24 to 6/24/24

May 25 - June 24 - 6.2 miles running - 43.84 miles walking - 52.44 miles walking (Apple Health) - 0 miles cycling (using 9 miles = 30 minutes) - 91,444 meters rowing - 957 minutes elliptical - 218,577 steps

May 25 (Saturday) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 380 calories; 5,728 strides) - 14:32 rowing for 3,006 meters (28 strokes/min.; 2:24/500m) - 3.7 miles walking (Apple Health) - 8,679 steps

May 26 (Sunday) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 381 calories; 5,758 strides) - 4.5 miles walking on Spring Creek Greenway Trail (1:07:37/15:02) - 0.8 miles walking (Apple Health) - 10,348 steps

May 27 (Monday) - 3.1 miles running in Seven Hills Running Club Memorial Day 5K (29:41.69) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 385 calories; 5,856 strides) - 24:33 rowing for 5,014 meters (28 strokes/min.; 2:27/500m) - 2 miles walking (Apple Health) - 9,428 steps

May 28 (Tuesday) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 385 calories; 5,826 strides) - 24:21 rowing for 5,016 meters (28 strokes/min.; 2:27/500m) - 1.2 miles walking (Apple Health) - 3,026 steps

May 29 (Wednesday) - 4.19 miles walking along The Woodlands Waterway (1:03:21.59 / 15:07) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 385 calories; 5,848 strides) - 14:27 rowing for 3,015 meters (27 strokes/min.; 2:19/500m) - 0.81 miles walking (Apple Health) - 9,775 steps

May 30 (Thursday) - 4.5 miles walking on Spring Creek Greenway Trail (1:07:16/14:57) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 387 calories; 5,914 strides) - 2.9 miles walking (Apple Health) - 15,397 steps

May 31 (Friday) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 385 calories; 5,834 strides) - 14:26 rowing for 3,009 meters (28 strokes/min.; 2:24/500m) - 1.5 miles walking (Apple Health) - 3,698 steps

June 1 (Saturday) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 385 calories; 5,850 strides) - 17:04 rowing for 3,508 meters (27 strokes/min.; 2:24/500m) - 1.7 miles walking (Apple Health) - 3,998 steps - 90-second plank

June 2 (Sunday) - 4.5 miles walking on Spring Creek Greenway Trail (1:07:11/14:56) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 385 calories; 5,844 strides) - 1.2 miles walking (Apple Health) - 11,701 steps

June 3 (Monday) - 4.19 miles walking along The Woodlands Waterway (1:02:46.08 / 14:59) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 386 calories; 5,868 strides) - 24:08 rowing for 5,012 meters (27 strokes/min.; 2:23/500m) - 0.81 miles walking (Apple Health) - 10,056 steps - 100-second plank

June 4 (Tuesday) - 4.5 miles walking on Spring Creek Greenway Trail (1:07:06/14:55) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 385 calories; 5,842 strides) - 120-second plank - 24:23 rowing for 5,014 meters (28 strokes/min.; 2:23/500m) - 1 mile walking (Apple Health) - 10,899 steps

June 5 (Wednesday) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 384 calories; 5,818 strides) - 24:24 rowing for 5,013 meters (27 strokes/min.; 2:28/500m) - 1.5 miles walking (Apple Health) - 3,673 steps

June 6 (Thursday) - 4.8 miles walking (Apple Health) - 11,483 steps

June 7 (Friday) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 373 calories; 5,616 strides) - 2 miles walking (Apple Health) - 4,989 steps

June 8 (Saturday) - 4 miles walking along The Woodlands Waterway (1:00:53.65 / 15:13) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 386 calories; 5,868 strides) - 3 miles walking (Apple Health) - 14,726 steps

June 9 (Sunday) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 389 calories; 5,942 strides) - 18:00 rowing for 3,719 meters (28 strokes/min.; 2:26/500m) - 1.1 miles walking (Apple Health) - 2,804 steps

June 10 (Monday) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 390 calories; 5,946 strides) - 4.5 miles walking on Spring Creek Greenway Trail (1:07:15 / 14:57) - 1.2 miles walking (Apple Health) - 11,199 steps

June 11 (Tuesday) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 391 calories; 5,960 strides) - 24:08 rowing for 5,013 meters (28 strokes/min.; 2:24/500m) - 2.3 miles walking (Apple Health) - 5,466 steps

June 12 (Wednesday) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 389 calories; 5,920 strides) - 4.46 miles walking on Spring Creek Greenway Trail (1:06:42 / 14:57) - 1.24 miles walking (Apple Health) - 11,356 steps

June 13 (Thursday) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 392 calories; 5,974 strides) - 24:22 rowing for 5,012 meters (28 strokes/min.; 2:24/500m) - 1.4 miles walking (Apple Health) - 3,568 steps

June 14 (Friday) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 395 calories; 6,064 strides) - 2.4 miles walking (Apple Health) - 5,986 steps

June 15 (Saturday) - 3.1 miles running in Holland Corn Festival 5K (30:14.51) - 3.3 miles walking (Apple Health) - 12,577 steps

June 16 (Sunday) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 388 calories; 5,910 strides) - 1.3 miles walking (Apple Health) - 3,379 steps

June 17 (Monday) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 394 calories; 6,012 strides) - 24:09 rowing for 5,007 meters (27 strokes/min.; 2:20/500m) - 4.5 miles walking on Spring Creek Greenway Trail (1:06:46/14:50) - 0.9 miles walking (Apple Health) - 10,340 steps

June 18 (Tuesday) -  33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 390 calories; 5,944 strides) - 24:07 rowing for 5,009 meters (28 strokes/min.; 2:25/500m) - 1.6 miles walking (Apple Health) - 3,693 steps

June 19 (Wednesday) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 395 calories; 6,028 strides) - 23:59 rowing for 5,018 meters (28 strokes/min.; 2:20/500m) - 0.73 miles walking (Apple Health) - 1,601 steps

June 20 (Thursday) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 399 calories; 6,098 strides) - 24:23 rowing for 5,016 meters (27 strokes/min.; 2:27/500m) - 0.78 miles walking (Apple Health) - 1,785 steps

June 21 (Friday) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 394 calories; 6,012 strides) - 24:01 rowing for 5,012 meters (28 strokes/min.; 2:23/500m) - 1 mile walking (Apple Health) - 2,570 steps

June 22 (Saturday) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 392 calories; 6,000 strides) - 24:20 rowing for 5,012 meters (28 strokes/min.; 2:27/500m) - 2.4 miles walking (Apple Health) - 5,796 steps

June 23 (Sunday) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 392 calories; 5,978 strides) - 24:45 rowing for 5,011 meters (27 strokes/min.; 2:26/500m) - 0.87 miles walking (Apple Health) - 2,017 steps

June 24 (Monday) - 33 minutes on Precor Elliptical (Weight Loss; 395 calories; 6,056 strides) - 90-second plank - 24:22 rowing for 5,008 meters (28 strokes/min.; 2:24/500m) - 1 mile walking (Apple Health) - 2,544 steps

Books Bought at Waco Half Price Books Outlet on 6/7/24 - 9 (Finished 1)

"A Coach's Influence Beyond the Game" by Grant Teaff

"America Through Baseball" by David Q. Voigt

"Counting Coup: A True Story of Basketball and Honor on the Little Big Horn" by Larry Colton

"I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond" by Michael Oher 

"Seven Seconds or Less: My Season on the Bench with the Runnin' and Gunnin' Phoenix Suns" by Jack McCallum

"Taming the Bull: The John "Bull" Bramlett Story" by John Bramlett , Tula Jeffries, et al.

"The King of Sports: Why Football Must Be Reformed" by Gregg Easterbrook  

"Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville: A Lifelong Passion for Baseball" by Stephen Jay Gould and David Halberstam

"Embedded Balls" by Peter Jacobsen and Jack Sheehan (Finished 6/23/2024)

First Baptist Churches Attended

2024

01/07/24 - Houston's First Baptist Church The5 (Greg Matte)

01/14/24 - Houston's First Baptist Church The5 (Brad Talbert)
02/04/24 - Houston's First Baptist Church The5 (Jarret Garber) 

04/28/24 - Houston's First Baptist Church The5 (Brad Talbert)

06/09/24 - Houston's First Baptist Church The5 (Brad Talbert)

06/16/24 - Houston's First Baptist Church The5 (Greg Matte)

06/23/24 - First Baptist Church Conroe (Jeff Berger)

2023

06/11/23 - First Baptist Church Victoria (Ben Rosenberger)

06/18/23 - Houston's First Baptist Church (Brian McCormack, guest speaker from Breakaway Ministries, College Station, TX)

07/02/23 - First Baptist Church of Fort Davis (Paul Harst)

07/16/23 - First Baptist Church of Denton (Dr. John Beck)

07/23/23 - First Baptist Church of Woodway (Dr. Paul Sands)

12/24/23 - Houston's First Baptist Church (Greg Matte)

2021

01/24/21 - Magnolia's First Baptist Church (Dr. Ed Seay)

2018

05/20/18 - First Baptist Church of Tulsa (Chris Mathews)

07/01/18 - First Baptist Church of El Paso (Dr. Mark Rotramel)

10/21/18 - First Baptist Church of College Station (Dr. Troy Allen)

2017

01/22/17 - First Baptist Church Waco (Mark Snowden)

07/30/17 - First Baptist Church of Texarkana (Jeff Schreve)

So Many Plans; June 22, 2024

So many plans.

Which one to decide?

It seems to be a weekly struggle for me.

Is this a part of getting older or just that I have too many interests?

It could be both.

Or that I'm not just happy with doing one thing and when I try to combine them, I can't get them all to work together.

My first thought of the weekend was to travel to TAPPS' 7-on-7 and 6-on-6 event at the Heart O' Texas Soccer Complex in Waco.  To make sure I didn't inconvenience TAPPS Associate Director Steve Prud'homme at the last minute, I put in for a credential request on Thursday ( to which he quickly filled).

I also wanted to run the Polish Pickle Run 5K in Bremond too, but I vacillated between whether to stay in Waco or College Station.  

Regardless of where I stayed it was going to be 45 minutes there and back.

If I had stayed in Waco, I didn't have good plans after.  That wasn't good.

In College Station, I would have gone to Temple, Bastrop and then Seguin for a museum, a statue (a new Harriet Tubman traveling exhibit) and a summer collegiate baseball game; however, I got past the 12 noon cutoff for online registration (which I found out after the fact), and that changed it all.

So what I was going to do Friday night before?

I decided to check out a Women's Premier Soccer League match at The Village School on the west side of Houston.

Our race director with the Legacy Capital The Woodlands Marathon, Willie Fowlkes, has been a long-time soccer coach and once explained me the different types of levels of soccer, but basically WPSL is summer collegiate soccer.

It turned out, while looking for what the admission price was going to be, that his daughter, Alexis, was playing for the home team, the Houston Aces (who destroyed the San Antonio Runners, 8-0, after beating them 3-0 two weeks ago in San Antonio).  Go figure.

I reached out to my daughter to see if she might be interested in joining me since she lived close and since she didn't have any plans, she did.  

Great conversation as always.

It turned out that there had been no admission price.  

I had eaten at Chick-Fil-A at Briar Forest and Eldridge Parkway before the match.  

And I made it home in a decent amount of time, but I stayed up a bit trying to map out my Saturday plans.

Before I went to bed I also saw that the author of a new book on Steelers head football coach Mike Tomlin was going to be signing copies at a Half Price Books store in south Austin from 12 noon - 2 p.m.

However, my main game plan was to go to Freeport for Fort Velasco Day and then hit some historical sites and museums in Brazoria County.

I woke up between 5:30 and 6, but basically it was two hours to Bremond so I would have needed to leave by 4:45 a.m.  That was out.

While the good folks who put on the two park runs here in Houston are good, sweet people, I'm not a big fan of the fuss that park run UK created with all of their data issues.

I definitely didn't feel like running three loops at Spindle Tree, but I didn't want to drive down and back to Terry Hershey even though it is an out and back and on concrete.

I made it to the gym to get my elliptical work in - 33-minute weight loss routine (basically four-minute intervals), after getting a small amount of food in me.

When I got back my original plans for Saturday vaporized as I got some things down here at the house and then I made sure that I got my 24-minute, 5,000 meter rowing workout in too.

And after that, I finally made it out of the house before 1 p.m. and my target became the Rosenberg Railroad Museum, which had a "Railroads & American Sports" exhibit.

It was small, but very, very well done.

I have a list of railroad sites to work through, much like so many other lists I have to do or see.

So aside from taking in the Wharton County Courthouse square and all of its surroundings, I made it to the Wharton Train Depot & Museum (the museum part was closed), the Needville (Long Point) Depot and the Fulshear Historic Switch House.

Trying to stay off of the cutthroat freeways, I started to manuever up Fry Road instead of getting up on the Westpark Tollway.

I took Fry all the way to Westheimer when I realized that Westheimer was the location of one of the last two remaining Half Price Books locations in the greater Houston area that I hadn't been to.

I bought a book to make it count - my normal routine, and then I traveled towards home, stopping to eat at Mike and Shelley Ludwig's Chick-Fil-A near the intersection of FM 2920 and Kuykendahl.

It all worked out.

I don't know.  Maybe instead of fretting over a bunch of driving or a long drive and/or getting in late on the return, from going to a ball game with a 7 p.m. start, maybe I should do what I did today:  get in the car and see where it goes!

Different Chick-Fil-A Restaurants (21)

2014 (2)

01/22/14 - #01215 - Spring, TX

12/24/14 - #02069 - Spring, TX

2016 (1)

01/08/16 - #02557 - Alexandria, LA

2017 (6)

02/11/17 - #00862 - Longview, TX

02/16/17 - #02484 - The Woodlands, TX

02/17/17 - #03869 - San Angelo, TX

08/29/17 - #01070 - The Woodlands, TX

10/27/17 - #03916 - Spring, TX

12/28/17 - #03366 - San Angelo, TX

2018 (3)

01/06/18 - #01484 - Covington, LA

02/17/18 - #03283 - Houston, TX

08/14/18 - #02715 - Fort Worth, TX

2019 (1)

01/17/19 - #01647 - Marlton, NJ

2020 (1)

06/27/20 - #02740 - Little Rock, AR

2022 (3)

06/10/22 - #00614 - Houston, TX (Hobby)

10/18/22 - Kingwood, TX (Northpark Drive)

10/21/22 - #01071 - The Woodlands, TX

2023 (3)

06/10/23 - #05052 - Victoria, TX
11/11/23 - #04627 - Corsicana, TX
12/18/23 - #03588 - New Caney, TX

2024 (1)
06/21/24 - #03111 - Houston, TX (Parkwy Village FSR)

NPSL / WPSL Fields Seen

National Premier Soccer League

Women's Premier Soccer League

The Village School (Houston, TX) - Houston Aces 8, San Antonio Runners 0, Friday, June 21, 2024 (Free)

Texas Summer Baseball Tour, Year Two - Stop #3, The Dell Diamond

One of the greatest things that I've been able to do over the years is to combine baseball and running.

So as I navigate a second trip here in 2024 through the ballparks in Texas which host collegiate summer baseball leagues games up to the major leagues, when I can go to a game and run a race, I feel like I've hit the lottery - even though I pay to do both!

I have a spreadsheet which has all of the dates down the first column and the teams on the first row, then all of the start times scattered for the entire season - through the end of July, some into August and a couple into September.

I also navigate two websites that specifically have race calendars and my preference is always to run in a town I never have before.

So this past Friday night, I was able to see the Round Rock Express play host to the Tacoma Rainiers at the Dell Diamond, which, by the way, is 25 years old.

It seems as if it was one of the early facilities where all of the seats were basically off the main concourse level, in a bowl.

Over time, this facility has held up well and still has a new feel to it.  

The only thing that I recall is that the walkways directly behind the seats between the basepaths is very tight - maybe, at the most, can hold three people wide.

And because of that all of the concession stands - inside the bases, point to the inside - so basically the field is to your left or right while standing in line for some form of refreshment.

Yet, I still like it.  

Plus it seems like it was one of the early of the newer ballparks at the minor league level that you could walk all the way around on the inside.

A personal note:  Probably the second race that I had ever run was the Round Rock Express 5K in April 2003.  It ran behind the ballpark in Old Settles Park, close to the grounds where Texas' public school state cross country meet is held, and it finished up the ramp coming from center field.  Before finishing, you got to take one lap around the field on the warning track.

So in the last couple of posts, I've discussed ticket pricing a litle bit and Round Rock surely doesn't disappoint.

The only place under $20 where I could stick my butt in a seat was in the Home Run Porch in left-field.  My ticket was $16 plus $3 in fees.  

And Round Rock also had started doing graduated pricing within a particular section.  

The front row was $40 while the last row was $23.

So the minor leagues want to scream "Come for entertainment," but push on to fans major league prices and policies.

For a Friday night fireworks performance, published attendance was 6,141.  

And having the benefit of finishing this post on Monday, Saturday had 8,431 with the club pushing heavily a pitching duel between Dallas Keuchel and Max Scherzer.  

(Keuchel, by the way, outdueled him going six innings without a run and seven strikeouts.)

Sunday Father's Day attendance was 5,378.

The seat that I purchased in the Home Run Porch was an aisle seat, which I like if I can get, but it was squarely behind a steel girder.  

Luckily the game wasn't well-attended as noted (the Dell Diamond's capacity is 11,631), and I moved back and over and had a whole row to myself, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I did see for the first time in memory back-to-back home runs from Jantzen Witte and Jax Biggers as the Express went up 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth.

Before I left, in the middle of the eighth with the score tied 5-all, Tacoma's Jason Vosler had tied the game with a two-run shot to right center field.

One of Round Rock's more interesting promotions on this evening was that if the Express pitcher struck out a batter in the top of the seventh inning, all hot dogs would go on sale for a $1 while supplies lasted.

Owen White took down Jake Slaughter in six pitches to send fans to the one concession stand that sold hot dogs and before the bottom of the inning the supply was gone.  (I had eaten at my 239th career Whataburger before the game, but I could have gone over my calorie count for the day.)

I left a little early - and was glad I did as the game went into the tenth inning with Tacoma winning 6-5, but in researching things to finish the post I see that MILB uses the runner on second base to start the inning too.

Honestly, I haven't stayed long enough to see that done, and I'm glad that I missed it.

Round Rock, despite the $15 to park your car (the highest in Texas outside of the major league on a ball park lot), is still a fun place to see a game at.

And, oh, I drove up the road about 45 minutes on Saturday morning to Holland, Texas and ran a 30:15 time at the Holland Corn Festival 5K.

A satisfying combination.

Behind Home Plate

From Down the Right Field Line

From Left-Center Field Walkway

From My $19 Seat in the Home Run Porch