People are Funny

People are funny.

They go to the company cafeteria and get eggs with sausage and hash browns, and biscuits and gravy for breakfast.

Then they come up to the restroom later and lay down one of those paper sheets over the toilet seat.

Mother's Day Conversation

This Mother's Day mini-conversation at Mi Cocina was too good not to get down before it's forgotten.

Erin (Kelly's sister, who I like to aggravate as much and as often as possible): "Remember six years ago when Kelly exploded that ketchup packet all over the place? We were cleaning the blinds yesterday and found ketchup spots."

Me: "Maybe you should clean your blinds more often than every six years."

Katie: "Wait, do blinds need to be cleaned?"

4 Trips

I made four trips to Home Depot yesterday. Good thing Home Depot is very close to the house.

One hinge to the main gate to the back fence had come off, and I needed some long bolts, washers, nuts to put it back on -- the big wood screws weren't going to do it any more. Also, one corner of the back fence had come loose. Plus, there was one other thing Kelly said we needed from Home Depot, but I couldn't remember what it was. I carefully made out a list of what size bolts, nuts, washers, etc. I needed.

Trip 1: Kelly went with me. Bought the hardware just as I had listed. Remembered when we got there that what we had forgotten we needed was a new water filter for the refrigerator. But, there are several different filters, so we always have to take our old filter out and take it with us. We'd have to get it next time. We also picked up a few plants and some lawn fertilizer and a bag of Ironite for the oak tree that's turning yellow that we're trying to save, but know is hopeless because it's a variety not meant for North Texas (we didn't plant it.)

Trip 2: I needed to drill holes through the fence to insert the bolts in. My father-in-law bought us our Craftsman drill as a housewarming gift back in 1987, and the drill chuck or whatever it's called that tightens the drill around the bit had fallen off the cord, and we couldn't find it. The drill bit was not even spinning. I went back to pick up a drill chuck. Didn't remember to take the old water filter. Kelly stayed home to plant the plants.

Trip 3: The drill chuck the guy sold me was too small -- he insisted it would be the right size. But, I made it work. Drilled the holes and inserted the bolts and realized all the bolts I had bought had a round flat head on them -- there was nothing to hold on to with a wrench when I was trying to tighten the nut. The nuts I bought were the nylon locking nuts. Decided I was hungry, and it was lunch time, and that maybe I'd have a better disposition if I ate first. (Kelly said, "Just leave it and I'll call Jose." Jose was the brother of the guy who came out to cut down one of our sickly trees and trim up the other. He said his brother Jose would be glad to come out and fix the fence. "Just leave it and I'll call Jose" only strengthened my resolve to finish this job myself!) At first I thought my problem was the nylon locking nuts -- that with regular nuts, I'd be able to tighten them even with the round flat-head bolts. But, on the way up, I decided I still wanted to use the locking nuts, it was the bolts with the flat round heads that were the problem. So, I'd buy new bolts with ends that you can get a wrench on. Still didn't remember to take the old water filter.

Trip 4: The fence repair team of Stan and Ollie (Kelly and Nelson) were making good progress, though by this time it was well past noon, and starting to get hot. One of us was on one side of the fence holding the bolt, the other on the other side of the fence tightening the nut. We finished with the gate and went over to fix the back fence that had come loose in the wind. (Mind you, this is a pretty new fence.) It appears the fencers had only used nails to piece together the corner, and they had come loose. We were installing a couple of L-brackets to hold the corner together. Got the holes drilled and punched through the bolts -- and they were too short. Needed 8 more bolts, 1/2-inch longer. This time I remembered the old water filter.

By 2:00, both parts of the fence were fixed and strong. A little blood on me and one mashed finger on Kelly. Kelly was a little sunburned, too, from being in the direct sun for so long. By 2:30, the water was running clear from the refrigerator, we had dried off, changed clothes and were cooled off enough to take a nap.

And, we never had to call Jose.

Advice for the New School Year

This week's Dallas Morning News question of the week was what advice did we have for students/parents/teachers for the new school year. I responded something like, "High school girls, don't forget that if you get sent to the office because your clothes are inappropriate, you're going to have to wear the outfit your mom puts together and brings up to you."

This only happened to Katie once, and Mom put together and brought up an outfit she would never forget. So, Katie learned her lesson. She started keeping an extra set of clothes in her car.

Back on My Feet Run - 8/10/11

I ran with Back on My Feet this morning.

It's kinda funny. A new volunteer "non-resident" (she doesn't live at the shelter) ran with me today -- Rachel. She said she hadn't been running a lot lately, though she is a runner, and the three miles we were supposed to do were going to be a challenge for her.

So, Rachel ran along side of me, and it was kind of a complicated route, and when she saw the neighborhoods we were running through, and that it was dark, and that if she didn't stick with me she might get lost, she had no problem completing those three miles! I dropped her off at the end and then circled back to pick up some others. When we all got back, she was gone. I hope she comes back.

The "residents" (those who live at the shelter) love my baked goods (pineapple bread today), and I get to bake for someone else who really appreciates them. Only, they aren't supposed to bring outside food into the shelter, so they take my carefully-wrapped baked goodies and stuff them deep into their pockets to get past the security guard.

Troy Aikman and St. Francis

For some reason, in our main lobby today at work there's a big spinning wheel, and employees can take a spin to try to win a signed Tony Romo official Cowboys jersey.

It reminded me of the year at Father's Day when my brother-in-law opened his gift and it was a white football signed by Troy Aikman (one of my father-in-law's regular men's suit customers at Neimans.)

My present was so big it had to be wrapped in a brown plastic yard bag, so I thought man this must be good. It was a plastic statue of St. Francis to put in my garden.

Maybe it was a good thing everyone decided we're not doing gifts any more for Father's Day. That hadn't been decided yet last month for Mother's Day, but minds were made up by Father's Day.

Why Girls Run With the DRC and My Job As a Pace Leader

I'm starting to learn some things about girls as I continue to pace lead.

(I sent this note to my neighbor this morning and thought it was pretty good, so I thought I'd share it here, too, for others.)

Good morning, neighbor.

If you don't read Kristin Armstrong's blog, I think you would like it: http://milemarkers.runnersworld.com/. She is a runner, like you, trying to juggle being a good mom and a good runner. Kelly reads this blog and gives me updates. I used to read it on a regular basis, but the more I read it, the more I realized she was writing this for women and not for me, and I felt like I was eavesdropping on girlfriends' conversations, so I stopped.

Kristin has a book I bought for Kelly -- if you like her blog, you'll like her book. Let me know, and you can borrow it. I started reading it, too. It's an inspirational book, for women, written by a runner, but I thought I might pick up some tidbits in there myself. So, I started reading it one morning, not moving Kelly's bookmark. Being sneaky. Turned my cup of coffee over on it the first morning. Gaaa! Had to confess. I kept reading, but after a couple of days, I felt like I was eavesdropping on a girlfriends' conversation again, so I stopped.

One thing pace leading has taught me over the years is that moms and wives and daughters and girlfriends come out to run with the DRC to have some girlfriends time. They're not coming out to run with the guys. Oh, guys are out there, too, but it's been my experience that the girls come out to have some time for themselves as women -- some time away from the responsibilities of being a mom and/or wife and/or daughter or girlfriend.

So, I've learned that my job as pace leader is to keep us on pace and on route (heaven help us!), to offer encouragement, to share inspiration when I can find it, but to otherwise stay back and out of the way and let you all have your girlfriends time. That's usually how our long runs go -- we all stick together, but the girls are in their little running pods having their conversations, enjoying each other, the running, the mornings. That's the experience of running with the 3:90 marathon training group, and I hope that maybe you will be able to work it out to run with us this fall.

We guys are just along for a little comic relief, and to shoo off dogs and strangers. And, to bake.

Have a good day, neighbor!

I Just Love Austin College

It's Saturday night, and we've been to the Baccalaureate ceremony, which was amazing, and we've been to the refreshments get-together afterwards and are leaving. And, for some reason the college president Dr. Marjorie Hass singles Kelly and I out and comes over to congratulate us and shakes our hands -- she is leaving, too.

So, we find Katie and start down the stairs to leave, and Dr. Hass and her husband are leaving at the same time in front of us, and Katie says, "Marjorie! I love your shoes!" and she and the college president stand there for a couple of minutes talking about her shoes -- how they are Cole Hahn, and how they have a deal with Nike, so they're dress shoes, but really athletic shoes, and have a cork sole, etc. And, then after a bit, we go on our way -- us to our car, Dr. Hass to her next graduation function of the evening.

Kelly and I were flabbergasted. I said, "Katieeee... That's the college president -- you don't call her Marjorie!" Katie said, "Dadddddyyyy... Everyone calls her Marjorie!"

That's what Austin College is like, one of the many reasons why I just love Austin College.

2011 OKC Memorial Marathon

(Picture: Waiting for the start, wearing our brown trash bags)

Marathons tend to be hard enough without driving rain, hail, gusty winds, lightning, and 30-degree temperatures. The 2011 OKC Memorial Marathon was quite the experience...

Picked Marty up at his house, and then we picked up Sam in Denton on the way. Stopped for lunch/breakfast in Ardmore -- I ate the lunch I had brought myself (I refused to change my routine), which kind of freaked out the little girl who waited on us. We got to OKC around 1:30 and went straight to the expo to pick up our packets. The expo was pretty boring, so we didn't spend too much time there and just went to the hotel. It was a beautiful, sunny cool day, and there was an art festival right by packet pickup, so the downtown area was bustling. We decided on rest rather than walking the art festival.

Veronica and Brian were running late, so we just checked in at the hotel and rested. Sam and I shared a room. The bathroom doors were multi-paned French doors, and the toilet was right there -- what the h?

Lied in bed and caught multiple episodes of some super-couponer show -- people who fill their garages and bedrooms with huge amounts of stuff (regardless of whether it will expire or not, or whether they will ever use it or not) because they can get it for free with coupons. One woman said her closet with 200+ bottles of her daughter-in-law's favorite soda made her happy, another women her 3-year supply of toilet paper, a man his 100+ bottles of hand soap. Made me sad, and a little angry. This world wasn't meant for everyone to stock what they don't need and can never use.

Went to dinner -- reservations at 6. Brian and the GPS took us on a long loop around the city until we finally found the Olive Garden. I told him I swore I could see our hotel from the restaurant. It was a beautiful prom night in OKC, and the lines at Olive Garden were out the door and down the sidewalk. It's always nice to be with someone from the corporate HQ (Veronica) because we walked right past them all and into our private nook at the restaurant, had two waiters assigned to our long table, and were warmly greeted by multiple other people and management staff from the restaurant. Veronica and Brian paid for all our dinners. Bill from our training group gave Veronica and I a nice card with a $50 gift card in it -- what a nice guy! Ate dinner with Veronica, Brian, Sam, Marty, Courtney, Alan, Jaulik and husband, Bill and his wife and Courtney's parents. Ate my standard pre-race cheese pizza.

Brian took us back to the hotel, and he and Veronica and I headed over to Walmart. They needed some things, and I wanted a carry bottle of Gatorade to get me through the first few water stops of the race when it is always so crowded. I told Veronica that I couldn't believe that Bill gave us each a $100 gift card; she looked kind of confused and said he had only given her $50. I laughed. When we got back to the hotel, Sam was already snuggled in bed, so before very long it was lights out.

I didn't sleep a wink. I kept checking my alarm clock all night so as not to oversleep. I finally got out of bed at 3:30. The race started at 6:30, so we were meeting in the lobby at 5:15 to drive over. Sam had said not to let him sleep past 4:30. So, I got up and made some coffee, ate a Clif bar, and showered. I swear when the light came on in the bathroom, the whole room lit up with those dad-gum French doors. I'm surprised Sam was able to sleep. We all met in the lobby at 5:15 but kept going back and forth to our rooms because we'd forgotten stuff. As we finally started out the door to the car, it started to sprinkle. Back to the rooms for brown plastic trash bags (for wearing.)

Brian drove us all downtown in Veronica's car, we parked and made our way towards the starting line. We were still early, so we snuck into a really nice old hotel to sit in the lobby and use their restooms. We found a spot to sit, looked out the window, and the deluge began. Lots of lightning. Soon, word came that the race start had been delayed 30 minutes until 7. The rain never let up, but the lightning stopped, so people started making their way towards the starting line about 6:45.

We waited on Veronica for one last restroom stop, the lines were long, and we didn't actually head to the starting line until about 6:55 -- race start at 7, and we were at least 4 blocks away. Marty and Sam had left earlier (we didn't see them again.) So, we hustled over in the driving rain and wind. We weren't sure where we were going, but looked over and could see people running, so we made a left and headed that way. Before we knew it, we were in a huge crowd of 5Kers who were standing and waiting for their race to start -- about 20 minutes after the marathon start. They didn't want to let us squeeze through -- at one point I thought we'd never get through, but we finally did, assuring them we were marathoners and needed to get going. I had forgotten to start my Garmin in all the confusion, so I turned it on, and it finally found a satellite about a minute past the starting line. We were on our way. Heavy driving rain with lots of wind, and super-chilly temps. It wasn't too far before we ran through our first puddles deep enough to completely soak our shoes and feet.

Veronica and I ran together the whole 26.2 miles. We picked up Jaulik (who ran with our group in the spring) at about the half-way point, and she ran with us the rest of the way also. Sam was doing the half-marathon and passed us at about mile 7 -- he and Marty had actually started behind us since we had squeezed our way through the 5Kers to the front of the line. We never saw Bill or Courtney or Alan or Robert. We tried to stay on pace as best as we could -- at every mile marker I gave a report of how many minutes we were off on our 4:30 goal, and gave assurance that we could possibly make up some time at the end (we were using a "modified warm-up" pace band where you start and finish slower.) I tossed my Gatorate bottle at the halfway point, I had only taken a few sips, and was tired of carrying it. The rain stopped for about 3 miles from miles 13-15. I actually took off the soaked $2 sweatshirt I had picked up for Veronica and I at Academy (months ago for the Austin marathon, which was hot, so didn't need them), but I tied it around my waist just in case I might need it later. Veronica never took hers off -- she was frozen the whole way.

At mile 15 it clouded up, and the rain started again. This time it was heavier, windier, colder, and at two different points contained hail. Lots of lightning. I put my wet sweatshirt back on. We kept moving forward -- it was so cold and windy, there was no stopping, we had to keep moving to stay warm and keep the hypothermia away. Veronica was fighting like a champ to keep going. At mile 22, I looked over and made eye contact with her, and the tears were flowing, so I decided I couldn't make eye contact any more, or we'd never finish. So, we just kept going. We did finish -- Veronica, Jaulik and I side-by-side! Ran the entire way! 4:46:50 was our finish time, which was respectable given the circumstances.

Near the end, Veronica said she was so cold that she felt like she was going to pass out when we stopped at the finish line. She was not looking well. We finished together, stood for a moment as they draped our medals around our neck, and headed down the chute. Almost right away was the medical tent -- we snuck in the back door. There was a blowing heater in there! We stood for a few minutes trying to get warm, and then someone stood up from one of the chairs, so Veronica was able to sit down. Finally, I thought I was warmer, and I said I was going to go find Brian and bring him back. Don't move from right here, I said. I walked outside in the driving cold rain, walked further down the chute and didn't see anyone I knew, and began to get bone-chilled again, so I headed back to the tent. Veronica was huddled in the corner, shaking all over. She said she was not getting warmed up and was going to need some medical help.

I went over and flagged someone down and said we needed some help, so they cleared a table, and I walked Veronica over to the table, and they laid her down, took off her shoes and socks, made a tent so she could discreetly change into one of their medic dry shirts, and then they wrapped her up like a mummy in a couple of blankets. Her vitals signs were good; she was just super-chilled. She started to come back around before too long and kept telling me to go back over where the heater was because I was shivering, too, and to look for Brian. I'd walk to the edge of the tent, look out at the driving rain, and thought there is no way I was going back out there again. I prayed for Brian to walk in, instead. Every few minutes I'd go back and check on her and let her know I hadn't found Brian, yet. I wasn't for sure how to get to the car from where we were (Veronica had the key!), where anybody else was, or how in the world we were going to get out of this place. The rain kept pounding.

Finally, I overheard someone mention something about somebody shuttling people to their cars -- 5 at a time in a mini-van. I commandeered a ride for us on the first one, and we shuffled out into the rain and into the warm mini-van. By the time we finally got to the car, we were starting to thaw a little and cheer up a bit. But, we got in Veronica's car and started it up, and it was freezing in there, so we started to shiver and shake again. She started dialing people to see where they were. Next thing we knew, Marty was walking up to the car. He had been in the building across the street and saw us. Sam and Brian were at the Starbucks up the street -- they said stay right there, and they'd come to us.

In all the excitement, we had given up on getting a finisher's shirt, but once we were all in the car, Sam said if we'd drive over near the finish line, he'd jump out and go get our shirts, so we did, and Sam got our shirts. We finally got back to the hotel around 2, and got chilled again getting from the parking lot into the hotel. After I took a hot shower, made a cup of coffee, and put on all the layers of clean dry clothes I had left, I finally started to warm up.

On our way back home, we stopped at Cracker Barrel for a hot lunch, which took forever, got a little chilled again, and then headed for home. There was lots of construction on I35 coming home, at one point, coming to a complete stop, and the rain and storms were wild from before Ardmore all the way to Denton, but we finally made it back to Sam's truck in Denton to drop him off, to Marty's near White Rock Lake to drop him off, and home by 7:45. During the trip home, I finally had to tone down the heat in the car -- we finally got thawed out.

Takeaways from this year's OKC. Next year, pay a little more to stay at a hotel within walking distance of the starting line. Go to Walmart and stock up on 88 cent clear plastic parkas with hoodies (that you can probably wear the entire race and the photographers can see your number through it -- with our sweatshirts covering our numbers, our pictures of the experience will be buried in the lost and found pictures.) Figure out something besides Clif bars and Clif Shot Bloks to eat during the races -- all that sweet starts to get nauseating afterwhile -- I'm thinking maybe those peanut butter-filled pretzels. Will have to try some training runs with those.

OKC was quite the experience, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Can't wait for the next marathon.

Next Up: Nov. 19 Wild Hare 50-Mile Endurance Trail Run
50 while I'm still 50 -- turn 51 on Nov. 20

Garmin Statistics:
Overall: Miles: 26.65; Time: 4:47:12; Pace: 10:47
Laps: 41 degrees/1-10:19, 2-10:59, 42 degrees/3-10:48, 4-10:26, 5-10:37, 39 degrees/6-10:33, 7-10:34, 8-10:27, 38 degrees/9-10:37, 10-10:52, 11-11:19, 37 degrees/12-10:57, 39 degrees/13-10:54, 14-10:42, 38 degrees/15-10:20, 16-10:17, 37 degrees/17-10:27, 18-10:25 19-10:27, 36 degrees/20-10:19, 21-10:24, 37 degrees/22-10:41, 23-10:54, 24-11:15, 25-11:47, 36 degrees/26-12:06, .6-12:05

Lily Loves Santa!

He's delicious!

The Technodrome

I have to document these stories while I can still remember them.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Technodrome was the must-have toy for boys in the late 80s/early 90s. John insisted it was all he wanted for Christmas. It wasn't cheap.

Putting together the Technodrome was more torturous than working a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle. I'm sure there were more parts than that. I spent hours putting it together on Christmas Eve after the kids had gone to bed.

But, I finally got it together. I had taken my time, was very careful, and it looked exactly like the picture on the box. Sweet success. The only task left was to apply the decals.

So, I got out the decals to add the final finishing touch. At the top of the page of decals was a note:

"Make sure to apply decals to the individual parts before putting the Technodrome together."

Giving Camping Some Thought

We used to go camping when the kids were little. We outgrew the desire to do that over the years, I guess. But, I'm starting to think that might be fun again. I'm sure camping would be a solo adventure for me now, though. Maybe I'll try it out in the back yard first.

We used to camp at Lake Bonham with the Byrd and Falls families. I remember on one trip the Byrds and Praters got there first. The wives took the kids over to the playground, and Mark Byrd and I struggled to get our tents up. Sweltering heat, dusty wind, uneven ground, bent tent stakes, profanity-laced outbursts. Mark finally came over to give me a hand. We eventually got both tents up, our hair going in all directions, our faces covered with dust, our shirts salt-stained, but our egos feeling accomplished.

The Falls finally arrived, and David, decked out in plaid shorts, polo shirt, and topsiders, hopped out of their mini-van and sent Teri and the kids out to play. David turned a little handle and popped up their camper, canopy and all. Mark and I looked at each other and hung our heads in shame. When David started stringing those party lights through the trees, we got misty-eyed and had to look away. What kind of men are we, we thought? What kind of fathers?

We headed over to join the others at the playground. Mark and I draped ourselves over a bench, totally pooped, while David scampered over to play with the kids. We should be ashamed of ourselves! What kind of men are we? What kind of fathers?

We men finally snuck back to camp for some snacks. Mark and I got out our Ho-Hos and Ding-Dongs and Nutty Buddys and Bugles and Cheetos and Big Red; David got out a big bag of grapes and plums and some sparkling water. And, man did David ever eat some grapes and plums! By the time the girls and kids got back about an hour later, David was starting to turn green and was laid back in one of his adirondack chairs with a wet towel over his face.

What kind of a man is that, we thought? What kind of a father is that?

Jesus, Is That You?

I used to see (who I referred to as) Cap'n Jack on my early morning runs -- an older, heavy-set fellow wearing a fishing cap and kind of lumbering along. I didn't see him all the time -- just on mornings when I was a little down, or maybe working out a frustration or something in my head (I do that a lot on my solo home runs.) Some mornings we'd be on the same side of the street, some not. But, a smile and big ol' wave from Cap'n Jack always lifted my spirits. (Remember, this was usually at 4:30 in the morning!)

It's been over a year since I've seen Cap'n Jack, but now I have a new friend. A little old lady out walking, wearing her AM/FM headphones with the antenna all the way up (yes it's still 4:30 in the morning.) Even though we often pass just inches from each other, she smiles and waves with her whole body. I don't see her all the time -- just on mornings when I am a little down... A big smile and whole-body wave from my little old lady friend always lifts my spirits.

Jesus, that's you, isn't it?!

(My) Vision for the 4:30 Training Group

This is an open letter to the DRC Fall Training Program - 4:30 Full Marathon Training Group.

Dear friends,

Ashley and I are so thrilled that you have chosen to make the journey to the starting line of the marathon with us. What an honor you have bestowed on us, and what a responsibility we now have!

If you haven't already, I think you will soon get a sense that Ashley and I (and all the pace leaders) take this very seriously and have dedicated this season of our lives to helping you get to the starting line trained and healthy. Yes, we're for real. Really.

But it's more than just getting to the starting line -- it's discovering who we will become between now and then. We won't be the same people then as we are now; trust me. We will be something supremely different, and better.

I'm reading Tony Dungy's new book "The Mentor Leader: Secrets to Building Teams That Win Consistently." Can I be so bold as to attempt a Vision, Mission and Values for our group? Having a vision, mission and set of values will enable us to make group decisions that are focused on where we want to go and be.

Vision A picture of where we want to be, what we want to look like, what we hope things will be like in the future.

I have a picture in my head of us huddling together at the starting line of the White Rock Marathon, near the person holding up the 4:30 sign. We're each wrapped in one of those cheap fleece blankets (imagine that, now!) - that we're going to throw off to the side when the race starts, to be picked up and given to someone else who is trying to stay warm but can't afford a cheap fleece blanket. We're all there, every one of us. Not a single one of us was lost to injury or burnout this fall. The race starts, we say our goodbyes, and we're all off to run our race.

My next picture is of us gathering together again for a group picture in the chute past the finish line of the marathon. We've each run our own race and are together again. Some of us ran together, some of us didn't. We've all just had the time of our lives, can't even really remember what our finish time was, and are on top of the world. What smiles! And, we're wondering when we can go do this again.

Mission Why do we exist? Why are we doing what we're doing? Why bother with all of this, anyway?

We exist, the DRC Fall Training Program - 4:30 Full Marathon Training Group, to help each other accomplish that vision. We are in this together. At least two days a week, we will run not as individuals, but collectively as a group. There is a higher power in group running - we can accomplish things together we would never be able to do on our own (for example, run 4+ miles in 100+ degree temperatures!)

We are doing this to find that person inside of us we kind of knew existed, but may have never met. Again, trust me, the person standing at the starting line of the marathon won't be the same person you know right now.

Why bother with this, anyway? Because this new person is going to be infinitely more-capable of giving back to others. I think we do this because there are others, who we might not even know right now, who are counting on us to become these new people, counting on us to be prepared to help them take this same journey we just took, maybe even as early as next spring. We are preparing ourselves now to be able to share this experience with others in the future.

Values "Rules of the road," how we will treat each other, what is important to us

We can come up with these as we go along...
What is important (to me) is that every time we get together to run, we have fun. Running is meant to be fun. Group running can be a blast. It's really a social event - a chance to get together with our friends, enjoy each others' company, and accomplish something that is good for our bodies and for our souls. Let's enjoy each route we take together.

We will encourage each other. We will do our best to stick close together when we run. (We didn't join a group to then run by ourselves, did we?) If someone needs to take an extra water stop on a hot day, we'll stop. If we need to take a little longer stop so somebody can sneak in to the restroom, we'll wait. Our group is special in that we have two pace leaders - between Ashley and I, we can make sure that nobody gets left behind. Ideally, though, we will start and finish our group runs together.

We will be known for our respect and encouragement of the other DRC runners, other runners, cyclists, walkers, skaters, etc.

Basically, we will create an environment that we all can't wait to get to each Wednesday and Saturday. That's the 4:30 Full Marathon Training Group.

So, there you go. We have a long journey ahead of us, one we've just started, and I promise you, one we will never forget. It's going to be a real trip!

Thanks again for trusting Ashley and I with your presence in our group. Hope you had a good run today, friends.
Nelson

I Used to Think 50 Was Old

When I was ten, twenty seemed old. We had a family friend who was twenty, drank black coffee, and played the guitar. I thought he was old, but I sure wanted to learn how to play that guitar.

When I was twenty, thirty seemed old. I was standing in the checkout line with a mother and her young daughter who bumped me, and the mother said, "Say you're sorry to the nice man." Ouch.

When I was thirty, forty seemed old. My son would already be fifteen, and my daughter twelve when I turned forty.

When I was forty, fifty seemed old. Now that I'm fast approaching fifty, sixty seems old.

I'm going to keep running so that when I turn sixty, seventy will seem old.

Saved

(Thanks, Phil, for reminding me of this story.) I never could figure out what being "saved" meant. Saved from what?

When I was 7 or 8, my best buddy Kevin Owens and I were throwing the football in the front yard when some guy walked up and asked if we wanted to be "saved." Sounded interesting to us, so we said OK. He said a prayer over us, gave us a mini Bible, and declared us "saved."

We thought that was cool and went inside for some Kool-Aid.

The Secret to Parking at Winfrey Point

Shhhh.... There's a secret to parking at Dallas Running Club races that start at Winfrey Point. Interested?

It was frigid at the last February race -- below freezing before and near freezing afterward. With limited parking at Winfrey Point, many parked at the clubhouse and walked over. When it's not frigid out, it's not really very far -- a nice walk before and after the race, and maybe even a short warm-up run.

After the February race, I gave Mike and Sam a ride back to their cars. Sam drew the short straw and flopped over into the bed of my little truck -- like a piece of red, raw meat. It was so cold, and he looked so miserable back there. If he hadn't been so sweaty and gross, I would have thrown him the Mexican blanket I have over the seat in my truck.

But, this doesn't have to be. There is a secret to parking at Winfrey Point. Wanna know what it is?

Volunteer.

Those parking spaces right up by the door are reserved for volunteers. Well, not really reserved, but the volunteers get there first and have their pick of the prime spots.

Did you know you can volunteer and run the race? There are lots of jobs race runners can do before or after the race.

There's no telling what kind of new things Jason could plan at the DRC races if he could count on an abundance of extra volunteers.

If you've already registered to run the April 5-miler, you can go back and register to also volunteer. And, when you register for the May race, go ahead and register twice -- once to run, once to volunteer. You'll feel great about yourself, you'll get a prime parking spot, and your DRC will have a better race and be a better running club because you volunteered.

What's in your race volunteer wallet?

Now's the Time to Plan for a 1-Year Marathon

I'm carbo-loading for my second 1-year marathon. It begins Jan. 1 and ends Dec. 31, 2010.

If you've never read the entire Holy Bible, but have always wanted to, now's the time to start planning. You're runners; you're disciplined people. So, there's no doubt you can do it, if you want to. If you don't, no big deal. But, if you do... I did it in 2008, took off in 2009, and am going to do another one in 2010.

I've always been a New Testament junkie. I've read the New Testament over and over, enough times now that I feel I have a good sense of who Jesus is and how he would prefer we behave towards each other. I can't quote Bible verses, but I have this sense.

I had never read the Old Testament very much. And, I was getting indigestion from others taking a few lines out of their context and shoving them down my throat. I wanted the whole story so I could make up my own mind. But, how do I approach such a big reading assignment?

The One-Year Bible. The entire Holy Bible broken up into daily readings, starting Jan. 1. Old Testament, Proverbs, Psalms, and New Testament every day. A mere 15-20 minute reading commitment each day. And, on New Year's Eve 2010, you finish the whole thing. I like to start my day with it (say, 3:30 a.m. for me) and then I have my 4 a.m. run and the rest of the day to give that day's reading some thought. One could start his day in worse ways.

If you've ever wanted to read the entire Holy Bible, now's the time to go get you a One-Year Bible and lay it out so you are ready on Jan. 1. Good luck. You just ran a half-marathon or marathon. This will be a walk in the park compared to that.

My Work is On the Roads

I ran up on a young man this morning at mile 2. He was maybe 20. Maybe not that old. Walking, but didn't seem to really be walking anywhere. Short sleeves. It was 4:20 and 42 degrees. He looked scared.

I started doing a lot of praying. Praying for warmth. Praying he would get to wherever he was going. Praying a police car would come by and give him a warm ride somewhere. Praying for guidance on what I should do. I turned back towards home at mile 3, and when I got back to mile 4, he was gone.

Jesus and I had a pretty good little conversation the last 2 miles. What if he were my son out there? (Well, isn't he? Really? -- sometimes Jesus answers me with a question.) What would I have wanted someone else to do if it were my son? What should I have done? What should I do?

We came to the conclusion that I definitely needed to start carrying a cellphone. And, I've got plenty of room in my windbreaker pockets for an extra pair of gloves and maybe a Clif bar. And, a sweatshirt tied around my hips isn't going to make me any slower than I already am (and, who cares how it looks -- it's 4 o'clock in the morning, for crying out loud.)

I'm beginning to think there is work for me on the early morning roads of Garland.

Some Guys Buy Flowers

Dale Carnegie wrote that he goes fishing in Maine every summer. He wrote that he is fond of strawberries and cream, but that fish prefer worms -- so he fishes with worms.

Some guys buy flowers.

Kelly loves Handi-Wipes. She uses them for a week, throws them in the wash, gets a new one out, and uses the old one for cleaning. She hasn't been able to find them at the store for weeks. Last weekend, she was excited to discover a couple of old/new ones at the bottom of the tablecloth drawer at her mother's house.

I found a 72-pack of Handi-Wipes on eBay on Monday and ordered them for her. They came yesterday. No dozen roses could have brought the delight those six dozen Handi-Wipes did.

Some guys buy flowers. Sometimes I buy flowers. Kelly prefers gladiolas and gerber daisies.

But, guys, before you pick up a bouquet of flowers on your way home, you might consider what else might bring her more delight than a dozen roses.

You might try fishing with worms.