Corpus Weekend

Today is Nancy's birthday. That means that for just over a month we are the same age and all the usual "old man" jokes are banned!!! To celebrate, we spent a long weekend in Corpus Christi. Here are some of the photo highlights.

On Friday night we found a fantastic playground off Ocean Drive. Here's Gavin playing on the pirate ship	Checking the form for the 2:30 at Aintree? Wonder if he picked a winner.

On Friday evening we swam at Corpus beach and then ate at the famously haunted Blackbeards. Afterwards we went for a lovely walk along the seawall. We watched the boats come and go, enjoyed the serenity of the water and watched families fishing off the harbor walls. It was such a nice walk we did it again on Saturday evening.

Gavin taking on the challenge of cupcakes, and about to catch some waves. We played so hard that he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow each night.

Playing in the waves. On Saturday we drove from Corpus down to Padre Island, then up to Mustang Island. We took the ferry from Port Aransas and drove up to Rockport before looping back to Corpus. The best beach we found was at the Padre Island National seashore, and we spent hours and hours playing in the waves - especially when Gavin discovered how funny it was to push daddy into them (exactly as I used to do with my dad). We went back on Sunday morning and spent another few hours playing - good times!!!

Through a Glass Darkly

Oh to be a kid again.

Yesterday was the perfect evening - one of those I will look back on wistfully when I'm an old man in my rocking chair (with no knees left because of all this running). They finally opened up the city outdoor pools for the summer season on Monday, so we took Gavin swimming at Walnut Creek last night. He was so excited, especially when he realized we would be the first people into the pool.

There's a saying - "through a glass darkly" - which implies that we all perceive a filtered version of reality. And it seems to me that the older we get, the more inhibited, constrained and filtered we become - we lose that wonder and freedom we had as kids. Gavin has no such inhibitions and his squeals of delight were wonderful to hear and a joy to share. He just loves the water so much, and I love it that he trusts me completely - if I tell him to jump and promise to catch him, he has no doubt whatsoever that I will. However, I have to keep a real close eye on him because he kept trying to catch me off guard and jump when I wasn't looking. Or wanting to run off to jump in the deep end. A cheeky bugger like his dad!!!

I used to be a good swimmer back in the day and it's going to be such fun teaching him how to swim (even if he insists he already knows how). Now if I could only get him to listen!!!

We eventually dragged him out with his teeth chattering, despite his protests that he wasn't cold. When we got home, I found an old "Thing" costume I'd bought several years ago and which now finally fits him. We had a great time playing with it. Nancy had some errands to run so we got to hang out and play some more before I finally turfed a sleepy little boy into his bed and read him his bedtime story. He cunningly put his arm around me to stop me leaving and was almost instantly asleep. In fact Nancy came home to find us both asleep. What a great evening.

Today I added a nice 13 miles, split between a road run this morning and a trail run tonight. Takes me up to 220 miles for the month - I'm feeling good and looking forward to a long weekend down at the coast for Nancy's birthday.

Here's a "Gavinism". He's been a little more naughty than usual of late, so I've been telling him that I liked the old Gavin who listened and was a good boy. Over the weekend he was up to some mischief and I asked him where the old Gavin was. Without missing a beat he laughed and replied "he's out to lunch. He'll be back in 5 minutes".

I didn't have a comeback for that one.

Breakfast Burritos and Bloody Good Runs

I really hit the running hard this holiday weekend. Saturday I did 15 miles of hills, yesterday 25 miles of hills, and this morning I enjoyed a very nice 11 miles around Stratford/Scenic Dr. That gives me 51 miles for the holiday weekend and takes me over 200 for the month. It's been a while since I went over that landmark.

I woke up this morning a little stiff courtesy of Ladera Norte, but this run was exactly what I needed to stretch the sore muscles out. And after the last few days the hills of Stratford Dr seemed very easy!!! I ran with a couple of road buddies who ensured we kept to a good pace, and we enjoyed a beautiful morning (though a little humid). The longer we went the better I felt and it was a good feeling to cruise through the last few miles while enjoying the company of friends, the effortless energy of a good rhythm and the feel of the pavement passing easily and swiftly beneath my feet.

When I got home I wanted something quick, so I cooked up one of my favorite runner's breakfasts. This thing can be made start-to-finish in less than 5 minutes and fills you up nicely, which makes it ideal when you're in a rush after a midweek early morning run.


Mark's Quick Breakfast Burrito (serves 1 hungry runner)

2 pieces extra lean turkey bacon
2 extra large eggs (can substitute egg whites)
Reduced fat cheddar cheese
Plain yogurt
1 8" tortilla

1. Microwave the bacon until crisp (about 1 minute 45 seconds).

2. While they're on the go, crack the 2 eggs into a small microwavable container and beat with a fork.

3. Microwave eggs for 45 seconds. Stir and microwave for another 45 seconds or until just set (note: this is absolutely the best way to cook scrambled eggs).

4. Microwave the tortilla for 30 seconds. While this is going, chop the eggs roughly with a fork.

5. Put the tortilla on a plate. Add the 2 pieces of bacon to the center, and top with the scrambled egg.

6. Add cheese and spoon yogurt (or sour cream or guacamole) over the top.

7. Fold up the bottom of the tortilla and wrap both sides around.

Enjoy!!!

Rainy Days

The rains came through Austin this afternoon, bringing thunder and lightning with them. I love afternoons like this - there's something about the rhythm of the rain that soothes my soul. So I stacked Tom Waits' Closing Time onto the jukebox and mellowed out. I don't think I can adequately describe the effect this combination has on me so I'm not even going to try, suffice to say it's the perfect setting for sitting in the dark and reflecting on days gone by. His voice is not quite as "gravelly" as some of his later work, but haunting nevertheless (interestingly, if you listen to some of Louis Armstrong's early stuff that famous gravelly voice is also missing).

Like any long distance runner I need that "alone" time (though that doesn't necessarily mean I need to be alone - sitting on the porch swing with my arm around my little boy watching the rain come down definitely counts). And like most ultra runners I have places I can go to in my head during a long run. Sometimes it's nice to visit them at other times just to hang out for awhile, and the lonely sound of a jazz trumpet solo is the quickest means of transport I know.

This morning it wasn't raining and I had the pleasure of running with a good buddy who happened to be in town. We did 15 miles of hills and enjoyed catching up. I have noticed that continually running that 10 mile Ladera Norte loop is definitely having an effect - it's getting a lot easier. 25 miles of hills are on the radar for tomorrow and 11 miles around Stratford/Scenic Dr (with a super fast road buddy) are set for Monday. Good times.


PS. I'm still feeling mellow but that may now be partly due to the excellent "Pine Belt" ale from last week's Sweaty Twenty.

PPS. I love the rain, but I hope it stops long enough for me to get the brisket going tomorrow night.

Throwdown

I am very cheeky - it is one of my defining characteristics (and one I seem to have passed down to Gavin). Which is why I challenged a bunch of the guys from work to a barbecue throwdown this memorial weekend. We will make our choice of ribs, brisket or pork and bring them in on Tuesday for a blind taste test. Yes, it's just an excuse to sample lots of good barbecue and we have about 8 participants. And there's no downside for me - as I pointed out to them, this is Texas barbecue and they can't possibly let a left-handed Welshman win!!!

We shall see though - I make a mean smokey brisket.

Can I bottle this weather?

Today was my triple header of hill runs - two 10 mile loops of the Ladera Norte monsters, with 5 miles of the Bull Creek trails inbetween. I got to the dogpark at 5am and met up with Roger, Stephanie and David for road loop number one. The temperature was wonderful - perfect for running - and there was a cool breeze blowing. What a difference a week makes!!! It was one of those days that I felt really strong - we set a lively pace, took the uphills in our stride and made hay on the flats and downs.

We got done in good time for the trail portion and were joined by Marcia, Gabe, Janice, Jeff F and Robert. I hadn't seen Jeff F in a while and it was great to catch up with him.

I knew when I left the house that I had forgotten something, and it turned out that something was my trail shoes. The trails were pretty slippery after all yesterday's rain, and I held back a little because I was slip sliding all over the place in my road shoes. Nevertheless it was a good run and broke up the road sections wonderfully.

The last loop of 10 miles road was down to me, Roger and Stephanie - and by the end it was just Stephanie and myself. We hadn't run together very much, so we had a great time chatting and getting to know each other. She shared some great stories about her time living in London, in particular a trip to a "traditional sports" festival in the Cotswalds (I still can't believe they had a "shin kicking" contest - that's hilarious).

I felt so strong for all of this loop, which really surprised me. I just didn't get tired today, and took on some of the monster hills - even managing to run most of the way up Smokey Valley (which made my day). I guess hill running is like anything else - the more you do of it, the better you get.

So I was very pleased with my weekend - 42 miles of good hilly running. To top it all off, when I got home Nancy had made some of Ashlee's lemon yogurt cake which was super yummy and really hit the spot (though I suspect it was partly a bribe to get me going on the "honey do" list).

Whatever, it was a nice end to a fine weekend.

Pictures from the "Sweaty Twenty"

Meghan, Steve and Clea

me, Steve and Clea

These are the pictures from this morning's "Sweaty Twenty" run at Bastrop State Park (which actually finished anywhere between "Sweaty Fifteen" and "Sweaty Seventeen" for various participants). Four of us signed up for this "odyssey through the pines" which meanders up and down the rolling hills of the park road between Bastrop and Buescher State parks. This was planned as a fun run and it certainly lived up to its billing - the pace was relaxed, the group was fun, the scenery beautiful and a good time was had by all. Plenty of good conversation and laughs made it worth the early morning alarm clock.

At the end Clea had some "finishers awards" for us - a four pack of "Southern Star Pine Belt" pale ale each for Steve and myself and a nice bottle of wine for Meghan. I have two of them in the fridge and will enjoy them with supper. Much appreciated Clea.

(Incidentally, I thought the pine reference was very appropriate, but I just read the description on the side of the can and it is brewed using "high quality American two row and choice British crystal malts". So doubly appropriate - God save the Queen and God bless America!!!)

And best of all, we made it home before the storms hit, bringing torrential rain, thunder and lightning with them.

Although some people kinda enjoyed them!!!

Nancy and Gavin - the rain dancers

As for me, I'm off to enjoy some of the brownies that Nancy and Gavin made this morning. Tomorrow I have 25 miles of hills lined up and a super early start.

That may not be quite so much fun.

Much Better

I didn't want to get up when my alarm clock went off this morning, but I'm so glad I did. Gone was the humidity, and in its place was a lovely cool breeze and it was so much nicer to run. I could feel the stiffness in my legs ebbing away.

Then this evening I ran at the greenbelt with the HCTR Wednesday night group. The weather was fantastic - we stopped at one point and I actually got a little chilly. I felt so good I even ran up the Hill of Life at the end. I know it's only a temporary respite, but it's very welcome.

59 miles run this week, and a lot of them up and down hills. That's more than I've run in quite a while - I'll take it.

Dark Satanic Hills

(with apologies to William Blake for the deliberate misquote)

Character building, that's what it is. Or maybe just stupidity. Whatever you call it, today was my third day in a row of double digit mileage. Still hot as hell too, and muggy to boot. But look on the bright side - posh health clubs will charge you good money for a cleansing sauna, but here all you have to do is run. Good deal, no?

Anyhow, I was still feeling the fast hills from yesterday so I knew it wasn't going to be a great run, but I managed 5 hilly miles on the trails of Bull Creek and then switched to the road shoes and hit the 10 mile monster road hill loop of Ladera Norte/Far West again. Believe me, it took a lot to convince myself to go back out for the road portion. Needless to say, I was a lot slower than yesterday but finished up just as soaked. The temperature gauge read 85F as I drove home at 9:30pm. And it's only May.

So I'm sitting here tired but too juiced to sleep. I don't want to lie there and stare at the ceiling, so I'll browse blogland for a while, listen to some cool jazz on the jukebox and chill out. Actually, a nightcap sounds like the perfect accompaniment to John Coltrane. I'm probably low on salt too, so a Bloody Mary it is. Come to think of it, there's still a piece of fudge brownie cheesecake in the fridge too. As I'm headed that way I think I'll snag it.

But before I do, here's the positive part of tonight's run. At mile 50 or 75 at Cactus Rose, when folks are hurting, throwing in the towel and not wanting to go back out for another loop, I will remember nights like this. And I will get my lazy ass up, get back out there and make sure I finish the damn race.

And the other positive - I get to eat cheesecake.

Update
Ok, the Bloody Mary did the trick - I'm off to bed.

Return of the Back to Back Weekend

I got in a good 30 miles of running this weekend. Hot, steamy, sticky running with good friends.

Saturday morning I met Steve, Clea and Pancake for 12 miles on the greenbelt. I think I'm finally acclimatizing to the humidity because it didn't affect me quite so much. I am just resigned to finishing up runs looking like I've just gotten out of the shower.

Then this morning I had a 2-part run planned. For part 1 I got up super early to do 10 miles of hills around Far West/Ladera Norte. It's a hard course, full of huge hills, but a great workout - it's basically 10 miles of hill repeats. "I knew I would probably pay for it later, but what the hell" I got there a little late and the guys had already left, which turned out to be a great excuse to push myself to catch them. I knew I would probably pay for it later, but what the hell. It took me 7 miles, but I managed to catch them going up Mountainclimb. I said some quick hellos, but by then I was feeling really good so I told them I was going to keep going and took off (I was in a groove, running well, and needed to get downtown for run part 2).

I finished the 10 miles right at 1:30, which is a good 10 minutes faster than I've ever run that route before. Of course, I was also soaked to the skin with all the high humidity. I jumped in the car and headed downtown to meet up with Steve and Clea for part 2 of this morning's run. Turned out to be perfect timing as I got down to Town Lake right at 7am.

We did 8 miles around the Scenic Dr loop, and I started to feel the effects of the earlier hills - I was a lot quieter than usual because I retreated into my head, and by the end of the run I was just about hanging on. Huge thanks to Clea and Steve for slowing down for me, and sorry I wasn't very talkative. It was a tough workout this morning, but one I really needed.

I don't generally use any gels or shot bloks during a training run because I want to train my body to more efficiently use its own resources (plus I get a much bigger hit from using them during races), but I think I need some extra calories during these hot summer runs. A banana or even some animal crackers between runs would have been great - some solid food - but I only had a V8 juice with me (which is nonetheless an incredibly potent ultrarunning weapon). The 10 mile hill loop is a great backbone for my Cactus Rose training, so I'm going to hit it again after my trail run tomorrow evening.

And finally, Pulp were one of my favorite bands of the mid-1990s Britpop era. It's pretty cool to see what their former frontman Jarvis Cocker is up to these days, even if he does now look a little like Charlie Manson.

Embrace the Dark Side

Not all those who wander are lost
- J.R.R. Tolkein

No, I am not about to implement my dastardly plan for world domination (at least, not yet....), but if you keep track of my "upcoming races" menu, you may have noticed a few extra items that appeared in there today. This is because I just mailed off my entry form for all three races in Brad's Darkside series this August. I love the above Tolkein quote which was printed on the race shirt of one of last year's races where I managed to finish 4th overall (not as impressive as it sounds - a storm forced most sensible people to quit after a few loops). This year the format is a little different - they are each 60k distances instead of 12 hour times and are much closer together. Each race is at a different State park, they are each 2 weeks apart and all start at 7pm. I'm excited about this because I love running at night and they should be a good yardstick of where I am.

And where I am right now is very happy with another solid mileage day. I got up early to run 8.5 miles with Clea down at Mueller and met up with Marcia, Henry, Roger, Brandon, Naresh et al after work and got in another 6.5 on the greenbelt to give me 15 for the day. Let me just say that summer is definitely on the way because it was H-U-M-I-D. I drained both handhelds and wished I had more, but on the plus side I managed to find that "zone" for the last few miles where I disappear into my head and switch the running to auto-pilot.

And finally a quick reminder - the Saturday after next (16th) is the second running of the "Sweaty Twenty in the pines". So if you fancy running a few miles taking in beautiful scenery with good company, let me know.

Start of Cactus Rose Training

Tonight I kicked off my Cactus Rose training with 15 miles of hills. After feeling so lethargic yesterday I wasn't sure how it would go, but the two days were like chalk and cheese. I felt good, and the weather was great. I started off doing 5 miles with a mate at Bull Creek, then I switched into my road shoes and hit the hills of Ladera Norte.

I spent the first few hills practicing various techniques of dissociation. My theory is that for short periods of time (such as running up hills) you can compartmentalize the discomfort. And if you can do that, you can choose to ignore it or embrace it.

I have found that a lot of the secret to running hills is mental. It's fascinating to run a race like Decker that is full of rollers. So many people visibly deflate when they see the next hill coming, but if you prepare yourself for them they're really not too bad.

One of the greatest of all principles is that men can do what they think they can do

-Norman Vincent Peale

Mind you, I have also found that it is much easier to do this in a race than it is when you're doing a training run by yourself. Still, it was a decent start and I kept a good pace going until the end.

Onward through the fog.

Where do Weekends go?

Ah, the end of another weekend. How quickly they come, and how quickly they go. I have become a night owl and am feeling the effects of sleep deprivation due to many late nights occupied with one project or another, so the sensible thing to do would be to go to bed. Yes, that's why I'm sitting here with my laptop open updating my blog.

Today was the Maze trail race here in Austin - a 10k and 30k run at Walnut Creek, one of my regular running haunts. I didn't run the race, but I did help out with course marking last night and got to catch up with some folks I haven't seen in a while which was fun. Also rolled my ankle again, which was not so much fun.

As an aside, I have my eye on running a potential new 100 mile race in New Mexico next spring and was glad to get some intel that suggests the race is still very much a possibility.

Anyway, I got back home to find Nancy watching the movie "Twilight". I watched it for a while, and my God it was awful. The main vampire dude had eyebrows like a bushy bandit, and acting skills to match (Nancy swears the books are much better, though I think I'll stick with the Sookie Stackhouse series - now there's some good old redneck "down in the dirt" Southern vampires with a good dose of self deprecating humor). "They were duking it out on the frontage road" So I gave up and checked my email to find a message from some friends about a change of location for this morning's run.

So I got up bright and early and made my way downtown to the Mexican Culture center. As I got off the interstate, I noticed two cars pulled sideways on the frontage road blocking most of the lanes. A few motorists were stuck behind them, and there were three or four guys from said vehicles duking it out right there on the frontage road. I don't know what they were scrapping over, so I just sat in bemusement for a few minutes and watched the fight - it was mildy entertaining. Now when I first moved to the US, this is what I thought Texas was all about - the only thing missing were their horses!!! But then some of the cars discovered they could squeeze through half a lane, and I followed suit.

Got to the Mexican Culture center and there's nobody around. Figured I'd call my friends to see what was going on, but realized I'd left my phone at home. Yeah, it was shaping up to be that kind of day. I drove around for a while, then I just parked by the mulch trail and decided to get a few miles in by myself. It was probably just as well because my ankle was still sore from the night before and my heart really wasn't in it. I managed 8 miles though, and I did feel a lot better in the second half. Just as I got back to the car I spotted my friends finishing up their run, so I sneaked up behind them and surprised them. We all saw the funny side and got a good laugh out of it. And looking back, it really wasn't all that bad a run.

Most of the rest of the weekend was spent playing bowling on the Wii. After hardly touching it since I won it last year, we loaded it up yesterday to discover Gavin loves the 10 pin bowling. And he's pretty good at it - his top score is 152, and he got a streak going in one game where he bowled 3 strikes in a row. I don't know how many games we played, but we had a blast.

Ok, it's time for me to wind this up and head off to bed. I have good intentions to go to bed early most nights, I really do. But it's already gone 11pm and I'm still here.

But not for long - goodnight.

Wind of Change

Welcome to the new-look Welshrunner blog. I hope you like it because I spent a lot of time over the past few evenings designing and creating the layout and template. Yes, I love to tinker and figure out how things work, and it was only a matter of time before I shelved the standard template and made my own. It was great to be "off the leash" creatively, but I also have the type of personality that can't leave a problem unsolved - I was up until 2am this morning fixing a few annoying issues.

The concept behind the design was to replicate a runner's logbook, with a Welsh dragon blended into the header to incorporate my two themes. Practically, I wanted the flexibility of having 3 columns, and a menu system beneath the main header which allowed me to categorize, organize and pull together posts from across the blog (like my recipes and race reports). A big thanks to the guys at Smartmenus for the javascript that drives that menu brilliantly.

I haven't designed a website for a while and it was good to brush up on my CSS skills. Building a blog page out of styles is a lot like piecing a jigsaw together, and I've always enjoyed digital image manipulation. I created the graphics using the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) which is the Linux version of Photoshop - it's an awesomely powerful tool and I'm very happy with the results.

I've tested the template in Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera, but if you find any problems in your browser please let me know.