Boston Bound

I have heard it said that every runner has only one or two really good marathons in them, and I think I spent a goodly part of my allocation at White Rock last December. Just about as perfect a race as I could ever wish to have, I remember the absolute euphoria of crossing the finish line with a Boston qualifying time that I didn't even think a possibility at the start of the race (I punched the air as I crossed the finish line - something "reserved Brits" are not normally known for). Now bear in mind that I never ever had any real intention of actually running Boston. It was just cool to know that I'd qualified. And to surprise myself about what I could do when I really focused.

So I happily stored it away in the memory bank labeled "races where I didn't suck" and pretty much forgot about it...until last week.

When Clea reminded me that the Boston application window was still open, and there were still open slots. That set me to thinking. On the one hand, I will probably never run that qualifying time again, so this is most likely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But on the other hand, simply qualifying does not guarantee a place at the start line. You see, the qualification has changed this year as preference is given to the faster runners who are granted entry based on how far under the qualifying time they ran. So as the race filled up I knew that my cutoff would be somewhat less than the 3:15:59 standard.

But there was no way of knowing how much less.

And since marathon day is during school, Nancy and the boys could not go. So I felt guilty about that. But Nancy was without hesitation 100% insistent that I shouldn't let this opportunity pass by, and she urged me to apply.

It's funny. Before I became a runner I associated Boston with an infamous serial murderer, being forced to sit through episodes of Ally McBeal, the scene of "crimes against tea" and the place where Haley Joel Osment was known to "see dead people".

But now the first thing I think about is the Boston marathon - the ultimate goal of any road running weekend warrior.

So I signed up. So did Clea.

And we both realized we really wanted to run it. So it was a weekend of suspense waiting to hear if we'd made it, and I will freely admit to checking the Boston website once or twice "just in case". We had both qualified about 3 minutes under our required times, so we knew there was a good chance we would get in.

But there was also the chance that we wouldn't.  Or one of us wouldn't.

Fortunately, we both got the email confirming that we had made it - it turns out the cutoff for my age group was exactly a minute slower than what I had run in Dallas.

So all the logistics of finding flights and hotel rooms started to kick in. I had the flights booked within 10 minutes of getting the confirmation email.

I called Nancy. The conversation went something like this:


Me: Did you make some kind of big purchase on the credit card in the last day or so?

Nancy: No, why?

Me: Because I'm seeing a charge for $xxx that's just shown up

Nancy: Can you tell what it is?

Me: Yes, it appears to be a flight reservation. To Boston.

Nancy: Have you lost your card anywhere? Do you still have it?

Me (realizing she hasn't tagged yet): I still have mine. So you didn't make that charge?

Nancy: No

Me: Oh, it must have been me then. I guess I'm going to Boston

Nancy (finally realizing): You %$^$!!! Congratulations. (laughs)


And I'm like a kid at Christmas - I've been wandering around with this goofy smile on my face ever since.

Because it's the coolest thing - I'm going to run Boston!!!

Maybe I'll even take the time to sip a cup of tea at the harbor.

For Queen and Country you know :-)

It's in the Bag

The Apple Crumble, just liberated from the grocery sack

The title is a reference to an odd cooking experiment I tried tonight - cooking apple crumble inside a paper bag.  I used a paper grocery sack from a local farmer's market, and was a bit nervous that the bag would just burst into flames in the oven.  But it didn't, and the end product was most delicious - the bag appeared to help steam the pie as it cooked and concentrated the flavor.  Everybody had seconds!!!

Everything's better with ice cream

On the running front, it's been an odd few weeks.  I had a mini layoff due to surgery, which I hoped would also give my sore knee a chance to heal.  Then my first run back was a 7 mile pace effort which left me convinced I needed to drop San Antonio down to a half marathon, as my knee was still complaining.  But a few days of icing (while grumbling about getting old), and finally switching over to a new pair of running shoes (I've only been running in the old ones since December!!!), seems to have done the trick because I did 20 pain-free miles yesterday.

And it was an important psychological run for me.  I haven't run 20 miles in months, but I had one of those glorious runs where you feel like you could go forever.  It gave me a much needed boost of confidence for San Antonio.

In other news, the application period for the 2012 Boston marathon ended last Friday.  Since I qualified last December, I've never really considered actually running it.  But then I realized that since I'm not at all sure I will ever hit that qualifying time again, this may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me (some well-timed prompting from Clea didn't hurt either).  So I sent in my application on Thursday, and I'm now waiting on pins and needles to see if I got in.

Keep your fingers crossed.

Busy Bee on the Honey-Do

Gavin's Desk - My Latest Woodworking Project

I have been working hard on paring down the honey-do list this weekend.  Friday night I put the finishing touches on Gavin's desk.  Most of the actual woodworking was completed a few weeks ago, and since then it's been a repeating process of staining, sanding and coating.  Now that the final layer has been applied and left to harden, I attached the legs, put together the sliding keyboard tray and moved it into Gavin's room.  It fits perfectly, and makes full use of an awkward little bit of dead space.

I also hooked up the computer I've been building for him, and it's become his new favorite part of the house.  It's a cozy little place for him to do his homework.

Saturday morning I replaced the cd player in my car with a digital media receiver.  I've never done this before and wasn't sure what to except, but it was a lot easier than I anticipated.  A bit of straightforward interface wiring - matching up and crimping wires - and in it went.  It's a cool design because there's no cd slot - you open up the front plate and slide out a tray where you plug in your ipod or usb device, then slide it back in and close the face plate over it.  Then you can control the device through the radio.  Very neat and efficient, and no more cds for those car thieves to steal!!!


Then this morning I gave our gas barbecue a makeover.  I replaced the burners, manifold and flavorizer bars (our old ones were practically disintegrating), and scraped all the accumulated gunk off it.  I am going to relaunch it tonight with some wonderful looking rib-eye steaks, eggplant and summer squash.

Hang a few pictures today and my honey-do list for the weekend will be complete.


I didn't run this morning, and enjoyed a rare weekend sleep-in.  I did 12 miles yesterday at a minute a mile faster than I have been running over the past few weeks, but on the downside felt a few painful twinges from my knee, and wanted to give it a chance to settle down.

I am hoping to get in a good few runs over the next few days as I'm about to have an enforced 7-10 day layoff from running.

Needless to say, my goals for the San Antonio marathon have been adjusted.  I don't think they were ever that realistic anyway.  More on that later, but for now I hear my name being called.  Time to get moving.

Have a great week everyone.

Birth of the Cool

As well as being the title of one of my favorite jazz albums, that perfectly sums up what it felt like to run this morning.  The oppressive heat and humidity (80 days at over 100F) have finally broken, and while we're still getting up into the mid-90s, the mornings are noticeably cooler.  It was in the upper 50s/lower 60s this morning, and it felt wonderful.  I ran with Frank, and we did 8 miles averaging in the 7:30s.  While we weren't exactly cruising, we weren't really pushing either.  My gauge for a really good 8 mile run is to break under an hour, and we were just a handful of seconds over that.

Dang, but it felt good.

Of course, Texas is getting a lot of media play at the moment due to all the wildfires raging throughout the State - a lot of them in or around Austin.  The high winds of the past weekend, combined with the almost total lack of rain for the last 6 months and scorched ground from a long brutal summer was the perfect storm waiting to happen.  One of the biggest fires is in Bastrop, not too many miles away from us.  It has almost completely destroyed the mystic pines of the Bastrop State Park (a favorite "running nirvana" location of mine, and scene of the old "Sweaty Twenty" runs), and I heard reports that at one point the fire was spreading at almost 60mph and was 24 miles long and 20 miles wide.  To date it has consumed 34,000 acres and destroyed 550 homes.  That's a lot of newly homeless people.

The Bastrop Fire - photo courtesy of Kerri West

And that's just one of many wildfires in and around the Austin area.  Yesterday I could smell the smoke in the air from my house.  I know several people who have been evacuated from their homes, and are waiting to see if they have anywhere to go back to.

You just never know, and there but for the grace of God......

But I'm going to end up on a positive note with a Gavin story.   Nancy and I were arguing the other day (forget what about - something really silly no doubt), when Gavin piped up - "girls, you're both pretty.  Now let's go home".

End of argument - it's practically impossible to continue arguing when you're laughing so hard.

Kudos to my 6 year old diplomat who knows exactly how to handle mum and dad!!!

Seriously Dad, You're a Bit of a Nerd

This from the cool kid in the picture with the baseball and basketball necklace and the blue ice cream all over his face (his brother doesn't care - he just thinks I'm a good pillow).  To be fair though, he's probably right.  As his teacher often tells us - he's very articulate.  She just doesn't always like the things he's articulating!!!

Anyway, my latest "nerdy" project is to replace the radio in the car with an ipod/mp3 digital reader, as I want to be able to catch up with my podcasts while I'm driving to these customer sites.  I ordered a really nice one this morning.  And as I hate to pay people to do something I could do myself, I'm going to figure out how to do the install and have a crack at it.

Speaking of business trips, my trip to Corpus Christi ended up being a mixed bag.  While the business side of things went very well (and I discovered a great Thai restaurant), my car got broken into at the hotel car park and they got away with my phone charger and a bunch of cds (including the Audiobook I was in the middle of).  Oh well, at least they left the seats this time.

To top it all, I was then subjected to almost 3 hours of "conservative talk radio" on the drive home, which basically consisted of a lot of ranting and juvenile name calling.

I think I'd rather be waterboarded!!!

On the running front, some great news is they're predicting the heatwave we've endured for months is about to break.  They're saying we're going to get lows in the upper 50s this week, so I'm planning on taking advantage of it and getting in as many runs as I can.  I did 12 yesterday, 6 on the trails this morning, and there was more than a hint of Fall in the air.

Maybe my inner runner will finally poke his head out and take a look around!!!