Save Our School

Yes, I know this post is way outside my normal purview, but this is an issue very close to my heart and we need all the help we can get.

Last year I stood in line for 24 hours outside Austin ISD to get my son transferred to the historic Pease elementary - the district's only all-transfer school and one of the best schools in the State.  Now, due to budget cuts an Austin ISD task force is recommending the closure of nine top performing schools, including Pease.

Academic performance was not a consideration.

They plan to lease the building to a private charter school.

Founded in 1876, Pease elementary is the oldest continually operating public school in Texas. Its halls resound with a sense of history, it's rated as exemplary (the highest rating a school can be given) and is just a wonderful and nurturing environment that brings the best out of its students.  It is unique in that it integrates students from all over Austin and is probably the most diverse campus in the district.

If you value good education in Austin, or support the preservation of local history, please sign the petition protesting its recommended closure and help spread the word (note that after you sign the petition, a screen pops up that requests donations to the ipetition site - please be aware that this is not required).

It may not do any good, but we owe it to our kids and future generations to give them the best education we possibly can.  I'm sorry, but closing top performing schools does not make any sense - our kids deserve better, and they're being shortchanged.

There has to be a better way.

The Road to Rocky (week 6 of 10)

I skipped quite a few of my workouts last week, but sometimes family stuff intervenes, and I'm never going to be able to do everything I've planned so I don't worry about it.

But when I did run, I felt great and ran well. So I must be doing something right.  Maybe I'll just keep on keeping on.

Date	Saturday January 8th
Plan	am - 30 miles pm - nothing
Outcome	4:30am - 49F.  30 miles completed in 4:20 (8:40 average pace).  Felt a bit under the weather - probably a bit of cedar fever, but got it done.  Sped up for the last few miles and finished off strong.

Date	Sunday January 9th
Plan	am - 8 miles pm - Yoga
Outcome	11am - 45F and rainy.  We had heavy rainfall overnight and I didn't feel like slipping and sliding around the trails or chancing the low water crossings around Bull Creek, so I slept in and went to run late morning instead.  I did a new 8 mile route around my neighborhood which has lots of good hills and decided to make it an effort run.  Managed to see it off in 58:05 (7:15 pace).  Legs felt fine and completely recovered from yesterday's 30 miler.  Great to see I can still hammer a good fast run without any hangover (from either the 30 miler or the 12 egg omelet challenge - ha ha ha) pm - a good relaxing yoga practice.  I love me some Rodney Yee

Date	Monday January 10th
Plan	am - Nothing pm - Plyometrics (1 hour)
Outcome	pm - ah, nothing like an hour of bouncing and bounding around

Date	Tuesday January 11th
Plan	am - 10 miles pm - Bob workout 1 (30 minutes)
Outcome	4:30am - 33F and windy.  Spent the first five miles battling against the wind before settling down and finding my rhythm.  The last few miles were much better, run at a 7:15 clip.  Finished up in 1:15:35 (7:33 average).  Looking forward to my massage this evening. pm - went for my first massage in about 5 year this evening.  Left feeling wonderfully relaxed with words like "boy, your hamstrings hate you" ringing in my ears.

Date	Wednesday January 12th
Plan	am - 8 miles pm - Bicycle trainer (30 minutes)
Outcome	Pending

Date	Thursday January 13th
Plan	am - Nothing pm - Strength training
Outcome	Pending

Date	Friday January 14th
Plan	am - 8 miles (optional) pm - Nothing
Outcome	Pending

The 12 Egg Omelet Challenge

The 12-egg omelet challenge -a true test of endurance

I ran 30 miles this morning, which meant a 3:30am alarm call.  And to make matters worse I woke feeling like I had a cold coming on.  And since I had the day off yesterday, I spent it in the garage working on a woodworking project from the honey-do list.  A day of drilling, hammering, sawing and clamping left me not a little sore.

So all in all I was none too motivated. But I knew I had to get it done.

Luckily I had some company for the middle miles, so after an initial 8 mile loop I met up with some friends for the next 18 miles before finishing by myself again for the final 4.

And it didn't go too badly. I did the marathon distance in 3:48, which was 8 minutes slower than last week, but I also kicked it up for the last 4 miles and pulled back 4 of those minutes to finish in 4:20 (8:40 pace).

And I felt so much stronger at the end than I did last week.  One more 30 mile training run next Saturday then I'll start slowly ramping it down for the race.

So when I got home, Nancy asked me if I was ready for the challenge. And then I remembered. You see, last week we had got to talking about food challenges which led to my assertion that I could easily put away a 12 egg omelet.

Why do I keep putting myself in these situations?

We put brisket, bacon, cheese and sour cream in the omelet (and not forgetting the 12 extra large eggs). It turned out so big that Nancy had to cook it in two batches, and we plated it on a pizza platter.

And though I was quietly confident, it was somewhat disconcerting to note that however much I ate the monster did not appear to diminish. It was also disconcerting that Nancy and my dad were sat there watching me (and in my dad's case trying his best to convince me I was done).

So was I victorious? Check out the evidence below.

Victory - I even licked the plate

Bedtime Reading

When my parents came over from the UK, they brought with them several of the childrens books I enjoyed when I was Gavin's age, and last night I decided to read him a bedtime story from one of them. The book in question is a collection of tales called "Stories for Seven Year Olds", and the first one I read was Hans Christian Anderson's "The Tinder Box".

In the space of 8 or 9 pages it included witches, decapitations, nocturnal kidnappings, attempted hangings and dismemberment by dogs.

The other stories appear to be more of the same - I guess this is how 7 year old boys were cultivated in 1970s Britain. It's no wonder I turned out the way I did.

Of course, Gavin lapped it up. And I must admit, it was curiously liberating in this age of extreme political correctness.

My favorite story from that book was "East of the Sun and West of the Moon". I hadn't read it since I was 6, so I had a quick leaf through after Gavin had gone down for the night. Well slap me silly with a wet banana - it obviously went right over my 6 year old head. Turns out it's full of rampant sexuality.

And dirty great big bears.

But hold on a minute!!! I remember them reading us that story in first grade.

Then again, back in those days it was also considered a "perk of the job" for teachers to give the little b***ards a "damn good thrashing".

I swear there were some who lived for the sound of a good meaty thwack.

I think they abolished corporal punishment in schools sometime in the mid-80s. Many of the "old guard" retired brokenhearted.

Gavin doesn't know how lucky he is - kindergarten teachers are much nicer these days. 30 years ago I'm sure he would have set school records :-)

But back to my old books. I was particularly delighted to see my parents also brought over another one I had been hoping they would find (because it's been out of print for years).

It's called "Gavin and the Monster".

2011 Up and Running

So after finishing out 2010 with a New Year's Eve 15 miler, I started the first day of 2011 with a 30 mile training run. Clea joined me for miles 8 thru 12, but other than that it was a solo run. Now I don't care who you are, running 30 miles solo is mentally tough. But that's exactly the kind of "suck it up" run I need in preparation for Rocky Raccoon.

It's just as much mental training as physical, and I'll repeat the same dose for the next two Saturdays.

The biggest temptation of these solo runs is always to drop the pace, and I was proud of myself for keeping it going and beating back the demons in my head who kept suggesting walk breaks.

I picked the marathon distance off in 3:40, and finished up the 30 miles in 4:16:39.

Sweet.

My nutrition plan consisted of a banana before I left the house.  And, er, that's it.  I purposely don't use any kind of gels or gu on training runs as my theory is that will allow me to get a bigger "hit" from them in races, but I've never tried it on a 30 miler before (yeah, my training ideas are not always orthodox).

I used one handheld (as I couldn't find my other one before I left the house), and refilled it at UT around the 25 mile mark.  It just about got me done, but I don't think I had much left in me by the end (especially after some guy decided to race me the last half mile to the mopac bridge - I'm such an idiot I can never resist those stupid challenges).

And I ate like a horse for the rest of the day.

When I got home, Nancy (along with Dylan) was kind (or sadistic) enough to give me one of her "elbow massages" while I wolfed down some breakfast burritos, oatmeal, and anything else I could get my hands on.  My left hip flexor has been painful for the longest time, and she found so many knots it was unbelievable.

I squealed like a stuck pig, much to everyone's amusement.

I haven't been for a massage in years.  Nancy's booked me in for one next week, and they're going to have fun with me!!!

This morning I rewarded myself for Friday's unscheduled 15 miler by staying in bed instead of doing the early morning 10 miles of road hills (with 28F outside and Dylan cuddled up to me it was no contest really).  Instead I headed out to Bull Creek about an hour later to do a 5 mile effort run on the trails.

And I felt great.  No soreness from Saturday's 30 miler, and the massage had worked wonders on my hip flexor!!!  And I realized how much I've been missing the ever-shifting puzzle that is running on technical trail.  I pushed the uphills and concentrated on visualizing my footing and running the downhills at pace.

You know those mornings where you feel so strong it's almost surreal?  Like the "king of the world" in a kind of Leonardo DeCaprio/Kate Winslett way?

Yeah, it was kinda like that (only without any lurking icebergs or Celine Dion soundtracks).

I rewarded myself tonight by making a delicious lasagne which included homemade marinara sauce, fresh pasta, mozzarella, parmigiano-reggiano, ricotta, artichokes, mushrooms, garlic, onion, bell peppers, lean ground beef and red wine.

Even Dylan had two helpings.

And as the wine had been uncorked, I saw no point in letting it go to waste.

Cheers.

The Road to Rocky (week 5 of 10)

Welcome to 2011.  I'm planning to hit the New Year with a bang in the form of the first of three consecutive Saturday 30 milers.

We're 6 weeks away from race day - it's time to kick it into high gear.

Date	Saturday January 1st
Plan	am - 30 miles pm - nothing
Outcome	5am - 49F.  Did the 30 miles in 4:16:39 (8:33 average pace), including a 3:40 for the marathon distance.

Date	Sunday January 2nd
Plan	am - 15 miles pm - Yoga
Outcome	7:30am - 28F, brrrr.  As I ran 15 on Friday and 30 yesterday I opted to enjoy an extra hour in bed this morning instead of the road portion, and just do a hard pace run on trail instead.  It worked as I ran the technical and hilly 5 mile Ken's loop in just under 50 minutes. I attacked all the uphills and it felt wonderful - no soreness at all from yesterday. pm - no yoga tonight thanks to a combination of the Ashes cricket and a rather nice bottle of pinot noir

Date	Monday January 3rd
Plan	am - Nothing pm - Strength workout (1 hour)
Outcome	pm - did my hour of strength and ab work

Date	Tuesday January 4th
Plan	am - 10 miles pm - Strength workout (1 hour)
Outcome	4:30am - 50F, nice.  Ran 10 miles in 1:15:23 (7:32 average).  Ran relaxed and felt great pm - nope, busy smoking a brisket and making dessert for my dad's birthday

Date	Wednesday January 5th
Plan	am - nothing pm - Bicycle trainer (30 minutes)
Outcome	nope - celebrated my dad's birthday instead

Date	Thursday January 6th
Plan	am - 8 miles pm - Yoga (1 hour)
Outcome	Nope - that's three days in a row I've skipped.  Naughty me!!!

Date	Friday January 7th
Plan	am - 8 miles pm - Nothing
Outcome	5am - 44F.  Finally got back to a workout.  Ran a nice 8 miler around Mueller.