Springtime 10k

We actually joined a training group for this one that met once a week. It was still not a ton of training, but better than we would have done on our own! Overall it was a pretty hilly course. No really bad hills, but rolling hills almost the entire time. Luckily we had seen most of the course in training. Matt couldn't join us because of his back issues, but we still got to run with Lynn for the entirety. Unfortunately MC and I both got sick the weeks prior so that probably slowed us own a little bit, but we were still pretty happy with our time. Probably don't have much interest in running many more 10ks, but we will definitely be logging more 5ks soon!!

1:07:40

MC - 1:07:37

Lynn - 1:07:39

Some busy times

So things have been a little crazy as of late. I wanted to make a post before I get too many events to try to include. I don't really remember where I last left off (I'm always to lazy to actually check my blog before I start posting), so I will just start with this past Friday.

On Thursday I got a call from Dustin saying he was having a kinda crappy week and wanted to do something to distract himself, namely hit up the Orlando Watersports Complex (a.k.a. OWC, a.k.a. ODub). So Dustin, Tim and I decided to have a day trip over to Orlando on friday and pack in a few hours at the cable park. Tim had never been to a cable park so it was pretty cool that he was able to go. We all packed in his Mazda 3 and hit the road bright and early.

We got there around noon-ish and got 4 hour passes so we'd be able to hit the road and be back at a decent time. I got some decent pics while I was there and definitely exhausted myself. Since it was pretty much my second time out on the water this season, my muscles are not quite in riding shape. And even when I AM in shape, the cable park works things a little differently as well. I figured I would give a representative sample of the crew so I'll just throw in a few pics here. I love the pic of me because the ODub sign is in it too (top left). Then I have a picture of Dustin poking it out trying to ride out Nessie (top right), Joey throwing a shuv-it up onto Nessie's box (bottom left) and my first attempt at putting together a sequence shot using Tim throwing a tantrum off the kicker (bottom right).

Also, while this was going on, MC was busy contracting some yucky bug that combined with allergies (there is pollen EVERYWHERE) to rough her up a bit. She was feeling really crappy so I resumed my nurse duties when I got home in the evening.

Saturday morning was the practice run of the actual course for the 10k that we are running this weekend. MC was still feeling pretty crappy and Matt had an MRI so I ended up meeting Lynn and some of her work buddies out there. It was mostly the route we had been practice running before, just this time we ran the full 6.2 miles. Needless to say, combining that with the wakeboarding from the previous day pretty much knocked me on my ass. I was still able to play nurse, but I was definitely hobbling around the apartment all day and enjoyed just taking it easy with MC. She was pretty much bedridden for the entire weekend. She started to get a little better on monday, which is when I left in the afternoon to head up to Birmingham. I met up with my parents there so dad and I could go to the Barber Porsche Driving School for a day course on tuesday. His sister got him that as a christmas present and what good son wouldn't keep his dad company? ;-)

So we got up bright and early on tuesday morning and headed over to the track. Got signed in and enjoyed some breakfast while we waited for the rest of the day's class to show up. We started out in the classroom where we met a few of the instructors and they gave us a basic lesson on driving dynamics. A lot of it was similar to what we talked about when I went with Lauren to the BMW driving school, but they were a little more in depth on a couple of points so it was still interesting.

After the classroom session, we grabbed helmets, took a group photo, then split up into groups and hopped in the fans to take us over to the actual track (we were in the welcome center before). There were 6 groups in total and 1, 2, and 3 were grouped and 4, 5, and 6 were grouped. We were with another father/son pairing, of which the dad bore striking resemblance to the grandfather in Little Miss Sunshine. So we got to see some of the track on the way over, but groups 4, 5, and 6 (our group) started out doing smaller exercises in the parking lot of the track. We started out in a little autocross course driving a Cayman. The instructor took us each for a couple laps telling us about the course then we got to take a few laps with him as a passenger. I think it was some combination of the drugs I took (I had apparently picked up the same thing MC had) and the adrenaline that started pumping because when I got in the car my head got extremely fuzzy. I felt like my head was in a complete haze and I had to have complete putzed around the course when I drove. It was a very odd experience.

Luckily they had water and such on hand so I hydrated and was feeling a lot better by the time we got to the second exercise. The second was sort of like a simplified autocross course meant to really instill the importance of smoothness in controlling the car. I loved this instructor because of his accent and the fact that his cadence didn't seem to change regardless of what he was talking about. He was very interesting to listen to.

From there we went to the skidpad. Instead of one large circle like the BMW school, this had a large flat wet area and two circles of cones so we could do figure 8s. This was an exercise in finesse and feeling and compensating for both under-and oversteer. After this we piled back into the vans and went down to the actual track.

It is an awesome track. I think they said it was about 2.3 miles and had 100 feet of elevation change in it so we got all sorts of different turns and hills and straightaways and everything. It was a ton of fun to drive! To begin with they assigned each of us a Carrera and, since we were going to be driving that whenever we were on the track, they took our picture!

We did a few laps following the instructor and each time we got to the main straightaway, the car directly following the instructor pulled out and let everyone pass and joined in the back. So at some point each person got to directly follow the instructor (who was in radio contact with us). Then we did a few laps where one person would park their car and ride with the instructor, then we'd do two laps, then they would get back in their car and the next person would get to ride. So, again, each person got a chance to ride with the instructor and he could give some personal feedback about what you were doing and talk through what he was doing as he drove around the track. After this they shuttled us over to lunch (which was scrumptious!) under the museum.

After lunch we went back up to the small exercises, except this time we had a competition going! With the autocross, the competition was between teams and it was a relay. Each driver did 3 laps, then had to get out and walk (not run) over to the waiting area, tag the next person, and they walked to the car and did 3 laps and so on. Our group ended up not posting that great of a time, but the "pit stop" from me to the other dad was the fastest of the day so I took home a snazzy little tire pressure gauge! :-) The second exercise was switched into a lane change maneuver, which was probably dad's favorite exercise of the day. Basically accelerate hard, brake as you go through a set of cones, then swerve left to go through another set, then back to the right to enter a long curve. Continue turning as you leave the curve and let off the gas as you go through a set of cones. Don't brake and swerve over to another set of cones then there's a stop-and-go (come to a complete stop then continue) and that's a lap. It was a really fun exercise.

So fun in fact (for dad) that he just didn't want to let go of it when we went to the skidpad. The skidpad was now an individual competition where we did 4 laps around the figure 8 then proceeded over into a stop area where the time stopped when we stopped. We did it each twice, once without the stability control and once with. I did pretty well with this one and the instructors said it was a pretty good time. As I mentioned before, dad wanted to still be doing the lane change. He started out totally flooring it (which of course led to him spinning out). He restarted, then got a little excited again and spun a second time. The second time through I think he finally succumbed to the idea that he wasn't doing the lane change and did a lot better. ;-)

So then it was back to the track! We did more laps in our carreras, though this time we were being recorded (camera on us, camera out the front of the car, and some basic performance info). They will apparently put it on DVD and send it to us in a month or so. Should be interesting! I tried to be a bit more vocal, but it probably wasn't that entertaining because I was just starting to get annoyed with the two guys dad and I were paired with because they were kinda holding us back. I could definitely have been going noticeably faster, but the instructor had to keep us together. Either way, I can't wait to see what was actually recorded. Then we also got to do a few laps in the carrera Ss, but that was even MORE annoying because we are in faster cars, but I felt like the other two guys were even MORE conservative so we didn't really get to exercise them like I would have liked to. Not like I can really complain :-) Then came the hot laps! The instructors took us for a ride in the Cayenne Turbo (the SUV), which they said easily keeps pace with the carreras we had been driving. It was nuts to tear up a track like that in an SUV! Then we had a lap in the Carrera Turbos. Talk about hauling ass!! It was crazy to see (and FEEL) what those cars are capable of. SO much fun! We all piled back into the vans and went back to the classroom. They went through the competitions and gave our prizes to the winners. And in addition to having the fastest "pit stop," my time through the skipad was the fastest of the group! So I also won a snazzy silver Mobil 1 pen. We also got certificates of completion, the pics of us with our cars from the beginning of the day, and little model GT3s. It was one helluva day!!! We only had a few minutes, but we poked our head in the museum that was there as well. You can hardly see in the picture, but it is the largest collection of motorcycles in the world, and there were plenty of other cool things as well! We will definitely have to come back when we have a few hours to burn. We met up with mom and had a nice mexican dinner then I hit the road back to tally! A long day for sure.

This morning MC was feeling a lot better, but now I think I'm at the peak (or trough I guess) of the illness. I took it easy and rested today and luckily I just have one class tomorrow. I'll probably be taking it easy as much as I can the next few days since that 10k is looming on saturday! Lots of juice and such! And speaking of rest, I think after that massive post, I am going to crash hard. :-)

A year of oddities and love / spring break

The first half of the tagline we liked to use to describe our one year anniversary. :-) I'll talk a little more about that in a minute, but I figured I would do a little recap of the mileage covered this week as I felt like I had practically switched careers into the trucking business.

Friday: Tallahassee to Hilton Head - 340 miles
Saturday: Hilton Head to Savannah - 42 miles
Sunday: Savannah to Tallahassee - 300 miles
Monday: I had meetings
Tuesday: Day tripped to a friend's house in Welaka - 430 miles
Wednesday: Tallahassee to Bristol - 537 miles
Thursday: dentist and errands in Bristol
Friday: Bristol to Atlanta IKEA to Tallahassee - 603 miles

Total miles: 2252

Now that's a traveling week!!!

So MC and I left after work and went to Hilton Head after work on friday. Got there in the evening so we just took it easy and crashed.

So we started out our day in Hilton Head by going for a run! I love that we can start out a special day (like our anniversary or valentine's) with some exercise. Makes you feel better the rest of the day, and it is kinda cool that we can share exercise as well as our leisure time together. So after our run we prettied up and went across the street for lunch at Land's End. We were going to eat at the Salty Dog but it was jammed and we were pretty hungry. After lunch we hit the road and moseyed over to Savannah. Luckily it wasn't too bad of a drive. We got checked in and then decided to walk around Savannah for a bit. We actually got lucky because it was First Saturday so there was a shindig going down near the river.

There were lots of vendors selling a lot of crafts and stuff and it was cool to walk through with my goofy sweetie and peruse.

We slowly made our way down the waterfront and checked out the various wares. Stopped in a couple gift shops and a candy store on the way as well. Once we made it to the famous "waving lady" statue, we turned back into town to start meandering towards the hotel.

On the way back to the hotel, we decided to pass by the Pink House, where we were going to have dinner. We figured we should check it out so we would know exactly where it is and how long it would take to walk from the hotel.

Once we got back to the hotel it was time to get dolled up for dinner! The Pink House was super kickin' when we got there (glad I made a reservation!) and the food was pretty yummy. The appetizers were awesome and the entrees were pretty good. A little pricey, but it was definitely worth it for a cool anniversary dinner.

We took a different way home to view a little more of Savannah, then had a nice relaxing rest of our evening. Sunday we got up and wanted to walk around Savannah and see a little more than we got to the previous day. We talked to the concierge and he recommended a good brunch place, J.Christophers. They have some outside seating so we snagged a table and had a wonderful brunch in a nice little area of Savannah. Later we found out that while we were eating outside, my friends Paul and Chasity were actually eating inside! What are the odds? And I think another friend of ours was in the area at a similar time as well. It was crazy to know that I had friends right inside and we didn't even know!

After brunch we continued through the historic district over to Forsyth Park.

We weren't intentionally trying to look like we were posing for prom pictures, but it definitely turned out that way.

We sat in the park for a bit, then decided to wander back to the car so we could hit the road back to tally. It was a great weekend. We covered some ground, enjoyed some great food, a cool new place, and of course each other's company. It was definitely an awesome way to celebrate a year of oddities and love.



Tuesday Matt and I went to Tim's house to join some wakeboard club kids for our first wakeboarding session of the year. It was a blast and we had a lot of fun, even if we did drive for like 7 hours that day. I got some pretty good pictures that you can check out on my Flickr account. I thought about posting a few on here, but figured I will just let people check them out on Flickr. I will end on a cool shot Matt got of me. Now I'm off to try to be at least a little productive on St. Patty's!

Back from a great Father-Son trip to Colorado

I am back in Tally after an awesome Father-Son trip to Breckenridge, Colorado! It was not the longest trip, but dad and I sure know how to pack a lot of fun into a long weekend. We actually had a few convos about the awesome long weekend trips that we have had in the past. We can cover some ground!

So this might be some repeat to anyone that saw my mobile uploads to facebook, but oh well. Things will be a little more in context here so that will be the added benefit. :-) I am also using the standard "insert image" that livejournal provides to put these pics in here. It makes for fairly small resolution pics, but for most of these I think that gets the point across, and anyone can always click on the pictures if they want to see an enlarged version. I think all of them were taken with my phone so it isn't like they were super awesome to begin with.

The first pic is on the way from the airport out to the mountains. The last couple of times we have been out there, there has been tons of snow and the roads have been pretty crappy. We were definitely happy to be greeted by some warmer weather and clear roads, though it definitely made it feel a little less like we were starting out a ski trip.

As has been the case the last two trips out to Colorado, we have gotten snow every day. Now that may sound awesome (who doesn't like fresh powder?), it can actually get a little annoying sometimes. Not only is it colder having snow constantly hitting any exposed surface on your body, but to snow you need clouds. This means it is very overcast, which means you will have very flat light, which means it will be hard to see the surface of the snow. It can be good practice to learn to ski or board more by feeling with your feet that actually seeing the snow, but it sure is nice to have a sunny ski day every once in a while! You can see some of the aftermath of boarding in a snowstorm in the accompanying picture. Dad got a pretty good covering too as you can see.

Both days we got snow, but the second day it was definitely the harder snowing day of the two. We (luckily) got out pretty early both days so we got tons of good runs in before the crowds got out and before the weather got worse. You can see in the picture that the snow is really coming down. It never let up! We did see a little sun after we got off the mountain (of course!) on our last day. The snow was still awesome though and we definitely made the most of it and had a frickin' blast! One random note I just thought of... the riding was made a little more interesting for me by the fact that the toe strap on my right binding fell off at some point. Luckily, my left foot is my control foot, but it is definitely a bit of an odd feeling to be riding with only one strap on your binding! Nothing will take your mind off it like a nice beer sampler from the local brewery though!
It was definitely a kick ass trip, but it started getting kinda crazy cold towards the end. At one point I was walking around taking pics and I stopped to prop my camera on a railing for a long shutter shot. The railing ended up being so cold that when my hands touched it, it literally felt like someone had lighters under my hand because it just started burning. It was nuts! I believe one of the last times I checked weather.com before I went to bed, it said it was -4 feels like -15. That's chilly!

You may not be able to read it in the picture, but the car's thermometer was reading -5 when we were leaving in the morning. Not quite Tallahassee weather! There was a little snow on the road from the recent storm, but after the last couple of trips it pretty much seemed like nothing. We DID get to see the buffalo herd chilling next to the road on the way in. We've always seen the signs, but rarely see any actual buffalo. Dad and I had the same flight to Atlanta, then his flight home headed out about an hour earlier than mine so I had a little downtime in the airport. Had a little interesting and cool experience while I was there.
I went to the ice cream vending machine to get a snack. It said 50 cents had already been put in so I was kinda pumped. Then I realized why that was the case. I put in 50 more cents, then tried to put in a dollar and realized the dollar accepter was nonfunctional. Bummer. So I push the cancel and return change buttons a couple times and it seems like nothing happens. I'm about to walk away when I hear it drop change, but it definitely doesn't sound like 4 quarters. So I check and it is a snazzy new one dollar coin! The pic below isn't the greatest, but it was still a pretty snazzy find. This week has been good so far too. Got my shoulder checked out and bloodwork done (good to check) on monday, did PT for my calf and found out I need to lower my triglycerides a little bit today, and have fit a little research in there as well. Yesterday MC and I decided to join a local group who is training for the 10k at the end of the month and we had a nice 4.5 mile run without stopping! That is by far the longest MC has ever run nonstop and I was pretty stoked I didn't die considering how little I've been running lately. It was a cool little accomplishment. Tomorrow I have lots of chores to take care of and such and it should be a pretty busy day! Oh, and I couldn't fit them into the post well, but I'm including a few other "bonus" pics below of the drive out of Breckenridge :-) and as a side note, I'm just looking at my actual blog when I am figuring out where to align all these pics, so if it looks like crap on your feed, you might wanna check out my original post to see what I had in mind. ;-)