. . . Jiggity Jig.

So Marcy and I made it back safely from the Black Hills.

We left Friday, stayed in a poor Super 8 in Hot Springs that night, did the Volksmarch at Crazy Horse Saturday, then the half-marathon on the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Sunday.

I finished the half-marathon in 1:47:31 for an average of 8:12 a mile.

We took Nebraska Highway 2 up to Alliance from Grand Island. This is the "Sandhills Journey" as the occasional signs along the way politely informed us. It is a very nice trip and much preferable to taking I-80 west to Ogallala. Amongst the many "unincorporated" towns between Broken Bow and Alliance is Mullen, "The Biggest Little Town in Hooker County." (Everybody's got a pitch.)

Now, for everyone's favorite time of my event blogs: the Dog Name List

Hannah, Golden Retriever
Sunshine, small perky blonde mutt (23 months)
Tori, Black Laborador
Millie
Isabel, Border Collie
Ranger, Golden Retriever
Rosey, Golden Laborador (after the Los Angeles Ram defensive lineman)
Armstrong, German Shepherd
Payton, Golden Retriever (same owner as Armstrong)
Husker, Beagle (owner graduated from Doland and had a daughter that went to UNL)
Lucy Collins, Black Lab (brand new pup, we met in the parking lot of Menard's as the owners were purchasing a crate for her. she was supposed to be picked up on Wednesday, but the folks surprised the kids.)
Fifi, English Bulldog (She was my favorite of the weekend. After I was introduced to the 2 year 4 month dog, I reached down to pet her, and she promptly turned around and sat on my feet. I can't begin to express how great it is to have a 40 pound bulldog named Fifi sitting on your feet.)

Pretty Amazing Grace -- Eventually

Neil Diamond has a new album that drops today. The first single off of it is titled "Pretty Amazing Grace." (the amazon site has a video of the song apparently.)

Anne Lamott was on The Colbert Report pimping her latest book Grace Eventually.

Grace is the new Hope.

I ran my half-marathon in 1:53:29, which I'm very happy with. It helps to set your expectations low, and I reached them.

Dogs I met on my run Sunday:

Roy, old black lab
Vega, Boxer Staffordshire mix
Lily, golden lab
Cooper, Golden Retriever

"Saturday In the Park"

Perfunctorily, I had my last run tonight before Sunday's half-Marathon. I ran 9 miles in 88 minutes. I'm expecting to have my slowest time yet. This is disappointing to me because I've always finished under two hours and probably won't this year.

Saturday I went to Parkville, MO, right next to Kansas City, for their Parkville Microbrew Festival. They had 24 different microbreweries from Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska sampling their wares.

My day started, however, with breakfast with Brett Toay at Dixie Quick's Magnolia Room in Omaha. My apple and brie omelet with grits and English muffin was very tasty.

From 1 PM to 5 PM I sampled 31 different beers. All the attendees were given a souvenir tasting glass (I'm guessing it was 4 oz.). A quick tip if you're going to a similar event: Start asking for a half glass from the beginning. Two ounces is plenty to taste everything you need to, plus you can always get another sample if you find something you like. I started getting my half glass samples about halfway through the event so I would venture that I consumed around 90 ounces of beer in the four hours. This works out to 7.5 beers. This was a lot, but don't worry; I waited three hours including supper and dessert before I took to the road.

I won't bore you in this space with each beer that I tasted, but I'll mention a few that stood out to me. There were a lot of IPAs (India Pale Ales) and other Pale Ales, a few fruit accented wheats, a smattering of maibocks, with the rest being filled in with stouts, porters, and ales.

Coming in at 60 IBU [International Bittering Units (Budweiser is less than 10)], my favorite IPA was from 23rd Street Brewery in Lawrence. I tasted something in Blind Tiger's IPA that I couldn't pinpoint, but still enjoyed. 75th Street Brewery from KC, MO had a Double IPA with 103 IBUs, which is crazy--crazy good.

Free State Brewing Company [which created maybe my favorite beer: their Blackjack Porter (Baltic)] came through again with a Blue Sky Rye ale.

Of the four maibocks at the event, I enjoyed Boulevard's the most with its strong banana accents; Blind Tiger came in second, but surprised me. They were very consistent with the Java Porter and its tremendous nose very deserving of a Gold (2004) and a Silver (2007) at the Great American Beer Fest.

There were enough fruity beers with two peach, a raspberry, and a blackberry offering. O'Fallon's Wheach was the winner for a great peachy nose and taste. McCoy's had a Ginger Shandy that was also very tasty.

At the Microbrew Festival, I also met a lot of dogs:

Wylie, German Shepherd Husky mix (first dog I met, friendly owner's name was Dale)
Chinook, Siberian [all white and undersized for the breed standard (41 lbs. instead of a minimum 45)
Bam Bam, Pug (his owner created the website for the event)
Cessna, Black Lab ("father" is a pilot)
Duke, Viszla & Georgia, Yellow Lab (belong to the same couple)
Gertie, Bassett
Cappuccino and McLovin, Daschunds (not siblings just acquired near in time to each other)
Mini Cooper [full name (not certain of nickname), Yorkshire Terrier
Remington, Puggle
Mango, Black Mutt
Kaya, Chow Australian Shepherd mix (really neat coloring with a Chow-like pumpkin base with black tigery markings)

Can't Stop Bad Telegraph Pun Stop

I wanted to be cool like the Hartman Sisters (Ellen and Leah) and have a clever format like their interview or press release, but I don't know enough about telegraphs to pull it off. Just know it would have been rife with sentences ending in "stop stop."

I ran again Tuesday night, which makes four times since the 15th (23 miles in all). The last two outings I've averaged 8:30 for my three miles out and then three miles back from my place to 39th and Normal. I've always enjoyed a street sign on the path at Sumner and Capitol Parkway. On the top it has an arrow going forward to Holmes Park, and underneath that is an arrow to the left for Bryan Hospital. I like the dichotomy and choice I get to make each time I pass it. Either a romping frolick to city organized nature, or a hobbled limp to help at Bryan.

Oh, and I saw a dog named Winston.

Back in the Saddle Again

So the 1st of March was a very beautiful day and I ran.

Fast forward six weeks. I ran again last night for the first time since then. We'll see if I am ready for the Lincoln Half-marathon on May 3. I'll keep you updated.

Iegor Phetis
Aelita Miratztchijska
Drupatie Seepersaud
Monestime

A Wonderful Time for a Wonderful Reason Part 1

I made it back safely from my travels to 21200 Last Chance Trail Lead, SD for the DMTM (Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon) on Sunday.

I got my PR [(personal record in runner lingo) you have to switch the event to half marathon and then you can search by my name and city to see my time], which has happened each time I've run a half marathon.

In the coming days, I'll break down the wonderful time I had this past weekend.

I will be having Rhubarb and Bean Bags again this Thursday night starting shortly after 6:30 PM. I got a bunch of fresh rhubarb from home so that should be very tasty.

"Owning a Barnyard Animal Isn't as Easy as It Looks"

I woke at 3:45 this morning, which worked out alright because my sister was also insomniacking. Fortunately, these mind-gloaming hours allow one to tap that subconscious, so to speak.

Apparently I spend a lot of time in my web log community because my subconscious was rocking the poetry type stuff (see Angela and Katie's recent posts). Katie's post particularly spoke to me. I was wanting to add a comment to say how much the ocean meant to me, but I've only been to each of America's oceans once, and only single digits in age at that. The other idea that was floating in my mind was my disdain
for a lyric in a praise song, something about God's love being closer than the ocean to the shore.

Here's what some amalgamating got me, one simile:

as close as the tide

The phrase "as close as the tide to the sand" (scroll to bottom of page for pertinence) was used to describe Blaine and Barbie's relationship over three years ago, but I'd like to think I wasn't influence by that in any form.

What I like about the phrase is its Janus-like qualities. It is always there but always changing too. I know I'm not a poet, but I had to fill the last two hours with something besides music video watching, so I blogged about it.

I'm going to have a post soon about a few of my favorite things, so start thinking about your favorite things too: colors, way to prepare eggs, type of meat/analog, car, actors, sports teams/athletes, films, directors, music artists, and other stuff too. I think the post might actually be a lot of my favorite things.

Just sharing that I discovered who was singing a cool song in the recent Puma commercials: Mazarin. I have the song on my Space if you want to check it out.

Now that it is 6:07 and day light, I'm gonna go running.

"Let It Rain"

So my mother and I ran the Lincoln Half-Marathon this morning. It was raining at the start, which made for a generally wet race.

My chip time was 111 minutes and 57 seconds. I think this was faster than last year. If memory serves me (and that should be memory's purpose: To Serve Man), I did 1:56 last year. Turns out Memory failed me. According to my post about last year's half-marathon, I did it in 1:54:27.

Instead of running the first half of each mile at a comfortable pace and then racing to the next mile marker, like I did last year. I worked for two 8 minute miles to start, then just ran comfortably for the rest of it. And I did run for the entire thing, no walking for a bit after hitting the 11.5 mile wall.

As the 4800 or so were inching toward the starting line, I thought how interesting it would be to move at that rate for the entire 13 miles. Everyone slowly shuffling along and every so often getting to move 10 feet at a time instead of just 1 or 2. I know how cattle or sheep going to market feel now.

A Party for No Reason

After a disappointing week discipline-wise, I had a wonderful Friday. I went running after work for seven miles. Then Angela and I went to Ivanna Cone for the much anticipated Ginger Lemongrass ice cream. She sent an email to request Honey Sesame for when Klaralyn comes to Lincoln. In the return email, Amy, the proprietor of that wonderful establishment, mentioned she had made a batch of Ginger Lemongrass. So I called on Wednesday to see if it was out front yet; it wasn't going to make it out that night because the other flavors weren't moving too fast. I called again yesterday and it finally made it to the board and "wasn't some secret flavor." After enjoying our dish and cone of ice cream, Angela and I each got some to take home. It really was a very impressive board of flavors that Ivanna Cone had going: Sweet Cream Vanilla, Dutch Chocolate, Mint Oreo, Coffee, Chambord (a favorite of Ellen's), Cinnamon, Ginger Lemongrass, Coconut Pecan (Angela go some of this for home with the GL), Kentucky Chocolate (a hint of bourbon), and Basalmic Strawberry Pear Sorbet. There are some flavors I'm missing, another sorbet for example, but still very very strong.

Then we played bean bags. Michael Barrett, a man about town in the downtown Lincoln area, was walking by and joined us for a few games. Our last game was the most hotly contested. She jumped out to an 8-0 lead, but I jumped back into it with a 6 point round. Then I got ahead 9-8. After some quality rounds by each of us we were tied at 13 for like three or four rounds. At this point Angela made a comment about how "this might get a bit tedious." Well, she ended the tedium with eight points the next round to win the match.

That was our party and it was grand.

"Begin Again Gang . . .

gonna get gung-ho about fitness."

So tonight was the third night this week that I ran at Larson Lifestyles Center. Last year, if you remember, I ran in the Lincoln Half-Marathon and completed the 13.1 miles in 1:56. It was my goal to finish in under two hours, and I did. This year my goal is to complete a half-marathon around 90 minutes. This means going from averaging 8:46 minutes a mile to 7 minutes a mile. I don't know if this much improvement is possible, but it helps that I have two opportunities this year. Lincoln's marathon at the beginning of May, and the Black Hills marathon at the beginning of June for my mother's birthday celebration.

This week is the first running I've done since last year's marathon in May. I started "training" for last year's marathon about this same time, so my plan to improve that 1:46 per mile is to run faster paces for the thirty minutes I get the treadmill at Larson and run more longer distances than last year once the weather gets nice. Last year the most I ran before the marathon Sunday was 10 miles on Friday. Hopefully this year I'll get a 15 miler in there before the half. Any advice in this new venture is welcome. I'll keep you updated.

An Email Forward I Appreciated

How much chalk could a woodchuck chalk if his name were Julian Beever?

It is mainly a bunch of sidewalk chalk drawings done in three dimensional perspective. The Batman and Robin is my favorite.

I'm doing well. I've been running again, at least three miles on Friday, Monday, and Wednesday. I've been eating healthier--ice cream only once or twice in the last couple weeks. And I'm making my second pie in seven days. This one will be a blue-barb (unless you prefer rhuberry) pie with honey instead of sugar. I went with honey instead of sugar, because my normal rhubarb custard recipe is too sweet. Sure you want sweet, but you also want the tartness of the rhubarb, so I'm making some adjustments. We'll (me and those joining me tomorrow for Thursday Night) see how it goes.

Dustin Halfman

Dustin Hoffman was the Marathon Man in film of same name. I'm just half the man he was.

I finished today in 1:54:27. My mother finished in 2:54:24. I'd like to give a big shout out to Erin Brumbaugh of Sidney, IA. I was fortunate to run with her from miles 8.5 through 11.5 (where I kinda hit a wall). She wore a Rolling Stones t-shirt and made pleasant conversation. You can go here if you want to see other results or more detailed results for other participants like Greg Okimi, Andrea Blake, Yolanda Blake, Mindy Mekelburg, Greg Carlson, and the aforementioned Ms. Brumbaugh.

On the whole, I enjoyed the experience. My first mile, while sorting out the opening was ten minutes. Mile 2 was nine minutes. My fastest mile was probably the sixth going north on 48th to Hwy 2. It took me 71 minutes to get to the eighth mile. 1:27 at the ten mile mark. Then a bit past the eleventh mile marker I kinda seized up and had to walk for a bit.

My "strategy" was to just go however for the first 4 or 5 minutes of each mile, then I would run faster passing people for the last bit til I reached the next mile marker. I guess it worked. I ran 10 miles on Friday, because "they" said I should run at least that before doing the 13.1. Now if I do 3 tomorrow I have the three day marathon.

After the marathon my parents and I went to Granite City for their brunch. Very tasty. You must try eggs benedict, turkey ham instead of canadian. Alright, I'm done.

One Week Later

So, I haven't run since the last time I ran, last Thursday. One week later, it is twenty degrees cooler, and I ran a mile farther at a pace 55 seconds faster per mile (8 miles in 71 minutes).

Maundy Thursday

Tonight I ran here. It was my longest and first run outside since starting my "training" for the alf-marathon. Some thoughts:

I know now why they created "interval training." It was just an excuse to slow down (stop) when running. It is a whole lot harder to run outside. It really doesn't help when the time and temp at South and Capitol Parkway is stuck at 90 something. It seemed hot. I'll check tomorrow what the temp was from 7:08 to 8:16. So I did the seven miles in 68 minutes. I guess that isn't horrible; it is a 9:42 average. I don't think a fried egg and peanut butter sandwich with a chaser of milk is the best pre-run meal. I know what the psalmist was talking about when he mentioned lying down beside still waters. I really liked the underpasses. When you're running, the stop lights are a pleasant excuse to rest and no longer a nuisance. According to Gmap, I burned 1005 calories.

Much to Scott's annoyance, today is Maundy Thursday. It is a nice concept though "A new commandment I give unto you, love one another as I have loved you." John 13:34 I love saying Maundy Thursday. Say it with me: MAUNDY THURSDAY.

While typing this up, I was watching Ed vs. Spencer on BBC America. It is a very fun show. The concept is that they challenge each other each show with the winner getting glory and the loser getting humiliation. Previous episodes the challenges have been who can get themself sickest in a week, who can make a better porno, who is the most attractive to women. Tonight's episode was who could stay the longest in the woods with only a survival knife and the clothing on their back. Spencer won despite sabotage attempts from Ed. The straw that broke Ed's back was that he didn't have a way to carry/hold water to purify it. For the Humiliation, Spencer went to a nice restaurant and had Ed feed him the food. Spencer asked Ed what dessert he would get and Ed flashed the old two finger salute. "Two desserts it is." Spencer countered. Funny stuff. I also think Bryant looks a bit like each of them.

I hate you Phidippides.

1:02:03 04/05/06

I thought it would be good to blog on this day of ordinality. I have mostly been focussed on running the last while. Monday I ran 5 miles at a 7:27 pace. Today I ran three miles at 7:18; I would have ran more, but when I was pausing to check my heart rate, I accidently hit the stop button, which ended my workout. I suppose I could have done the other two from the start, but I lost my flow, I guess. Friday I'll make up for it with 6 miles at the 7:18 pace, and now that I've told y'all, I hafta. The challenge will be transfering my running to the out of doors and to distances longer than 6 miles. I woulda this last Sunday but it was rainy and I slept in, and I was scared, get off my back will ya.

taquiner

The Given

Wendy, as the only contestant, wins the Proof Is In The Pudding Contest[Editor's Note: A request was made for bread pudding recipes in the March 13 post titled The Proof?]. Thankfully, it was a worthy entry regardless of the competition. I will give some props to John though, from whom I asked for some "coaching." My recommendations to improve my execution would be to use fresh, not freezer burnt, rhubarb (I wish I would have used my strawberries instead; the cranberries I added were a nice touch though.) and more cinnamon, partly because I increased the recipe a bit because of my bread. I used an entire loaf of French bread, the eight slices was a bit too ambiguous. I suggest staling and cubing enough to fill your dish and then adjust accordingly. Bytheby, I made it last night, not Sunday like I said I was gonna, but I did go running on Sunday; I cut it from 5 or 6 to 3.5 miles because I wasn't feeling it.

Tonight though, I ran 4 miles. It was wonderful because I had a nice high from running. This was good, because normally after a more stressful day of work I drown my anxiety in a pint of Hagen-Daas Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream (or one of ale). I'm glad that I can now use running as a respite instead of a burden.

Happy Birthday Angela! A nice hug to you. (I know that I'm a bit late.)

Bean Season

Yesterday offically marked the beginning of bean bag season. That is because my apartment (me, Scott, and Sergey) played bean bags. I've still got it, but some humidity would help to keep the bags on the board.

Tonight is a concert at Sokol with Of Montreal.

On the running front: I finished my first 13 miles Tuesday. It took me a week. Hopefully two months from now, it will take considerably less time (it might be tough dodging traffic). Today, I'll try a longer run, 5 or 6 miles.

Bernie Taupin

I'm in Love with a Stripper*

Tonight is a beginning of the beginning. It is Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, The day before Lent, a forty day period of "fasting." Not to be confused with Foie Gras, fattened goose liver. For Lent, I'm giving up going to bed after midnight. And in anticipation of my birthday, I hope to spend the next 28 mornings yoga-ing (yoging?).

This is also the beginning of my running. I ran three miles tonight. I'm planning for three more Thursday and five Sunday.

If you want to know more about my septentrional trip last weekend, scroll down. I had a draft and it posted on the day I saved the draft but below my more recent post.

*This song was requested driving to and from the Lincoln Racquet Club on 94.1. Both times by females. Apparently it has been #1 in the Top Five at Nine the last three evenings.