Rolling out from scratch

The good news is that my feet haven't gotten too fat and my running shoes still fit. For the first time in many weeks I went for a trek on my dam trail. It was an hour-long walk punctuated with dots of jogging on the return. I don't think I'm all the way back to week-one-day-one stage of Couch-to-5K, but it certainly does feel a lot like I'm the too-heavy guy starting all over again.

Really, it's been a relief to see the weight creep back on again, because it's also a sign that I have an appetite again. When the duodenitis was at its worst -- a time I'll fondly remember as the Great Puke of 2010 -- food and I were in a period of estrangement.

I can't think of a better way to reconcile than a little fooling around in the kitchen. So this week I decided to experiment with homemade pizza, something I've been wanting to do since acquiring my beloved toaster oven with 12-inch-pie-pan-swallowing capacity. After adapting a dough recipe from the Food Network site, my first attempt emerged with a too-thick, doughy crust topped with a soggy mess of sauce. A couple nights later came beta version 2.0, where my goal was to thin out the dough and thicken the sauce.

After realizing that I didn't own a rolling pin, the improvisational center of my brain engaged and I ended up rolling this dough ball flat with a cold can of Coke Zero from the refrigerator. I won't be a competitive threat to Domino's but I can say that 22 minutes later, I was devouring a very-edible spinach-and-steak pizza. We must do this again sometime.

Today is the fifth anniversary of my first half marathon. Now those were the days -- 2006 was the last time the Houston Marathon event was under cap. People could actually walk into the expo on Saturday and register to run in the morning. Ain't that quaint? That was also back when I thought a finisher medal was the coolest trinket ever. (Today I still think they make really nifty Christmas tree ornaments.)

As I mentioned in my last post, I took the deferment option out of this year's Aramco half. But I plan to be out on the course on race day as a volunteer. So for those of you still running: Have a great race day and I apologize in advance if we inadvertently send you merging onto the Pierce Elevated.

Downtime

Sometimes I wonder about the attention my illness would have gotten in the medieval era. Would the doctors be preoccupied with draining excess "humors" or might a clergyman have been called in to perform an exorcism?

Thankfully, it's 2010 and the demon that's been possessing me turns out to have the modern name of Duodenitis. I'm making strides towards controlling the symptoms, but the ordeal has been leaving me feeling drained. Running is still absent from my life; I'm hoping to work back to at least walking regularly sooner than later.

Yesterday was the last day to exercise the option to defer registration for the Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon. I know it was the right thing to do, but clicking Submit was like swallowing bitter medication. My five-year streak of running on Marathon Sunday comes to an end. A new option for Houston this year, the deferment bargain means giving up eligibility to run 2011 in exchange for a chance to register for 2012 without being subject to the lottery. (In case you're wondering: No, the 2011 registration fee is not transferred to 2012. We would pay again. I did say "bitter.")

With some of the surplus time non-training, I've rediscovered video games -- specifically, the indie sensation Minecraft at the moment. Even in its pre-release state -- it just went beta today -- the open-world challenge to survive in a world of raw material and thrive through ingenuity has captured my imagination. I play enough in my living room that I added in a 3D graphics accelerator for the HTPC I built earlier in the year. I jumped on a sale at Fry's for a board with nVidia's GeForce GT430; it's low-end, but gives more than enough framerate firepower for this game. Maybe it'll be enough for that new Civilization release too?

Readers: Are you running Houston on January 30? If so, I'll be cheering for you! Until then, I'll get back to excavating the minecart tunnel I need for my underground rapid transit line....

(P.S. If you happen to be a "blockhead" and know of a newbie-friendly multiplayer server I should visit, fill me in!)

Timeout

Getting sick has become entirely too frequent for my comfort. So now I'm out to find a path to get myself right again.

My training for the Aramco Half has been close to mothballed. Last week I logged exactly zero miles running.

When this whole "mystery" is unraveled it will likely be post-worthy, but I'm not feeling ready yet to document details here. Meanwhile I'm still around, and came by to quench that self-obligation to not let this blog grow stale. (I'm sure my fellow bloggers understand!)

Park to Park Run

A five-mile race -- and a point-to-point one at that -- is a rare thing to find in this town. I've been intrigued with the idea of doing the Park to Park Run for a few years, but it always seemed to conflict with something else I was doing in the spring. After finding out that the event was shifted to this autumn morning and seeing the Katy Fit training calendar calling for a six-miler this weekend, I figured the timing was right.

"I'm running this morning in honor of Columbus, Ohio," I thought to myself after parking my car in the Toyota Center garage. I pondered how the years of working in call centers and telecommunications have permanently warped my brain as I fastened my race number (614 -- you knew that, right?) and timing chip. I hurried across Discovery Green to have the honor of being the last one across the starting mats and out to race:

Mile 1 (11:09) -- Yeah, picking off walkers at the start shouldn't be anything to brag about, but I'll use anything these days for a pick-me-up! We passed the left-field wall of Minute Maid Park and then made a turn for the south.

Mile 2 (10:46) -- A "Toyota: Moving Forward" banner in the windows of the Rockets' home arena had an arrow that conveniently pointed us under the Southwest Freeway and into the condo-filled blocks of Midtown. I laughed as I heard a driver plead for permission to go through a closed intersection so he could make it to a convention. (Unless the GRB is hosting a vital organ transplant convention this weekend, that officer was going to continue shaking his head.)

Mile 3 (11:40) -- This stretch of Almeda Road has a definite Third Ward flavor to it. Barber shops and soul food restaurants hadn't woken up yet, but the music from 4212 Cafe was already calling people in for Zydeco Brunch.

Mile 4 (11:13) -- The highlight of this mile was yet another driver/police confrontation. I'm not sure what started it, but at this point, the officer felt the need to roar, "ME. YOU NEED TO BE WATCHING ME!" The Third Ward faded behind me, as my run replaced the scenery with the condos of the Museum District.

Mile 5 (11:11) -- The final mile brought me past some familiar landmarks leading into Hermann Park -- the McGovern Health Museum, the Chinese Pagoda, and the Museum of Natural Science. After passing the equestrian statue of Sam Houston, the sounds of the after-race party tantalized from the other side of the reflecting pool, but there was still a half-mile arc to go....

I did a sloppy job of starting and stopping my Forerunner, but it recorded my elapsed time at the five-mile mark as 55:59. Mindful that this is actually slower than my 10K PR from last year, I'll be happy at this point that I completed today's distance in less than an hour without any achilles trouble or nausea issues. Most importantly I hope I haven't brought any dishonor on the great people of Columbus.

Overall I think this run benefiting the Hermann Park Conservancy was a well-run event. I imagine that a big chunk of the race budget was devoted to traffic control. At least one of Space City's finest was posted in every intersection along the course. The words, "Good Morning! Thank you, officer" passed from my lips about forty times.

By the time I figured out where the T-shirts were being distributed, they were all gone. I'm not really bothered, though. I simply packed away an extra can of Michelob Ultra on the way out and called it even.

As dissonant as when seven is ninth in line

Up at this late hour, I find myself compelled to blog, because my mind cringes at the thought of having zero posts for the month of September -- our ninth month of the calendar which gets its name from the Latin word for seven. Nonsensical, eh?

It's been a month of transition in season. Certainly we don't have a true autumn on the Gulf Coast, but I'll happily take the cooler weather that's arrived recently. 60F is a lovely temperature to find at dawn for a run, and yesterday I marveled at having no beads of perspiration appear until I was a mile and a half out. Compare that to a Labor Day fun run I did earlier in this same month where three and a half miles in "eighty-eighty" conditions was enough to sweat myself into an uncomfortably low state of hydration.

During that same sweltering holiday weekend, I realized that there's been a uncomfortable change that's been happening in my inner self. In a phenomena that I could call leisure anxiety, my very body can feel threatened by fun situations. Nonsensical, eh? How I've discovered and begun to cope with this are topics that deserve fuller elaboration in another blog post when I'm better prepared to sketch it out.

In tribute to the passing of September, I'll close this post with seven of my old and new favorite destinations to visit on the Internet, presented in a rapid-fire itinerary like destinations on my favorite returning "reality" TV show, The Amazing Race.

• Our first leg starts with the words and images of Jenny Goellnitz in Ohio. After her pictures seize your attention, you'll lose yourself in her vivid narratives on running and surviving cancer.
• One state over, from the unpaved stretches of Pennsylvania, ultrarunners Chris and Dave talk about going the really long distance on Trail Musings.
• On Pennsylvania's paved surfaces, you might run into Flo, a.k.a. "Girl In Motion." Not only does she write a great blog, but she also has a great eye for designing running-related accessories.
• Not far away from Flo and the Trail Musings guys is another runner and self-described "mom blogger" that frequently rises above the easy "baby did cute" to genuine self-effacing hilarity. Here's a shout-out to MommysStillFab.
• Speaking of coping, I thought I'd share a link to a new series by a writer mom friend of mine concerning an entirely different condition. World, I introduce you to"CP Chick."
• From life with CP to life with PC: In the audio podcast Monitor Tans, a gaming couple discuss the highs and lows of what they're playing on the computers each weekend.
• This list finishes with a site that helps me cope between weekends, the webcomic xkcd. The humor can be esoteric, and sometimes I'm surprised at how much potential for pathos can be conveyed by scrawny stick figures.

22.5 Percent Better Than My Bestest

Running in its basic form is a solitary endeavor, but having others around to motivate and challenge us can lead to milestones we may not have reached on our own. In track and field a couple of weeks ago, we saw Tyson Gay's aspiration to catch World's Fastest Man Usain Bolt help propel the American sprinter to 100-meter victory in Stockholm.

Of course, I'm in a universe apart from Bolt and Gay -- who can both break the speed limit by running through a school zone -- but I did take advantage of the same principle on this morning's Katy Fit group run with the Red pace group. Coach Doug led us 10:1ers out slowly on a planned negative-split loop. By the time his last mile brought us in at a significantly quicker 11:30 pace, I was at the tail end of the pack toiling to keep up. But if I was by myself, I probably wouldn't have been pushing myself like that in mile 3.

This week I was thinking about the limits of coaching as I finished reading Lucy Kellaway's Who Moved My Blackberry? The main character, Martin Lukes, is representative of the self-interested excess and double-speak in corporate executives nearly universally despised by all of us. In a hilarious tale told entirely through glimpses into Martin's email, we see messages exchanged with his executive life coach, Pandora. At first Martin pledges to put 105% effort into improving his performance. Pandora insists that this is small thinking; her coachees are challenged to achieve 50% above their maximum capabilities. Martin ultimately agrees to split the difference with a promise to work "22.5 percent better than my bestest." (Luckily for his employer, Martin's job doesn't require proficiency with numbers.)

22.5 percent better than my bestest would result in making me a 20-minute 5K runner, which I don't ever see happening, even with the bestest coaching, but it's a nice dream. In various aspects of our lives, how valuable do you think a coach can be? Certainly they can provide a third-party perspective on our stated goals and what is required to achieve them. How far do you think an effective coach would be able to push you beyond where you might be on your own?

Random postscripts:

• The excitement of the morning came in our first mile as a runner found the edge of the pavement with her stride, going down for a scrape a couple feet long. We doubled-back to make sure my new scab-buddy was OK. As a fellow Red squirted ice-cold water over the freshly minted trail burns, I congratulated her on getting the stumble over and done with now, which means race day will be flawless. Hilariously, her first concern was whether the skid had chewed up her calf tattoo.
• Those who didn't get picked in the Houston Marathon lottery are likely looking at alternative goal races. Here's one more: After an absence of a couple of decades, a marathon-length race returns to the Isle. The Galveston Mardi Gras Marathon and Half Marathon is coming February 20. (As always, my blogging alter ego continues to track events at Houston Running Calendar.)
• As a regular NPR listener, I'm mostly glad to see KUHF expand its public radio services to a second slot on the FM dial by taking over Rice University's 91.7 station. But will they be able to fill the airtime with compelling programming? (Oh, and while I'm thinking about it: KUHF, where's my app for streaming audio on Android? Those iPhone users have all the fun.)
  
• If you use Facebook, be aware that a new feature called Places was rolled out last week. Yes, if you're not interested in sharing your locations with others online, begin by simply not using Places. But also be aware that by default, others can "check you in" to locations without your permissions. Lifehacker has a good guide on how to turn that annoyance off.

Houston, we have ignition

It's official -- I'm registered for the Aramco Houston Half Marathon!

The way this first Houston Marathon lottery announced results was a bit backwards in my opinion. The first email was a credit card receipt from Marathonguide.com, which made the "congratulations" email from the marathon committee the next morning more whimper and less bang. But the important part is that I can light the fuse on a training regimen that will culminate in that familiar cannon blast to start my next goal race in 23 weeks.

Meanwhile I'm still dealing with August here and the scheduled workout for this date was "sucky run."

Yeah, I'm being facetious. It started with the alarm clock sounding at an early hour, but by the time I was able to dump my butt out of bed, there was no way I was making it in to run with the Katy Fit crew. So I took myself out to my familiar trail on edge of the reservoir, where it was dam hot with the morning sun shining directly on the shadeless trail. I tried to compensate for the heat by going shirtless for most of the four miles. Fortunately, it's a lightly traveled path up there and I don't worry much about scaring innocent orphans and pets with my bared flesh. Even so, conditions were really tough and I ended up walking a lot of the distance.

In better news, I think my core conditioning is going in the right direction. I'm able to hold a plank position for 30 seconds now. Since I couldn't even make it to ten when I started, I'm celebrating this as progress.

Yes, I felt bad for not making it out to my training group, but found a way to make the situation work. I took the opportunity to perform an overdue spark plug change because I didn't drive anywhere this morning and my car's engine block was "cold." (Note to future self: If you're still driving the Blue Wagon of Happiness a couple of years after this blog post, it probably has between 210,000 and 220,000 miles now. Go change them again, buster!)

Here's hoping for smoother running all around in the near future!

I believe there comes a time when everything just falls in line

Another Katy Fit group run is in the books, and it turned out to be a really good one. This particular Saturday the marathon and half marathon training groups were starting together. Coach Maria took us 10:1ers on a three-mile loop, during which nothing of mine was hurt, bloating, or crashing into the pavement. Most of the run portion was roughly in twelve-minute pace, and that left plenty of energy for a strong finish. Even finding a parking space was easy today.

Sure, the post-stretching core routine kicked my butt again, but at least it felt like it left the steel-toe boots at home this time. I'll be working more of these exercises into my in-week workouts. (Hey readers, do you have any first-hand comments on Wii Fit, specifically on core?)

And after devouring a plate of whipped-cream-topped waffles and posting this blog update, it will soon be nap time for me. I was slightly shorted on sleep last night after coming home from Pat Benetar's show downtown. Yes, at age 57 she's on tour and still dealing aces from her deck of hits. It doesn't get better than being part of a packed-house chorus of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" with a future Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. (They ARE going to induct her someday, right!?) Have a rockin' weekend, y'all!

Here's Your Sign

Standing at this spot, facing a sidewalk on Eldridge Road in Sugar Land, this beacon of clarity helps pedestrians figure out which structure is the church, and which is the Valero gas station. Just imagine all of the confusion this expenditure of our tax dollars has prevented. Bravo!

Scraping By

After scraping by during the first couple weeks of Katy Fit with worn down New Balance 1224s, I finally treated myself to new shoes. After a couple of years away, I've returned to the Saucony camp with the Grid Fusion 3. "Great shoe for the budget conscious pronator," says the marketing copy. Hey, that sounds like me! I hope they turn out to be the true heir to the Grid Phoenix that I missed so much when Saucony seemed to get frilly with their lineup.

At this time, a kudo is rightfully bestowed upon Academy Sports and Outdoors. The display tags with some of their running shoes now carry actually useful color codes for Stability, Neutral, and Cushioning. The other blather that typically gets put on those shelf signage is nearly useless for shoppers attempting to differentiate between various models.

When a shoe is right, there's really no such thing as a break-in period, so I didn't hesitate to initiate this new pair with this morning's group run. It felt great to have my heels suspended again in the Saucony Grid cushion as I took off with the 10:1 group, once again led by Coach Doug.

Now if this was a story being told to a three-year-old, this is where you'd say, "...and then CurrentlyVince fall down, go BOOM."

Ironically, I had my mind focused on our group conversation about injuries when I tripped on the trail near our halfway point. I bounced right back up off the pavement, assuring everyone I was OK -- "I was running the edge, and the edge caught me." Just like the last memorable running spill I had, a handheld Amphipod bottle helped break my fall nicely, and the bottle even survived this time. I finished up the run with a lightly scraped knee, but no further embarrassment.

The embarrassment was waiting for me afterward, when core work kicked my butt once again. (Sigh.)

Now it's time to flip on some tunes and take care of some chores at home. This week I have not just one, but two newly released digital download albums joining my music collection. Gaelic Storm parties on with its fresh Cabbage, while Arcade Fire takes us out to The Suburbs. How has your summer sounded so far?