New feature for this blog.

As if this blog wasn't already the greatest bleepin' blog in blistory, I've added another feature. A guestbook unlike any other. A guestbook and a questionairre which will teach you, among other things, what is my favorite curse word? You'll learn a lot about me, and dare I say, perhaps you'll learn a little bit about yourself too. Also, the questionnaire has the greatest background of any website ever, and if that's not enough to pull in whordes of websurfers, I'll add this to the mix: You sign my guestbook and I'll sign yours, I promise.

Likewise with blog comments, leave a comment on my blog, and I'll leave one on yours. NO, TWO, I'll leave two comments on your blog for every one you leave on mine. Two for one, you can't go wrong with that. And they'll be clever comments too. Not just mindless "keep up the good work" stuff. I'll express sincere concern for your troubles with your bf, or I'll tell you that your right about something. I'll tell you you're right and you can use me as a confirmatory source in future arguments on that subject.

I could even help in other ways.

Need someone to call in sick for you?
(One guestbook signing and 5 comments)

Need someone to have your back when you tell your girlfriend's ex to stop calling?
(One guestbook signing and 20 comments)

Need to frame someone? - I know where to get a dead hooker.
(One guestbook signing and 100 comments)

So please sign in.

Take it easy peasy like a lemon squeezy.
Keith.

Still struggling

The announcement of my recovery was premature. My respiratory problems have reemerged, and made my running difficult again this week. I'm currently not too fatigued, but I don't really feel ready for a 10 mile race, like I planned for this weekend. But I'll get by, I'll get through it. On the upside, it looks like the weather may be pretty nice for the race, and I always perform best when expectations are at their lowest, and they couldn't be much lower right now.

Feeling a little better and running a lot better.

7.1 miles and I actually ran the whole way. Regardless of the fact that I shouldn't have any trouble with a 7 miler, and a few weeks ago I ran 21 with little trouble, I consider it a good run. But I've been having a rough time, and it was very warm this evening, so I say "Good for me."

After just a few days, a few bad runs, the mental barriers begin to return. Each mile feels like a milestone. Whereas a couple of weeks ago, those miles would have passed without notice, a drop in the bucket, as I chase some weekly mileage total.

All this week has been difficult, where my legs would feel like rubber after 1.5 miles, and I'd have to start walking shortly after that. I'm sure it was because I was getting over a chest cold, but my symptoms were very light, and my poor running was practically the only sign of illness. But it was lingering, and I actually considered going to see a doctor about it. And I'm a guy! I don't go to the doctor unless I need something sewn back on. I guess I'm really growing up.

Sad week for machismo.

This week in Texas, almost a million husbands swallowed their pride and listened to their wives and evacuated. And as a reward they got to run out of gas in gridlock traffic and spent 20+ hours on the roadside.

But machismo will return, because it's clear now that respecting Mother Nature is NEVER the right decision. Nobody will evacuate next time.

Beautiful day in Southeast Houston.

So far so good...

And it was beautiful this morning. Clear skies, cool breeze, no traffic at all. How could I resist a nice 4 miler this morning?
But the wind is picking up already. The trees outside are swaying more than I've seen them sway before, and it's still 18 hours or so before Rita's landfall.

Rita is expected to hit the coast sometime in the very early morning tomorrow, and my running schedule for tomorrow morning says "18 miles" so that's what I'm going to do. You can't argue with the schedule. It doesn't say "18 miles: weather permitting," or "18 miles: if you feel like it", it says "18 miles." And surely, doing stupid things and putting myself at risk is a great way to attract readers.

This will be just the first of the rediculously stupid things I'll do and then blog about on this site. Maybe next week, I'll run 15 miles in the hottest part of the day with no water. I'll run 16 miles consisting solely of laps on the Kemah bridge. I'll run 10 miles down I-45 during rush hour traffic - in the HOV lane! I'll use my RunningBuddy2000 to avoid the hassles from the cops about single people using the HOV lane.


That's just the tip of the iceberg. Stay tuned to see what stupid things I'll do.

Rita Go Home!

Ran three miles, still very tired for reasons unbenownst to me.

On another note, I'd estimate at least 3/4 of the population in my Pasadena neighborhood have evacuated, even though this is not an evacuation zone. It makes me wonder if I should have evacuated too, but apparently most people are stuck on the interstate, running out of gas, and possibly in a worse position than me.

So everybody's stuck on I-45, with no gas, and the current theory on what went wrong was that the evacuation plan didn't include all the voluntary evacuees from inland areas.

So the forecast sends Rita this way, then the next time its farther east, and now its back to being a little closer to us, so it's unclear how much of a problem it will be for us, and now Dr. Neil Frank says it might cross the coastline and stall out and rain on us for a year and a half. I have learned quite a bit about storm surge dynamics and eyewall wobble.

I'll keep all my lovely readers informed on the state of the city and how bad it gets here in the Southeast Houston area. Maybe that's a good hook for me to get some more readers. I'll post during the storm. And of course this is a running blog, so I guess I'll go out and run during the storm and then I'll blog about it. So stay tuned, I'll have war stories about dodging tornadoes and flying debris. I'll run into the evacuation zone and maybe I'll even run down by Kemah and I'll run and swim around and give an update on the status of everybody's homes and boats as I run by them.

Something is wrong with me.

I guess I'm still not feeling well, although most my symptoms have subsided. I'm only a little congested, but I had a lot of trouble with a three miler today. My legs were like rubber after 15 minutes of running. I hardly feel like the same person that was able to run 21 miles a couple weeks ago with very little trouble.

"Don't drop me, I'm the one that knows the route!"

Well, my weekly running goals fell apart this week, so it has kind of turned into a rest week. It's funny because I was thinking earlier this week that I should make this week an easier week, and then I can put in two solid weeks right before the Space City 10 miler. So I get a good rest week, with some added guilt for missing some scheduled miles.

I did put in 4 solid miles on the Kemah bridge on Thursday morning. And today's group run went well, after a bit of a shower very early on. I ran most of the way with a woman named Valerie, and it's funny, I think she only let me keep up with her because I knew the route. But we kept a good pace, I ran 9:20 per mile for 9.3 miles, which makes me feel good about my chances for setting a PR at the 10 miler (90:47 - 10/2004).

Keep on Rock-and-Rolling!
Keith.

Long long run.

Ufta, that was a long way.

Ufta was one of the words I learned when I was visiting relatives in Minnesota when I was a kid. The other one was bunza.

4:00 AM, we (Tonia and me) started down Nasa Road 1 and I felt like Gebrselassie. After about 5 miles we slowed down because it was going to be a long long day and we were going a bit too fast to keep up for 21 miles.
8 miles in is where the torrential stinging sideways rain began, just in time for us to slog over the Kemah bridge. But the rain kept me cool and took my mind off the huge distance I was trying to cover. The Kemah boardwalk was cool with no one around, and there were sheets of water flowing off the rooves. Then it was back to the park to finish up on the lucky pig trail. The trails were deserted and a bit flooded, but we saw several deer including some very small ones, and some type of giant rodent. No pigs.

I felt surprisingly good at the end, much better than a 30K I did a few weeks ago when it was much hotter.

Here was my route : HONK!

Then the group migrated over to Skeeters for a ginormous breakfast. A few hours later, I'm hungry again.

So that's all, back to sleep.

Life is like a bridge.

Stay with me on this one as I get philosophical.

Life is like a bridge.

Some people cross it and some people don't. Some people don't like bridges and get anxious when they drive over them. Sometimes there are people fishing from the bridge of life. At the same time, there are others that are sailing under the bridge, going a different way. Sometimes they're going fishing too. Either way it's not a safe place for fish.

You see, the bridge is like a gateway from one state to another, and the water is like reality, and we are the fish, you see?

So there you have it, life is exactly like a bridge, much like the Kemah bridge, where I ran 4 miles this morning.