I got the official word today that I was no longer the ad guy for Blackwell Research. It was kinda sad to hear it (via email from Dave) but I wasn't surprised. It was a tough job to work up monthly ads, a catalog, and other things without much help from the head guy. Dave did a great job at just taking over the projects so they could be done though it wasn't his job. Besides, Blackwell needs a real PR and marketing guy, and it sounds like they got one. He already had a graphics person in Santa Fe, NM so they didn't need me. I'm kinda relieved but I liked being a part of the bicycle bizness so I'll miss that. Told Dave that I was available for any projects that I could do for them if the opportunity arose. I still have some invoices to send so I'll still get a few dollars and a nice rear wheel from them. I have a 4-bolt stem that I need to take a few pictures of for the catalog and Dave's letting me keep it. It'll go on my TT bike...sahweet!!
But all's not lost...I'm keeping busy with a new project for a place called Pretty Skin Again and it's keeping me busy. I've already produced 7 ads and a billboard, along with a logo. There's still more to go and I should do well with it money-wise. The place is all about botox injections, breast implants, and eyelid reductions...things that are done for women (maybe men, too). In a way it's kinda embarrassing for me and sometimes a pain, but it'll help pay the bills. Anyway, I'm keeping busy for now.
Jonnene and I are looking into getting wills made up. That should be fun (not) and it's something we need to do. I wasn't worried about it while I was single but things are different now. We have a responsibility to each other and to our families.
I've decided to take this entire week off from any appreciable exercise. I got my sub-45 minute 10K out of the way last weekend and I start riding my bike again on Thursday of next week. So I'm just being a slug this week. I'm going to put some real time into the kitchen this weekend, maybe get the majority of painting done. Still no countertops yet....I doubt I'll ever do any renovations with Lowe's ever again. We started this countertop project on August 25th and here it is, two months later...still no countertops. This is ridiculous. We decided that we'll deal directly with contractors next time instead of a go-between like Lowe's or Home Depot. I don't know how it'll affect the cost but things should go faster.
It's gotten cold outside and I wasn't ready for it at all. Later tonight I'll start digging up my cold-weather riding gear and see what I need to replace. I plan to get some miles in this winter but it won't be much fun in the frozen north...well, north Louisiana, that is. The humidity makes the cold much more noticable than it is in places like Colorado. I'd like to make a difference in bike races next year and I'm not getting any younger. Eventually, I'll only be able to do Masters races and these guys are getting faster every year. I'd like to do a couple of Cat. 3 races for the experience. I don't have much time left to do that and still have a chance to finish in the pack. AND I still want to break that hour in the 40K!!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Waking up sore
Wow, Sunday morning and we're feeling the afteraffects of the Autumn Breeze Run we participated in yesterday morning. The Autumn Breeze is a traditional late season run in Shreveport consisting of a 5K and a 10K run through the neighborhood streets of South Highland from Broadmoor Baptist Church. Turned out to be a good day out there...Jonnene set a new personal record for the 5K (3.1 miles) with an official 26:13 time. What makes it interesting is that she wasn't really trying for a PR and hadn't put in the training for the run. She was pretty sure she'd be lucky to finish in under 30 minutes so the time was surprising and pleasing for her.
I had wanted to finish in under 45 minutes for the 10K (6.2 miles) but I've been in the 7:30 per mile range during my training runs and I'd have to do 7:15 or faster to achieve that goal...maybe under 46 minutes was possible. My times went like this:
Mile 1 - 6:50
Mile 2 - 13:56
Mile 3.1 - a bit over 22 minutes or so
Mile 4 - 28:16
Mile 5 - 35:48
Mile 6 - 43:36
Mile 6.2 - 44:47
Basically I averaged 7:13 per mile, but I was really worried at my fast times the first two miles, thinking I might wear myself out too soon. I settled into a rhythm the rest of the run and the time seemed to pass by pretty quick. My time was the 28th fastest of the day but that's not saying much...for such an established race, it isn't that well attended by the majority of runners in the region. To me it's not the fall season without this run.
Later in the day, The Wife and I made our biggest combined purchase of the year when we got a new flat-screen TV...well, it's not here yet but should be delivered in another day or two. I always get nervous when prices have a comma in them! Wait til we get a new house eventually......
Saturday night we headed over to Monroe to watch the Warhawks play Florida International. Short story is that we won 28-14 and ULM played a good game in the second half. Sat with some friends during the game, one is a professor in kynesiology there. Paul came down from Little Rock for the game and we ate pizza with him afterwards at Johnny's Pizza on Desiard Street.
I had wanted to finish in under 45 minutes for the 10K (6.2 miles) but I've been in the 7:30 per mile range during my training runs and I'd have to do 7:15 or faster to achieve that goal...maybe under 46 minutes was possible. My times went like this:
Mile 1 - 6:50
Mile 2 - 13:56
Mile 3.1 - a bit over 22 minutes or so
Mile 4 - 28:16
Mile 5 - 35:48
Mile 6 - 43:36
Mile 6.2 - 44:47
Basically I averaged 7:13 per mile, but I was really worried at my fast times the first two miles, thinking I might wear myself out too soon. I settled into a rhythm the rest of the run and the time seemed to pass by pretty quick. My time was the 28th fastest of the day but that's not saying much...for such an established race, it isn't that well attended by the majority of runners in the region. To me it's not the fall season without this run.
Later in the day, The Wife and I made our biggest combined purchase of the year when we got a new flat-screen TV...well, it's not here yet but should be delivered in another day or two. I always get nervous when prices have a comma in them! Wait til we get a new house eventually......
Saturday night we headed over to Monroe to watch the Warhawks play Florida International. Short story is that we won 28-14 and ULM played a good game in the second half. Sat with some friends during the game, one is a professor in kynesiology there. Paul came down from Little Rock for the game and we ate pizza with him afterwards at Johnny's Pizza on Desiard Street.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Here's the short Short
1. Jonnene and I spent last weekend up in Hot Springs, AR to celebrate her birthday. We had a great time...went hiking in the hills, visited the observation tower on the ridge near downtown Hot Springs, saw a couple of great sunrises (our hotel room faced Lake Hamilton to the east), ate some great food, toured Bathhouse Row, and spent some quality time together. Paul came down from Little Rock to take some formal photos of us and we all ate dinner with his parents at a nice little local Italian restaurant. HS is definitely a nice place to visit...it'd been over 10 years since I was last there and probably over 25 since I had spent any real time there. I'll not make that mistake again...I will be back.
2. Since I'm off the bike this month, I've been running to stay in some kind of shape. I've put in a productive week by totalling 15 miles on my footsies! Today I did my first trail run in over 9 months down at Stoner Park and got a blister on my right ring toe. That kept me from getting more than 30 minutes...probably about three miles for the day. I felt a little spastic at first, gingerly running over the trails but soon I was in a good trot and feeling comfortable on the trail again. I've missed being out there!
3. Work has picked up! And I received several checks in the mail...finally!!! I took care of some long-standing bills, got some things I've been needing and putting off for oh-so-long. I'll take care of some other items next week. As to work, I got three calls on new jobs...finished an ad for a local magazine...and have been trying to get things organized around here. With Jonnene occupying some of my office space...and that's okay with me if you're reading this, honey...I've had to make some adjustments to how I do my work. So far, so good.
4. The kitchen is slowly coming around in its renovation. We put the first couple of coats of paint on the ceiling today but I'm still not satisfied with my plastering efforts. I think I might redo some of it or I might be resigned to get an expert in here to make it right. I actually enjoy doing it but, in general, I wish I knew more about the process. I hope our countertops come in next week...that'll make the biggest noticable change in the look, but the whole place is coming along pretty well. It might end up looking a little bland as Jonnene said, however, the whole goal is to make the house sellable and sometimes you can't get too wild and crazy.
2. Since I'm off the bike this month, I've been running to stay in some kind of shape. I've put in a productive week by totalling 15 miles on my footsies! Today I did my first trail run in over 9 months down at Stoner Park and got a blister on my right ring toe. That kept me from getting more than 30 minutes...probably about three miles for the day. I felt a little spastic at first, gingerly running over the trails but soon I was in a good trot and feeling comfortable on the trail again. I've missed being out there!
3. Work has picked up! And I received several checks in the mail...finally!!! I took care of some long-standing bills, got some things I've been needing and putting off for oh-so-long. I'll take care of some other items next week. As to work, I got three calls on new jobs...finished an ad for a local magazine...and have been trying to get things organized around here. With Jonnene occupying some of my office space...and that's okay with me if you're reading this, honey...I've had to make some adjustments to how I do my work. So far, so good.
4. The kitchen is slowly coming around in its renovation. We put the first couple of coats of paint on the ceiling today but I'm still not satisfied with my plastering efforts. I think I might redo some of it or I might be resigned to get an expert in here to make it right. I actually enjoy doing it but, in general, I wish I knew more about the process. I hope our countertops come in next week...that'll make the biggest noticable change in the look, but the whole place is coming along pretty well. It might end up looking a little bland as Jonnene said, however, the whole goal is to make the house sellable and sometimes you can't get too wild and crazy.
Monday, October 01, 2007
A Rest from the Bike
October is the usual month I take time off from the bike. Yep, the entire thirty-one days. I don't get on the bike at all but I'll do some repairs and maintenance. It's my built-in time to prevent any burnout from the previous 11 months of riding, especially from the hard race training I've done the last 4 months. It's funny in that I'm probably in the best shape I've been in over the last four years and now I'm going to let it go. The only thing I'm going to do is run...mostly road and trail running. I want to do well at the upcoming Autumn Breeze 10Km run later this month and for the Riverside V in early November (where I won my age group last year with a 36:38 for 5 miles...a lowly 7:20/mile pace). I would like to go under 35 minutes in the Riverside V and maybe under 45 minutes in the Autumn Breeze. As they say, we will see what we will see. In the meantime, I've put in just over 4,500 miles on my bikes so far this year and I want to at least be over 5,000 by the end of the year when I resume riding.
The past weekend was a busy one. I put in about 82 miles over two rides on the steel Bradley plus cleaning out the last of the gutters at my mom's house, TV shopping with Jonnene, going out to eat with friends, plus a few other things around town. I was extremely tired and not a social animal by late Sunday night.
Jonnene and I are going out of town for her birthday in a few days up into Arkansas. It should be fun and a relief to get away for a while with no pressure to be anywhere or have to do anything. Before that I have to do more work on the kitchen and straighten up a problem we've run into concerning our countertops. It's not a problem we've caused but it's one we'll have to solve regarding some mis-measuring of the counters.
The past weekend was a busy one. I put in about 82 miles over two rides on the steel Bradley plus cleaning out the last of the gutters at my mom's house, TV shopping with Jonnene, going out to eat with friends, plus a few other things around town. I was extremely tired and not a social animal by late Sunday night.
Jonnene and I are going out of town for her birthday in a few days up into Arkansas. It should be fun and a relief to get away for a while with no pressure to be anywhere or have to do anything. Before that I have to do more work on the kitchen and straighten up a problem we've run into concerning our countertops. It's not a problem we've caused but it's one we'll have to solve regarding some mis-measuring of the counters.
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