Sunday at the park

After church, lunch at Carbonero and the Texans game, I went out to the park and ran 4 miles on the trails.

Leftover Turkey 10K

I joined over 60 other runners this morning in Huntsville to run our club's annual Leftover Turkey Run (10K, 5K, 1-Mile).  I finished the 10K in 1:23:16.  A little slower than last year and much slower than I expected.  The entire course is up or down hills and I ate too much yesterday.  Maybe my slow time was a combination of both.

Finished the darn greenhouse

With the help of two of my visiting sons, I finished the greenhouse today.  Still have some work to do.  I have to do some digging to level the ground where it will be placed, build plant racks inside and flooring.  Then, I have to run a water line and electricity to the greenhouse.  That will be fun.
Late this afternoon, I took a break and ran 1.3 miles on the roads.  10K in the morning.

Run Thru the Woods 5-Miler

Julia, Jill and I drove down to The Woodlands this morning to run the Run Thru the Woods 5-Miler.  It was my 13th consecutive year for running this race.  I finished in 1:00:47 (5th of 8 in the 70-74 age group).  Then, it was back to Huntsville to be with a lot of family and food.  Happy Thanksgiving.

Ready for Thanksgiving

We have family in for Thanksgiving, so early this afternoon I worked out at Iron Works and ran 2 miles on the roads in town.  Headed for The Woodlands tomorrow morning for a 5-miler.

Trip to the emergency room

This afternoon, I was installing the metal rafters on my wife's new greenhouse.  One fell on my head and made a 1-inch incision.  I could not see it, but felt the blood.  I decided to go see the nurse in my regular doctor's office.  She looked at it and told me to go to the emergency room.  I was in the waiting room for 2 1/2 hours and in the treatment room for another hour.  They put in 2 staples and gave me a staple remover to remove them in 7 days.  Since it was all my wife's fault (she wanted the greenhouse), she will have the privilege of removing them.  They also gave me a tetanus shot.
There was a large family (number and size) in the waiting room to support their mother, who just suffered stroke.  It got to be supper time and one of them made a run to Whataburger.  They all ordered hamburgers with large fries.  I wanted to say something, but I kept my mouth shut.
I finally got around to running at 9 tonight.  I went to the track and ran laps.

Minor hamstring issue

Several days ago, I tweaked my right hamstring.  So, I am trying to take it easy this week and hopefully be okay for the long runs next month.  After working out at Iron Works this evening, I ran 2 miles on the roads in town.

Sunday at the park

I spent much of the day continuing to work on putting together my wife's new greenhouse, but I did take time to watch the Texans and Cowboys games and run 3 miles on the roads at the state park.

Run the Woodlands 5K

I drove down to The Woodlands this morning to run the twice-a-month Run the Woodlands 5K.  I finished in 35:30, my fastest 5K in several months.  While down there, I picked up some stuff for my wife from Trader Joes, had breakfast at Skeeters, bought a pair of running shoes from Luke's Locker and then picked up some stuff for my wife at Michael's.  Then, I went to the Sam Houston - Central Arkansas football game here in Huntsville.  It rained some during the second half, but the heavy rain came later this evening.

Rainy Friday

I bought my wife a 8 x 10 green house for Christmas.  It was delivered in a box a couple days ago.  The advertisement said that it should take 2 to 3 hours to put it together.  Not so.  I worked on it for about 10 hours today and I am only about a third finished.  It rained all day, so I worked on it in my garage.  At some point, I need to move it to the back yard.  I took a break this evening and ran 1.2 miles on the road - in the rain.  5K tomorrow.

Back from Dallas

I drove up to Dallas early yesterday morning to meet up with other family members to be there for my sister's serious operation.  All went well and I was able to slip out for 1.2-mile run in the hospital area and a shower.  I got back to Huntsville after dark this evening, so I went to the track to run laps.  Two friends, Amy and Ashley, got there at the same time and I ran 3 miles with them.  They will be running their first marathon in San Antonio in a couple weeks.

Post 2,200

Gosh, I just noticed that I reached a milestone today.  This will be my 2,200th post.  Only 3 of us showed up in the cold at the park this evening, me, Jacob and Jason.  I ran 3 miles on the park roads.

Still cold

It was in the 40's when I went out to run this afternoon.  It's really hard to get motivated when it cold, but once you start running, it's okay.  I ran an unplanned route in the avenues and it turned out to be 3.2 miles.

Hard to get off the couch

After church, dining out and watching the Texans game, it was hard to get off the courch and go run, especially since it was cold with a light rain.  However, I did got out and run 2 miles on the roads in town.

No race Saturday

This was one of the few Saturdays of the year, I did not have a race.  So, I went out to the park late this morning and ran 8 miles on the trails.  Nice cold and dry weather.

Freedom Run

I ran the Freedom Run on campus tonight.  It was put on by a fraternity and was billed as a 5K.  It turned out to be 1.98 miles, according to my GPS.  Lots of up and down steps around the campus.  They did not time the race, nor were there awards.  According to my watch, my time was 23:42.  No races this weekend.

Early park run

We had a running club meeting tonight, so I went out to the park earlier this afternoon to run trails.  It was 44 degees and windy.  Just to do something different, I drove to a different trail head and ran from there.  I ran 3 miles.  Is is suppose to get down to 27 tonight.  I don't remember it getting this cold in Huntsville this early.

Almost freezing

It is in the 30's now and is suppose to get down to 31 tonight, even colder tomorrow night.  And, it barely mid-November.  Instead of running from the church on Wednesday evenings, we moved to Physical Therapy Associates, behind the hospital.  The courses from there are virtually all on sidewalks.  Four of us showed up this evening, me, Jose, Darren and Monica.  I ran 3.3 miles.

It got cold all of a sudden

Winter is here.  The temperature dropped during the day and is suppose to get down to 35 tonight, even colder within the next few days.  Only James, Jacob and I showed up at the park this evening.  I ran 3.5 miles on the trails.

Feeling better

I felt better today.  I mowed the yard (maybe for the last time this season), ran 4 miles on the trails at the park and worked out at Iron Works.

Sinus congestion is not getting better

I drove up to Tyler yesterday afternoon for a family think last night and drove back to Huntsville this afternoon.  With the sinus congestion and headache, I really felt lousy all day.  I went to the track and ran laps.  Tonight, we went out for Mexican food and I piled Jalapeno peppers on top of my enchiladas.  Maybe that will clear my sinuses.

Veteran's Day 10K

I ran the Team RWB Veteran's Day 10K in The Woodlands this morning.  Nice weather and a lot of friends.  I finished in 1:16:59.

Laps

Since my sinus congestion is still bad, it's Friday and I have a 10K in the morning, I ran laps at the track this afternoon.

Still felt lousy today

The sinus blockage continued, even though I took some decongestants this morning.  Late this morning, I drove down to The Woodlands to pick up my packet for a 10K on Saturday.  I combined the trip with some other stops I had to make down there.  I got back in time to work out at Iron Works and then meet the group at the park at 4:30.  I ran 3 miles on the park roads.

Fighting sinus blockage

I have been fighting sinus blockages all day.  It rained about all day and I really felt lousy.  However, I did work out at Iron Works today and run 2 miles on the roads in town - in the rain.

Park, twice

The race director of last Saturday's Rocky Raccoon Trail Run asked me to remove a couple miles of flagging on the trails.  So, I did that this morning, but only a 2-mile walk  I spent most of the afternoon unloading a huge trailer of compost from the Monterrey Mushrooms in Madisonville.  I must have shoveled 50 wheel barrow loads of the stuff.  So much so, that I decided not to go to Iron Works and lift weights.  I did go back out to the park this evening and ran 2 miles on the trails - in the rain.

Busy day

For being retired, I had a busy day.  Most of the morning, I worked on my column for the Huntsville Item and had a lot of errands to run.  I finally got in a short run (1.3 miles) on the roads in town.

Texas 10 Series Katy, Sunday Night 5K, 750

My low battery alarm in the bedroom smoke detector went off at 2:30 this morning.  It woke me up and I spent about an hour looking around for a replacement battery.  I could not find one and finally went back to sleep in another bedroom with the door closed.  So, I lost that one hour we gained by the time change.  I got up at 4:30 and drove to Katy (west of Houston) to run the Texas 10 Series Katy 10-Miler.  Just as yesterday, the weather was beautiful, mid-40's at the start and clear.  I finished in 2:06.32, which was good for 3rd place in the 70 and over age group.  My niece lives in Katy and we went to IHOP after the race.  I did not get home until after 2 this afternoon.  I managed to get in a 15-minute nap before Julia Buck and I headed down to The Woodlands to run the Sunday Night 5K.  My friend, Jon Walk, and I ran it together and had a nice visit.  We finished in 36:26.  It was my 750th race.  My first race was the Night Fighters 10K at Fort Hood on May 1, 1983.  I finished in 1:03:00.

Rocky Raccoon 25K

I ran the Rocky Raccoon 25K at Huntsville State Park this morning.  It was 41 degrees at the start and at least cool, sunny and dry all day.  Just perfect running weather.  I ran every step of the race, but tripped over roots and fell five times.  I have two skinned up knees, one elbow and two spots on my hand.  I am really sore tonight, not from running, but from falling.  I finished in 4:12:00, a little better than last year.  Enjoyed visiting with a lot of friends.  While on the trail, a guy on a bike going in the opposite direction called me by name, but I had no idea who he was.  He circled back.  It turned out to be Jim Sawyer of Center, Texas.  We were officers in the same running club in Tyler, Texas - 30 years ago.  We have visited occasionally over the years, but I have not seen him for several years.