CrossRoads Blog

I suppose anyone reading this blog now pretty much knows how ‘big of a deal’ running the Zane Grey Highline 50 was for me. But I think one of the reasons we do Blogs is not only to share with friends and families what we are up to, but also for our future generations to ‘know us’ as well. So with that, let me share again for the Great-Great Grandson – this was a big, big deal for me. I had this event ‘picked out’ over two years ago. Ever since I was looking at a list of the World’s toughest Ultra Runs and not only was this ranked as the hardest 50 Mile, it was basically in our backyard here in Arizona. Back then I was not doing 70-100 mile running weeks, heck that was about a month’s worth of miles, so it was an ‘out there’ goal. Back most importantly the reason I wanted to do this race was back those couple of years ago we were also going through some… let’s call it ‘times of great worry’ with your Great Grandfather and his brother. So it became one of those metal things. I kind of did this thing with my mind saying “okay, I am going to run that race and finish it and do everything until then to be able to make that happen, train hard, run hard, never give up, etc. and if I do everything will be okay – my boys will be fine”. As I type this I know it may not make a lot of sense. It’s hard to articulate. Worse, it likely seems extremely silly in that – of course my running a race can in reality have nothing to do with my children ‘being okay’. To that all I can say is, I know it’s silly, but when you are a parent there are times you realize there is nothing you can do or say to make your child safe or help them be happy. Just because you know this is reality, it doesn’t make it acceptable – you have to do something. Zane Grey was my something for two years…

This is a very long blog with all the details - so to read it all click the following link

(more…)

Back in Vegas for the final Zane Grey training run. Kimberly and I dig the heck out of a racing company called Calico Racing. The director Joyce puts on the most awesome fun events. Her company was the one that did the ‘Running with the Devil’ last year. So when I was looking for a final race and we saw that Joyce was putting on a whole weekend event up in the Mountains outside Vegas - you know we were thrilled. Not only was there a 50 mile event that would be perfect for my training, but there was a 1/2 Marathon the next day that Kimberly and I could run together! In fact it was a whole racing weekend event called ‘Labor Of Love‘. There was a 100 miler, 50 Mile, a Marathon, a 50K, and 2 Half Marathons, plus I think a 10K!

Just to make the weekend even more special, we were sent an invitation for the new Aria Hotel at City Center. How perfect, we could stay at the new Aria for a deal, check out the spa/fitness facilities and score some stuff with our Grand Daughters name on it (ended up being a whole lot of stuff Grandma could snag for the little one that came free even).

It was nothing more than a perfect weekend. I could live like this forever I tell ya’. The Aria is an amazing place. When City Center is done with all the other residences and hotels that place is going to be something special even by Vegas standards. I mean, it’s special already and half the places are not even open. Our room had the most futuristic view I have ever looked out from a room. That seemed appropriate as the room itself was all tech driven with settings that turned on the lights, opened the curtains, put on music, etc all to your specifications when you walked into the room. Everything was tech oriented, and whole modern, it still had a comfortable feel. We were impressed and we have done a whole lot of Vegas rooms over the years. Check out the pics, I took a ton (too much really). The best part of Aria was the Fitness and Spa - niiiiiiiice. We didn’t even do any massages, didn’t need to really, you get some of the best workout equipment in Vegas then you hit the Spa areas after working up a sweat. I love that they have so many co-ed areas, a salt room, hot stone room, lounges, pools, etc. We hit up everything there was I think. The steam rooms, sauna, drank about 10 of the bottle waters, they even had nice quality herbal teas. I could go on, but suffice to say, impressive, in particular for the $25 or whatever it was.

The Races were the most awesome experiences. You literally run in those huge Mountains you see to the West of Vegas in Lovell Canyon. For the 50 Miler its out 11 Miles and back twice, then out 3 and back 3. They elevation starts at about 5000 ft and essentially climbs on the way out and drops o the way back. The exception is this one HUGE hill in the middle. That hill was part of the 1/2 Marathon Kimberly and I did the next day too so we have pictures you will have to see. We met some great people including a friend Brian from Ohio who loves Ultra Running and we plan on doing another race together this year for sure. I was really happy with how the 50 turned out.

While I faded a lot the last few miles, I was able to finish in 8 hours and 39 minutes. It was 5th place overall and I got a little Cactus Pot Trophy that says First Place in age group 40-49 which was cool. Kimberly kicked butt the next day on the Half. I ran it with her so it was most fun. I think I had to hump it just to keep up - she was a little fresher than me :-). We got all kinds of cool medals, we got 3 tech shirts with awesome sayings, we met a ton of new folks, we got to do a Joyce Race…. like I said, I could get used to this kind of weekend!

The Lake Pleasant Good Dam Run is just one of those events that if we live here and are in town we will do every year. It’s not a big race, heck they don’t even give out medals, but it sure is a fun run. First off, it’s one of the few local events that actually is a trail run. Well it’s kind of a trail run or partly a trail run is better said. The first few miles are run along and in a Wash ducking trees and trying to avoid the water and the sand slosh as much as possible. You then run up and out of the Canyon (a nice climb for sure) and across the Earthen Lake Pleasant Dam they open for just this event.

I think the main reason we like it is it was one of our first organized runs, and best yet, every year friends Misty and Jim and their youngins’ are out there too. This is our third year to run and 4th or 5th I think for Jim and Misty. This year it the friend clan even got better because good friends James and Diosa where there too. They are fairly new to (at least to regular) running and we are so excited for them. This I think was the very first race for them. Adding to the whole gang Misty’s folks were there to do the run/walk with the Grand kiddos.

It was really a perfect weather day, even a little warm. We all got there early and hung for a bit taking some pictures and shooting the breeze before the start. With Kimberly still on the mend from the foot injury I was the only one of the group doing the 7 Mile Trail Run everyone else was running the 4 Mile non trail race. It’s really a small low key event and not really competitive, but Kimberly and I have always done well. Last year Kimberly for sure won her age group and was in the top overall and I came in second overall in the 7 Mile. I was hoping to beat my last year time and I was able to do that at 56:22 which was good enough to come in 1st place overall. I would claim some bragging rights, but like I said it’s small and I think some of the fast guys must have stayed at home. Way more cool news however was the ladies of our little gang. Kimberly sore foot and all came in second overall among the women in her race - and who came in front of her - Mrs. Diosa! Way cool women types! James I think was even in the top few men, and he just started running! Congrats to those guys for sure. I hope that just expands the addiction for them. Now we just need to get Misty and Jim and Robbie into some Saucony’s and running with us the “Running Belly Dancers Clan” can own the trails!

The Park by the way puts on a great event. The folks that work there you can tell really have a passion for what they do. They also do a great job with the raffle. They actually had way more prizes than they had runners. Everyone ended up with at least 2 prizes per person! So while the event grows every year, let’s hope next year there are so many people the prizes are hard to come by.

So we found another perfect training run for my upcoming Zane Grey - or should I say our friends Erin and Tim found and we decided to join in the fun. It’s like we always say about races, we have to do a long run anyway and by doing a race you get people filling your drink bottle, a cool new track to run, other people to run with, and sometimes some bling to hang on your wall. A cool thing about this race was it was located just outside Vegas in Boulder City - the Desert Dash 50K. So of course that meant - VEGAS BABY….

Got to love the deals in Vegas right now. I tell everyone we don’t need any economist to tell us when the tide will turn with the economy - we can just track Vegas Hotel rates. Right now, based on the deal we got at our hotel with the best pool (very relevant a pool after you run 50K in the desert sun) Mandalay Bay.

We scooted up Friday, checked in and pretty much headed straight to the pool. Unlike a lot of Vegas trips this one was all about chillin’ and doing the run. We met runner friends Tim and Erin from Vancouver at the Pool, hung out a bit and made plans to connect up the next day again hanging at the pool. Erin is a sponsored Tri-Athlete and husband Tim is pretty much a Marathon maniac like us too. They were headed to Vegas to look for a second home and figured they would do a race while they were there (we know this logic!). They found the Desert Dash 50K, Half Marathon and 5K. They planned on doing the Half as it was their first trail run. I of course needed the 50K for Zane practice

We pretty much just chilled all weekend. Aside from the race we were at the pool. We hung most of Saturday and the rest of Sunday after the race. On Sunday night we did go check out a hot new restaurant/club at the Palazzo called Lavo. It was decent, but not quite as good as I hoped. With so many choices in Vegas I would have trouble ever get back there. We also did pick up a new bathing suit for Kimberly - man she looks good in too

As for the race it was really fun. The course was essentially two 15 plus mile loops in Boulder Canyon. There was for sure some elevation, much more than Pemberton, but less than Mesquite. When you were about half way out you came over a mountain and right in front of you out there in the middle of nowhere was the Vegas skyline - pretty cool. On another part you were running along a single track ridge-line that was pretty crazy in spots, not sure I would have been comfortable at all if the Mrs was running it. The support was decent, the day was hot, the people where cool, it was a good run and I would for sure run this course again. I ran in 5:28:10 which was 3rd place overall and 1st in my age but it was a very small race for the 50K. Tim and Erin did great in their run which had many more people.

We all had a lot of fun, I plan one more big race before Zane, probably a 50 miler that’s a much easier course. The fun continues….

Yes some have said it has been true for years, but now it is official - Kimberly and I are Maniacs! (to the theme of the Beverly Hillbillies) Marathon Maniacs that is, running fools, moving stars. Okay, that line wasn’t worth the attempt at humor was it? For some reason when I said “Maniacs, Marathon Maniacs that is” it made me think ….”and they moved to Beverly…, Hills that is, swimming pools, Movie Stars”. But then in practice trying to rhyme something to do with running didn’t wash out as well as I hoped. The ‘running fools’ is not bad for ‘Swimming Pools’ but the next bit trying to get close to ‘Movie Stars’….weak…

Anyway I digress. The MM is a group of nutcases that really are properly called Maniacs. We are far and away ‘Maniac lights’ among the Maniacs. They rank how ‘insane’ you are (yeah the list of members is called the “Insane Asylum”) based on how many Marathon’s (or Ultra’s) you run, how many back to back, in a year, how many states, countries, etc. From this you get stars assigned. There are some people that do nothing but run every weekend (at least) in different states and countries etc - it really is amazing. So while you can for sure call us Maniacs, you can’t call us crazy - go to the Maniac site, those are the crazy people…
Our maniac numbers are: Michael #2338 Kimberly #2339

I have shared with a lot of friends and family that when it comes to running, I have had about a two year fixation on a race called the Zane Grey Highline Trail 50. I have enjoyed all of the other runs and races (especially the Komen with Kimberly) a whole lot, but Zane has been the overall focus. There are some pretty big reasons for this, some of which I will be able to share down the road, and some which you just have to know are very, very important to me. It’s kind of silly I know, that a race could have that much importance. At the end of the day I know it’s just a run, just a day in our life, but it is something that I have made some strong commitments to and I will hold up my end.

Zane is ran on the Mongolian Rim in AZ at about 5000 feet. The trail is famous for its up and downs, rocks, boulders, stream crossings, and thorn bushes to go through - among all kinds of other challenges. Zane is one of the most recognized 50 Mile runs of all the Ultra Marathons. It is so, because it has a reputation for being one of the, and likely the most challenging 50 miler of all of them. It is ranked up there among many of the world’s most challenging events (List Here). Anyway, Zane is getting oh so close for us now. Because of this I have had to really pick up my weekly miles and add some more challenging hills and mountain runs. Which brings us to the Mesquite Canyon 50K.

We had been home for two days from running two Marathon’s and a Half Marathon the last three weekends when Kimberly was online and spotted a local 50K here in the White Tank Mountains - the Mesquite Canyon 50K. I had forgotten about this. We did know because a good runner friend of ours was running the 25K (they had several lengths of races that day). I thought about it for a second and went “perfect” I needed a long run, I needed hills and this would just give me the added benefit of someone to share some water and boiled potatoes along the way. I signed up before I took a look at the course. Good thing too, because I’m not too sure I would have made that decision had I looked first. Let’s just say yowzer! The course included basically every trail in the White Tanks including a Ford Canyon bit that had a drop (and return climb) of near 1400 feet within less than a 2 mile stretch. It also included a run through the White Tanks which the park was named. This is basically a 3 mile stretch in a wash bottom of sand and boulder dodging and hoping and butt scooting.

Long story not so short, it was for sure the most challenging race i have done to date (BTW some who were there have ran Zane and said this “felt” like about half the challenge! It took me 5:55:35 to run the 31 miles (yep 5 hours and 55 minutes) and I was in the top 25% overall - that shows how crazy this thing was. Truth be told - I loved the heck out of it. Not the four days of soreness from that downhill, nor the craziness of just hanging on the last few miles, but the overall experience - AMAZING. The people at these events are so great too. The Ultra community locally here is pretty special, along with having some special runners including the guys Nick and Jamil of Aravaipa Running who put on the race (they are some of the fastest Ultra guys in the states). I got to see buddy Jon Roig again, and of course hang with good running friend John Kubica. Not only did John come in 3rd place overall in his 25K race - he hung around for hours and hours to cheer me into my finish - I told you runner friends are cool!

Okay, something has to give. We so dig being able to hang out with Kathy and Clay. Every time we leave there or they leave here, we are reminded that we live so far away. Here’s the deal - we did our Texas years, I think it’s time they did some Desert ones! Besides, I mean they are already halfway here in many respects anyway. For example: One night we had a really good time playing a game called ‘Chicken Feet’ (I think anyway). Chicken feet is played with Domino’s. Let’s face it, domino’s is much more a ‘Texas’ game than say a California one. Nothing wrong with that, the game was a very fun and we had a great time. The ‘halfway here’ bit comes from the beverage of choice that was partook of. One would think you match a game of bones (domino’s lingo ya’ know) played in Texas with some Budweiser, or Lone Star, or maybe a shot of Jack even? But noooo, at Casa (or Ranch as it were’ Texas) Reeves we were drinking Napa Syrah’s that you had to be on a one year waiting list to get.

See my halfway already point? They are living a life that’s half California, and half Texas already so why not do that geographically and land in Arizona? I can make a stronger case, but I though Chicken Feet and Library Vino did it nicely.

Aside from the enjoyable time with our Texas family, we also got to run in a race - I know - you are so surprised right? The Rock ‘n’ Roll Series is now in Big D. Sadly they only have a Half Marathon, but it was a great run and a fantastic time all the same. We headed over toward Dallas from Casa Reeves the day before the race. First thing we did was hit the Expo and pick up the bibs, grab some extra GU. We hung around for a little bit but it was lunch time and the pre race day lunch meal is the biggie. The expo was at the Dallas convention center so it wasn’t all too far to head over to the West End area and find some grub. We decided on the Old Spaghetti Factory - they are so much better than the knock off copy cats. OSF is also very good about making sure the preparation is how you want, and they have an ‘endless’ salad bowl (nice to get those Greens too). We had a great lunch, walked around a little bit then it was time to check into our Hotel. Our hotel The Adolphus was most excellent. I have no idea how we got the price for the room we got - we booked it last minute online and they must have had some mess up in their system - either way, it was very nice and I would recommend if you need Downtown Dallas.

After we were settled in it was now near dinner. as is now a locked in tradition (not becoming anymore) we were able to meet up with a bunch of runner friends we have met online or previously at other races. A couple of them had setup a cool dinner meeting downtown right around the corner from our hotel at a placed called Campisi. We had a great time, there must have been 12-14 of us or so including Tim Lee and Lisa Hernandez we have met at other races - way cool stuff. I got the pizza that was recommended and unlike Little Rock, this time it was good. We hung out for a bit with everyone, took a couple of pictures, wished all a great race and headed back to the hotel for an early night and an early rise.

The course was actually better than I expected. It hit all the expected locations through the downtown area of Dallas you would expect. Then you cruised through a really nice neighborhood and then after about 7 miles of a slight but steady uphill you began the decent and headed toward Fair Park which is where they hold the State Fair and where all the finish line setup was today.

I was able to have a nice negative split and come in at 1:35:21 which was good for 266th overall out of 9,250 runners. Kimberly jacked up foot and all (all being she was also running in a Green tutu and had a boa for the first mile in celebration of St. Patty’s Day) still had a sub two hour at 1:58:11 which was top 25% overall and 15% among them female types. Very sadly, Kimberly’s race ended on a very somber note. A young man who we later came to know had a family, was being assisted by medical personnel as she crossed the line. Tragically the young man did not make it. All our thoughts go out to his family for their loss.

After the race we hung for a bit, listened to the Guitar Shorty rip some, said hello to Tim and his buddy again at the PF Chang’s setup. Seeing this course was a point to point, we had to get back to our hotel quickly before checkout, so we did a quick boot scoot (like the Texas lingo?) over to the light rail, which took us back within 2 blocks of our hotel. We ran up, packed up, drive back to Casa Reeves, showered (yeah you know that had to come) and partied on into the night celebrating you know who turning 48 yesterday before the race. Rock Star stuff there baby….

If you would have asked the 30 year old version of me what are the likely locations of your vacation home(s) in twenty years from now? I think my response would have been filled with places like, a beach condo in Mexico, a lake cabin in Michigan, a little cottage in Napa, a NY condo, etc. One place for sure that would not have been on the list is a bedroom at your Parents house in Oklahoma! But I have to say, it is a home. It may not be vacation always (I do work when I am there) but having family there, being so welcome and comfortable HOME is the right word.

So again we headed East to the land of the ‘Grand Children’ - notice the plural? Yepper, old Mike and Kimberly now have a beautiful little Grand Daughter Ariana Marie born on a January day when we were tailgating in a parking lot at the Fiesta Bowl. This would be our first trip to see her, and while time with M3 was of course on the agenda, he was not the star of the show this time (well… at least not when Ariana was around)!
We had another great trip - or should I say trips. We basically spent near a month there, only we headed out on the weekends to run Marathon’s that could be easily reached with a drive - we talk about those in other blogs. Little Ms. Ariana was so precious. As I like to say being only a couple of months old, “she doesn’t yet do a lot of tricks” so that means a I do smelling, smiling and little smooches, while Grandma K does all the holding. I of course do all the Grandpa flash too (you know there was some picture taking). She is about the perfect baby, I don’t think she fussed more than 2 minutes the whole time. She just sits there and looks at you and takes it all in.

We had several highlights this trip. Of course little Ms. A was the biggie. I can’t wait until next trip to see her new tricks ;-0. Other cool stuff included was getting to run with a couple of the Miller family generations. I cajoled (read: bribed) youngest son Zac into running with the old Dad. We went over to a little favorite perfect mile loop run spot and did a solid two miles. He did great, I actually thought he would struggle more but the pace was solid and considering his basketball shorts were falling down and had to be held, he really did great! It made me feel really happy - I so hope he keeps it up. Maybe he can get his older brother running too and the three (me plus them) Miller boys can someday run a Marathon together. The other cool run was with M3 in the stroller. Grandma and me took little Michael III over to the same track and pushed him in the stroller as we ran. I was worried as heck he would hate it because the wind was terrible and it was kind of cold, but he would just sit there and smile away as the miles clicked by. Truth be told, I only did 2 mile laps with him and Grandma did most. The stroller is a little bit small and you have to hunch over with it to run - we need to score a run stroller next time we are there. Michael seems to love to run on his own too. Every time we are outside with him and running around yelling “run, run, run” he just smiles and tears around like a natural. Oh, and while it doesn’t have anything to do with running, it does have to do with highlights of the trip at least from a Grandma perspective - M3 now fully has the word “Grandma” down. In particular when he wants something - hmmm learn that from Grandpa perhaps?

One of the things we have also really come to look forward to is the time hanging with the old peoples - yeah, that the folks. Sometimes when all the kids are at home and it’s just us errr 40 year old plus types the old house is so peaceful and relaxing. We really enjoy their company when we can just sit around and talk about M3 and Little A. Plus did I mention it was my birthday time when we were hanging there so you know that meant another German Chocolate Cake. Yep, we eat cake with all that not good for you stuff - in this case the word is ‘worthy’ and then some.

So as we headed out we knew it wouldn’t be too long until we were back - heck I need more pictures when Ariana is a little bigger and aside from that you need to take advantage of your vacation home whenever you can right….?

PICTURES HERE

When we had planned this whole Oklahoma see the Grand Daughter (and everybody else of course) trip, we saw a great opportunity to hang weekdays in the land of the Grandkids, and then scoot out on the weekends to nearby locations and do races (New Orleans Marathon, Little Rock Marathon, and Dallas Half). During the week I could work from OK and Grandma could smother the youngin’s with attention and love, all was great. Only thing that didn’t line up perfect was the fact that our anniversary was to fall during the time we were on the trip and the date was mid-week. As much as I would like to say “hey sweetie, let’s just call the Little Rock Marathon our anniversary trip” there was no way I would get away with a trip that included eating turkey sandwiches and going to bed at 8:30 on a Saturday night so that she could wake up at 4:30 Sunday and go sweat for 5 hours a real anniversary (and I think all you that know her would agree and are nodding your head now). So I had to come up with something, and something I did - a perfect couple of days in Hot Springs Arkansas at an amazing little Bed and Breakfast. Yeah… I’m the man with the plan (gimme’ them props).

Talk about working out perfect, heck we could even sit in the “hot springs” and it would help our bodies recover from back to back to back races. It was on the way to Little Rock (in fact only an hour away) and is actually considered a ‘romantic destination’! I’m telling ya’ - gimmie’ them props, because it gets even better. Our B&B Hilltop Manor, was awesome! A cool old house built by a mobster (Hot Springs was big Al Capone and buddies hangout back in the day) and now owned and hosted by the nicest people. We had a great stay, with a Jacuzzi in the room, a huge fireplace to sit in front of, and an amazing breakfast location even if we did just want the oatmeal and whole wheat toast versus the big spread the place is famous for!

For the most part we just spent our time chilling in the room or walking the quaint little town’s shops and stores all mostly centered on what they call “Bathhouse Row”. The street has about 6-7 of the old bathhouses where folks used to, and still do sit in the spring water baths, get treatments, massage, etc. Along with playing in the water ourselves one morning, we also did a tour of one of them that is now ran by the Natl. Park Service. Kind of cool looking at all the old equipment, heavy marble everywhere, elaborate decorations, etc. For sure that ‘old rich folk hangout’ feel to the bathhouse.

The time in Hot Springs also included a couple of pretty cool runs, including one where Kimberly and I seemed to have the whole woods to ourselves and great dinner with easily the best bread dipping Pesto I have ever had at Belle Arti Ristorante. One of the most memorable parts of the trip was our last day we decided to go check out the Horse Track - Oaklawn. Oaklawn is a fairly famous track and the season had just started so the track was open with several races throughout the day going on. Long story short Kimberly had never been to see the horses run fast - and I mean FAST so we decided to go check out a few races. Wanting to participate in the fun we of course did a little wagering on the three races. Seeing Kimberly chose her horses based on how happy there were, I cut her wager amount down because the dang horse was the long shot and in the real world long shots never win. Yep, long shot won…. In fact we ended up winning some bet in every one of the 3 races we hung out for and unlike most folks walked out with having paid for everything and money for a nice dinner. It was midday now and I guess we had to fess’ up, the Rest and Relaxation was over and it was off to Little Rock to run a race.

Little Rock for the most part was all about the run. Which means little touring and nightlife and more ‘get to Whole Foods and get the dinner we will eat in the room before we sleep early and wake up early to run’. We did spend a little time checking out the town. Tried one pizza place the night before that was highly recommended (let’s just say Little Rock awesome - but - knowledge of good pizza - no), and we were able to check out the downtown area some when we went to the Expo to get our race packets, but for the most part it was just race related. I would for sure go back, and maybe then we could get to the Clinton Libraryand other sites in town.

So pretty much normal pre race night and morning and we were off to the race start area. Kimberly with the jacked foot was doing the half and I was running the full. We setup pre race at a specialty tent that was just perfect. They had hot coffee, food if you wanted, bathrooms right there with little line, they even had food afterward - best $20 spent in a long time. So we chilled for a bit, and then headed over to the corrals and as always next thing you know it’s time to run long.

The course is pretty cool. You cross the Arkansas river a couple of times, you pass the famous Central High School, scoot by the Clinton Library and generally hit all of the Little Rock highlights. While a smaller town, I have to say I was impressed with the course and the crowds. Overall we had both had a really good run. Considering Kimberly was nursing an injury it was amazing she could run at all. She played it safe (mostly) and still finished her half in 2:07:29. I had a good run and even came close to beating my NO time from last week on a much harder course (they have a motto that says “what hills” so you know what that means…) with a 3:24:17 which was good for 78th place overall. I also have to comment the medals are the biggest of any race in the US. I could barely keep mine on - it’s like dinner plate size!

After the race we enjoyed hanging around the festival for a little after as it was a perfect weather day. But by 1:00 we were on our way back to the land of the Grandkids and had little Ariana in our hands by dinner.

PICTURES

Okay, so does it get any better than having a great excuse to go to New Orleans than to run a Marathon? Plus the fact that it is part of the Rock-N-Roll Marathon series (brief interlude to mention that the RnR series does this thing that if you do more than one of their events you get extra medals, in fact for every additional race you do you get some extra cool ‘bling’. Let’s just say the medals for doing six or seven events in a year in the series are way cool and this was another reason to do New Orleans). The main reason we got to run the race was because it was all part of the “We have a new Grand Daughter Oklahoma trip”.

We scooted out from the land of the Grandkiddos on Friday so we could (I heard that - yes I do work - it’s called laptops and iPhones - get with times) settle in and enjoy a couple of nights in the Big Easy before the race. As you may have gathered from our last N.O visit, this is a favorite place. Something about this city. It’s just the overall vibe it exudes, and the music, and of course the food. Did I mention the food? Before I forget, yep, Kimberly had another Peanut Butter Burger at Yo Mamma’s, and it took less than a few hours before those little buggers on the half shell where sloshing around in my stomach - something repeated again of course.

Being that the crowds were long gone from Mardi Gras, and Jazz Fest was still a few months away, snagging a good room was pretty easy. We if fact decided on an old New Orleans classic place called La Pavillion (French of course so pronounced La-Pa-ve-own). The place is pretty cool and I think is even famous for its ‘haunted residents’. It is also famous for its tradition of PB&J sandwiches served to guests at 10:00 every night. Yep, they break out Peanut Butter and Jelly on a whole lot of fancy dished and serve it up in the lobby every night. We of course had to partake, even though there was no whole wheat bread (btw, I filled out a survey after we left and got an email form the mgr that they will have whole wheat from now on! Cool huh - we now are kind of part of the tradition).

Seeing we had gotten to town early enough Friday to pick up our bib and hit the expo, we had all Saturday to hang. We ended up doing the typical NO thing and walking the Quarter and looking in all the awesome Royal street antique shops (no place in the US like Royal). On the stroll we also hit up the French Market which is like a giant food and flea market thing (with Royal think Beverly Hills, with the French Market think Oklahoma hills). Walking along Kimberly spotted this awesome homemade Raggedy Ann Doll she just had to have for little Ms Ariana. Amazing, I think it was like $15 and totally handmade with cool stitched clothing and everything - score, we get her first doll! We continued to do the walking thing but of course called it an early night. As always, we try to get some sleep before the Marathon in the morning which with a 6:00 am start meant a 4:00 rise.

The weather had been a little iffy. In fact, cold and rain had been the story. The good news is for some reason our ‘weather blessed’ streak continued. It could not have been a more perfect running morning weather wise. This was a good thing because we had to walk to the start line. Still a little cold we just brought a race wrap type thing you can ditch before the race starts. The walk took a little more time than expected and by the time I did the drop bag thing (the race was out and not back so we would be some 12 miles or so from the Hotel when we were done) it was time for the corrals. I loved that for this race they actually had the porta-potties on the side of the corral! I can’t tell you how nice it was to have access to a bathroom minutes before a Marathon and not have any line really.

The race course was way cool. It essentially takes you down Magazine street and through Audubon Park which is awesome. You then return back toward the city via Saint Charles with the half runners on the other side of the trolley line. Next is a quick trip through the French Quarter passing St Louis Cathedral, and Kimberly’s favorite Cafe Du Monde (kidding she is not a beignet fan) before you head toward St. Louis Cemetery and finally into City Park where you run around for a few miles and finish right smack dab in the heart of it to the sounds of Cowboy Mouth and others rockin’ away. All in all one very scenic course. The only downside is the roads - man are they tough. Seems Katrina effects along with just being an old city has some painful effects on the roads. St. Charles in particular is tough as the road is just tore up and you spend a lot of time trying to find even semi even pavement.

Which brings us to Mrs. M. She had done a little damage during the Pemberton Ultra and essentially exacerbated it here on the roads of New Orleans. In fact, she wisely spent the last 9 miles of walking or should I say hobbling to the finish. This was the only downer news of the whole trip. After the race we got to again meet up with some great runner folks we have come to know. It’s fast becoming the reason we so look forward to the next race - seeing the friends. The night of the run we again hit GW Fins (you knew we would). While the entrees and everything else was amazing as expected, sadly the Apple Pie was not quite as good as the “best desert ever” it was on the last trip - oh well. We again hated leaving this grand ol’ city, but we had some Grand kiddos to get back too!

PICTURES

Okay, for those of you saying this running thing is becoming a obsession with them - duh, we already long ago acknowledged that. You must just now be reading the blog? Anyway, so Fifty Kilometers (50K) equals Thirty-One (31) Miles. When you think about it, it really doesn’t sound like all that more that a Marathon. It’s a cheesy 5 miles more right? Heck you’re doing that much anyway what’s a little added. I think probably overall that is a fair statement, however to steal an old friend’s line “cepting’ one thing”. That one thing is that Ultra Marathon’s (for our non running friends anything more than the 26.2 is generally considered an “Ultra Marathon”) are typically NOT RAN on the road. They typically are done on trails. Trails usually have hills, or go through Mountains, or have a lot of rocks, and switchbacks, and all that other good up and down stuff. So all that said, it is not the miles as much as it is the ‘logistics’ as we always say - and such was the case with the Pemberton Trail 50K.

When we normally talk pre-race ‘logistics’ it’s all about: sleep the night before, how the body feels with all the little aches and pains, how did the restroom thing go (sorry to mention but it’s a biggie), the weather, etc. etc. So with an Ultra you now add; how much elevation, how technical are the trails, is the path rocky, where are the aid stations, I need to do a ‘drop bag’ (your own food etc seeing you will be on your feet for hours on end), are there any on course ‘health break’ spots or will the big rock and the cholla be getting some unexpected electrolyte water (so to speak), etc.

This is the part where I normally comment “see with all the other stuff to deal with the race itself is the easy part”. Well, not this time. Freaking running for 4:39:30 (my time which was 29th overall) and Kimberly’s amazing on-her-feet-running 6:25:55 (106th overall but about 35th among women because there just are not that many ladies that are rock stars and do this type thing) is hard!! Let’s just say there was hills, there was sun, and the last 3 miles felt like the first 10. So no complaining about the logistics, we are fessin’ up and saying 50K while an amazingly fun adventure, be’ a none too easy way to start a Saturday morning.

What a riot this race was. In hindsight, the course wasn’t all the tough. The people at Ultra’s are all just the coolest, nicest people you want to meet. Fringe types true, but really fun to hang with :-).

Okay so this blog will be a ‘you guess why we decided to run the Surf City Half Marathon‘ type post. There are of course a ton of way cool reasons, but one reason we just had to do this run stood out (aside from the fact the Full was sold out so we did the Half). So I’ll share some of the fun and you pick the one…

1.) We got to hang out with cousin Shelly. We love family, nothing better than being able to do a race and be able to double dip by seeing some kin folk. Missed Kevin this time something about needing him to hang around for the Space Shuttle landing - like that’s more important than seeing us…??

2.) Hey it’s a chance to hang in LA West of the 405. When Randy Newman wrote “I Love LA” he for sure meant West of the 405 (i.e. the beach communities). Other side of the 405 Frwy, let’s just say no go. But LA beach cities = that California cool, movie stars, sun, sand, tiki bars and fish tacos, what’s not to love….

3.) The finishers medal for the race is a way freaking cool surfboard…

4.) The course is mostly ran right on the Pacific Coast Hwy, which in case you didn’t know means you are looking at that gorgeous blue water and sand the whole race.

5.) We got to hook up with some great runner friends we have met at other races including the Punk Rock Runner himself Mr. Ron. Cooler yet, we got to met his youngin’ who is actually more cool, a faster runner, and far better looking than the old man (must take after mama). We also got to meet a bunch of other folks we had ‘talked’ with but never met yet. In addition, we got to support a really great guy with an amazing cause. Sam Felsenfeld is a man who is out there running 60 Marathons this year to raise money and awareness for Autism via a cause he started called Operation Jack. Sam’s son is Autistic and it’s just an amazing story. Sam and his whole family are great people too. We had the chance to hang with them at a pre-race Pasta dinner they hosted and had a great time.

6.) We got to eat all that California good grub, including a most excellent post race Burger, fish tacos, dinner one night at a famous Tiki-Bar, and all the organic-farmer-market-foodie-stuff you get in CA.

7.) Along the drive to LA there is a Premium Factory outlet and Mrs Miller just loves stopping.

8.) I knew that after the run and the next day we could just hang around and enjoy that beach life. A run along the path by Newport Pier, watch the sunset on the Ocean with the woman, smell that cool coastal breeze and pretend we live here in the land of $3K a foot vacation homes.

Okay so there is the list of all the main reasons for deciding to run the race. What’s your guess? Family and friends - you know how we are? A chance to run along the Pacific twice!? Good eats, you know how I am…? To all the previous a big NOPE. We are far more shallow when it comes down to reasons to run a race. In this case it’s the Bling!! Come on, I mean a Surf Board Medal!! How in the heck can you not do it….

As for results Kimberly had a 1:57:22 which was good for Top 15% in her age, gender and almost overall (even w the boys factored in)! I had a respectable 1:35:51 which was in the Top 2.5% overall and Top 4% for my age and gender.

Some Trip Pics HERE

Thirty years ago when a night was going to be about getting all dressed up and hitting a show it meant my favorite pair of jeans and maybe a Pink Floyd Concert shirt and heading to see The Boss at The Spectrum. Man, how times have changed…

We have such a great time every chance we get to spend a night with Sister Kerry and Brother-in-law Mike. A couple of our favorite nights out over the last few year was spent hanging with them. One in particular that included a Six Foot Six Inch Blue Bunny in high heels, but alas that was before the days of Blogs (thankfully) so we will leave that story alone. The rub is always finding the time to get together on a night that works out for everybody and of course we are in town. So sometimes we just have to plan ahead and make it happen. The other night we got to reap the reward of that planning and ‘Go Play Dress-up’ and attend one of the two nights that the Opera La Boheme was in town at the Phoenix Symphony.

Mike and Kerry stopped over before so we could partake in a few good finger foods and some nice Vino before the show. Mike was doing the Distinguished Gentleman thing looking sharp in the Tux, and Kerry was most elegant in her Black Evening Dress - I guess I didn’t get all the family good looks after all. Mrs. M was also her gorgeous self sporting the Black Dress, Black Pearls and Black heels. Me and Mike would surely be getting the envy nods tonight.

We all really enjoyed the show. It wasn’t one of my favorite Opera’s, and in fact I liked Rent (more or less based on the Puccini classic) a little better. Some of the singing was still stunning, but overall La Boheme’s ’story line’ isn’t really that strong compared to many of the others we enjoy more. This all said, still a great night with great company. After much talk about maybe going out afterward, it was Saturday night after all, we ended up coming back to the house and drinking a little more Vino before calling it a night. Like I said, ‘Playing Dress Up’ has changed just a little in 30 years….

It’s hard to believe that it’s just been twelve months since we ran in last year’s P.F. Chang Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon. As the saying goes, maybe only one year but a million miles away. Err.. perhaps more specifically about 4000 miles away (the running miles Kimberly and I have completed since this race last year. The other biggie is that last year we did the Half Marathon, and this year we did the Full. Last year we never had a race longer than this, this year we went in having done at least 30 races and runs that were longer. As they also say - things change, and since that time last year the running addition has been going full force will no slowdown in sight.

Having experienced last year’s ridiculous very early rise (pretty much the night before) in order to get over to Tempe, park, hop on the bus to get downtown, ride the bus, try to hit the bathroom line, get warmed up, etc. etc before the race begins at the crack of dawn, we thought better and reserved a room downtown for the night before. This way we could just walk over to the start line a couple of miles away and then after the race take our first ride on the light rail back downtown.

We headed downtown early on Saturday for a couple of reasons; we wanted to hit the Expo (every race has one and the Rock n Roll event ones are great), but more importantly was to connect up with a bunch of runner friends we have come to know online but never have met. The plan was to hook up at Starbucks in the Arizona Center at 2:00. As is typical we were running a little late and really didn’t have a chance to hit the expo before the meeting with the runner gang. That and parking at our hotel or anywhere downtown was a cluster with the expo and a big MLK event also going on.

Just like every other time we get a chance to meet in person some of the folks we have ‘met’ online, they turn out to be great people. I have to say, the “runner crowd” is good folks - happy, nice, considerate, supportive, encouraging, just really, really enjoyable ‘good soul’ peoples. We can already tell though we have just now met them, some of these people with likely be in our lives for years and years to come. We already have plans to connect up with several of them at upcoming races all over the country.

After the get together we did hit the Expo for a little bit, Kimberly scored some compression socks, we snagged all the freebie bars and such, got the obligatory official race magnet and little postcard (we have them from all the Rock N Roll events), walked around a bit and then scooted back to the hotel by late afternoon to try to settle in. I’m sure I have talked about our ‘pre big race ritual’ before: lay out all the stuff you need for the morning (shorts, shirts w bibs on, D-Tag on your shoes, heat rubs, lip balms, GU’s and energy blocks, 5 hr Energy drink, gloves, hats, Garmin watch, iPod shuffles, headsets, knee bands, heart rate monitor strap (K), running socks, spi belt, water bottles and water belt, banana’s x4, oatmeal ready, etc. etc. It’s a ton of crap, it’s like we are going off to war or some such, course by mile 24 it feels like you had been in one. The point being, set it out so you don’t forget anything and you can get that extra 15 minutes of sleep - course assuming you actually get 3-4 hours total anyway which would be a blessing. After getting everything ready, we partake of the homemade pizza’s and salad we always bring (we know this works for us). Hop in bed, turn on a boring movie, take a melatonin, sleepy time tea, and try to hit the hay by 9:30-10:00 ish.

At about 4:15 a.m. we both did the little whisper thing to see if the other was awake - as always - yep. It wasn’t too bad, we both assumed we ‘netted’ about 4 1/2 hours sleep. We did the routine, took the pre race pic and we were out the door. It was cold, but not bitter cold which was very helpful. For those that don’t do a lot of pre sunrise running, it’s basically you want a winter parka and 2 sets of gloves before you start and the first mile or two, then you could darn near be in a birthday suit as you are dripping sweat. More relevant was the wind, and it was fairly nonexistent so that was cool. Other than walking right by John McCain’s car window on the way over to our corrals and spooking the secret service guy our pre race was fairly uneventful. The bathroom lines were even palatable this year.

Kimberly and I both enjoyed the race and were mostly happy with the results too. The race itself is always a riot, though a real tough challenge to go all out for that long, it’s really the reward for all the hard work beforehand. The results however can be a different story, but we did good, not spectacular, or even great, but good. Kimberly came in at 4:36:19 about 1300th out of all women (even the err umm ‘younger ones’ which was a new PR. I did 3:22:19 which was good for top 8% overall and in my age group. It was also good enough to qualify me to run in the Boston Marathon which is cool. The downside was I did end up fading like a 70’s concert t-shirt the last few miles and it killed my sub 3:20 goal.

The big news of the day actually came after the race. I nearly had a heart attack - and not from running, but from worry! They have this runner tracking thing, and after the race I was hanging with some of our good buddies from West Valley Runners and they had the tracking up on their phone. It showed Kimberly had passed the 21 mile mark over an hour and a half ago (at the time). Knowing her pace, and seeing the plan was to meet where I was, she should have been there by now, or at least real soon. So after another half hour or so my worry starts to turn into real concern. Then I overhear some people next to me mention some lady just straight falling out at about mile 22. Looking at his bib number he and Kimberly would have, should have been very close to the same time. Now I really started to worry though didn’t ask him or anything because that would be silly. Long story cutting a little short, another half hour passes and STILL NO KIMBERLY. I now send out our friends (they offer) over to the medical tent, I borrow a cell phone to start making calls, it’s starting to get real crazy - and of course she finally walks up smiling like nothing ever happened. Seems she was following the crowd and headed off in the wrong direction for a bit. Scared the dog-doo out of this 45-49 age group husband of hers. If she wasn’t such a stubborn, competitive redhead I wouldn’t have to worry that she might push it more than she should - but alas…. that not be’ my woman….

A few pictures HERE. Until the next race, errr I mean blog

Said loud and proud: We have a healthy and beautiful little Grand Daughter!! The little precious one decided to step into the world just a wee but early (a couple of weeks or so) and for a second had us old Grandparents a little worried. We were hanging out at the Fiesta Bowl when we got the call that Momma Antoinette was at the Doctor for a regular baby visit and all of a sudden started going into labor and they were rushing her to the hospital. The scare came because while reception is excellent at the stadium, we couldn’t get a stinking dial tone on the cells because everyone was using all the AT&T bandwidth (I could fill a blog complaining about AT&T but this is about our little one…) to get any updates. Because our Grandson M3 was early and both he and momma had a little rough go, we were concerned for Antoinette and little Ariana. When we finally did get word (it was probably right away but sure seemed forever) that everyone was healthy and doing great and little Ariana was 6lb 10oz. well… let’s just say the tailgating got way more celebratory!

Now the only challenge will be hanging out until we get to see her and smother her with all those hugs kisses. Grandma may do more of the holding and smooching, but I will be there smelling her precious head and clicking away - the return of Grandpa Flash! We will likely wait about a month, we free up around then and that will both give Mom and Dad time to settle in and also allow us to go when we can hang out for a few weeks. The only other downside as I see it is this also gives Grandma many weekend shopping days before we go. So I guess I will have busy weekdays on the phone trying to round’ up another client or two because I think I have no real idea of how spoiled “Little A” is gonna’ be, and I will also be ordering more website bandwidth to handle all the upcoming pictures….

We have a lot of good friends here in Phoenix for sure, but for the most part all our old (old both ways…) friends either moved away or always did live under some other push pin on the Google map. So it is very cool when we get the call that some friends are headed our way. This time it was extra cool because it was Clay and Kathy making the trip to see us here in the desert. Kathy and Clay aren’t really friends - they be family - and it had been way too long since they made it out this way. Plus it was over the New Year’s holiday which meant lots of goof time to be had. Being oenophiles and golf fanatics, you knew we would be drinking well and I would need to dust off the wife’s sand wedge too.

Before we knew of the visit, Kimberly and I had been contemplating what to do New Year’s Eve. We really hate to go out, but at the same time hate to be old fuddy-dudies and just sit around. So with Kathy and Clay coming it seemed a no-brainer - we would have a party for them on New Year’s Eve! Then, with what was already sounding like a great few days got even better when the TCU Horned Frogs BCS bid sent them to the Fiesta Bowl. Both Clay and Kathy were grad students at TCU and go to most games back in Ft. Worth. Clay’s mom also works at TCU and with that has some special allocations where she could score some great seats for the game (the Fiesta Bowl is played 15 minutes up the street at University of Phoenix Stadium here in Glendale. BTW: Mrs. Reeves insisted on getting tickets for us and that was very kind and thoughtful of her and Gerald. So the week plan was set, family, vino, golf, vino, golf, vino, party, friends, tailgate, Frogs… life be good. It really did turn out to be a great week and every day ended with the old - it doesn’t get much better than that. The exception being the Frog’s loss in the Bowl, but I think next year is set up to be perhaps Natl. title time.

Seems Clay and Kathy had just landed a day before, played a round of golf and it was party time. As always we spent the day running around making sure we had everything we needed and doing the setup and cooking. Before you knew it, party time. We didn’t have a lot of the Belly Dancer gang this time as many were out of town or had other plans by the time we set the Party up. Plus it’s so hard sometimes with New Years, baby sitters, etc. But we still did get to enjoy a great fire dance from Laura, and Misty and Kimberly did a excellent sword dance too - the gang all loved it. Also cool was we had a ton of folks from our West Valley Runners group show up. We have gotten to know them all just recently really and this was the first opportunity we had to invite them over. It was great to have them. Of course a ton of the other usual suspects were also kind (or silly) enough to spend their NYE with us as well.

I’ll leave the details for another time, but as seems to happen as the night wears on the activity under the Tiki Bar progresses to trouble (ish). Stirring the pot this time, Mr. Clayton Reeves himself. He was pouring Tequila shots quicker than a Nolan Ryan fastball. My poor little sis ended up playing that game a little too long by the way and missed Auld Lang Syne by about 15 minutes. Tequila along with a ton of Bubble Water, including some Dom Perignon (brought by good friends Christian and Debbie) was a flowin’ until the wee hours. I think we ended up hitting the pillow about 3:00 am the first early morning of 2010.

Over the weekend we did the golf thing. I got to play Anthem Country Club which I have wanted to for awhile. Considering the cold, and I had not played in forever, plus the course (man it is a tough one), I did pretty good. Would have enjoyed it anyway, but sure helped having a decent game. I even won a couple of bucks from Clay (let’s not mention he has to give me 2 shots a hole).

One of my favorite days of the whole visit was Fiesta Bowl day. We did it up right. I think we had the whole back of the truck full of grills and coolers, chairs, food, etc when we headed over to do some serious tailgating at the stadium. It was a chamber of commerce weather day, I grilled some burgers, then some shrimp, and we just hung out all day munching and drinking beer and vino and enjoying the great company (incl. Clay’s folks who were here for the game). The best part of the day however wasn’t even at the game - it was because our Grand Daughter was born (Healthy, happy 6lb. 10oz. Ariana Marie)!! It was killing us though that we could barely get cell service to find out all the details.

I sure hope that Kathy and Clay enjoyed the week as much as we did. I wanted everything to go perfect because there is some talk that they may make Phoenix home a couple/few months out of the year. It would be so, so cool to have them close so we could hang all the time.

As always… you know there were some Party Pictures (errr ummm …minus a few) HERE and also the Fiesta Bowl shots HERE