The Weekend.

Ever notice that as soon as the weather gets nice we try to cram more into the weekends?   This past weekend had great weather, and it made the kids soccer and everything else much more enjoyable.   I managed to get out for a a quick 10k of single track in the VFF's KSO treks.  Man, I love the kangaroo leather.   The trail system was nice and soft from all the recent rain so it was easy going.  The weather went from sunny to overcast and drizzle within 30 minutes of me starting out.  I could hear the rain coming from off in the distance as I hurried to finish up before it arrived.  In the mean time there was thunder rolling in, and the winds were picking up....I love this time of year.  It was at that moment I crested a hill to arrive at small pool of water that collected in a low laying area.  Standing in the middle of the pool was a whitetailed deer who had stopped for drink.  It is times like these I wish I had a camera with me all the time.   Running in near silence with the Vff's the deer only paused momentairly to glance up at me but then continued drinking.   I ran with in 30ft of the deer and it did not spook; which I thought it was very kewl.   Over the years of me doing this I have seen some of the coolest animals while out trail running.  Great horned owls, deer, coyotes, and fox to name a few.  Each time I've encountered them it brings back all the years of seeing wildlife while out on a run; and makes each memory that much more sweeter.

Since writing this a few weeks ago I have been running off and on...not as much as I would like; but as much as time allows without negelecting my wife or kids.    Also, I have been trying to figure out what race to run this fall.  I would really like to try to run either the Palo Duro Canyon 50, or the Catus Rose 50.  Both are Texas based events, and perhaps I am more intrigued by running in Texas than any other place right now. 
I would like to run a fall 50 miler in hopes that I can use a successful 50 miler as a training run for a future attempt at a 100 mile event.  In truth, I've always wanted to run a 100 but have never stepped off into the unknown.  Perhaps fear of failure has prevented me until now.  Who knows...The training will continue until then.  Yesterday was a Crossfit Football style workout over the lunch hour; 135 lbs and 50 backsquats as fast as possible.  My legs are killing me this morning and its a good thing.  During lunch today I will be doing an interval run.   All this crosstraining, and interval runs fall along the lines of the CFE protocol ( http://www.crossfitendurance.com/ ) where endurance athletes forgo the grinding miles week in and week out for high insensity runs with a heavy dose of weight lifting.  Its worked well for me in the past, and I hope it will work for me in the future.

NO. This blog isnt dead....

SO I have not posted anything of value since December 8th, 2010.  Wow....what have I been doing since then you ask?   Good question.   Since the last post I've managed to build a floating arm trebuchet with my kids in the back yard.  Hey its always good fun to fling stuff!  

       In other build type projects I lucked into a AK-47 parts kits from a friend.  I never built a battle rifle before and the premise seemed to be a interesting proposition.  After doing some basic research online I decided to skip the traditional rivet construction ( high tech for 1920's ) and weld the parts together.  I know, traditional AK lovers hate to here this; but I am much more of a competent welder than I am a riveter.   Besides, welds when done correctly should be stronger anyway.   I then painted the rifle with high temp BBQ paint for the short term.  I am moving toward sanding it all back down and painting it with DURA-Coat.  A much better solution.   What does a $150.00 AK-47 look like?   Better than one would think, but I'll let you guys be the judge.  
The big thing that has taken up a majority of my time this late winter and early spring has been the Potato Creek Trail runs.  Its has not been since 1993 that a trail race has taken place out at Potato Creek State Park.   My wife and I decided last September that we felt as though we had to put this race on.  We wanted to donate the proceeds of this race to the scholarship fund at the kids school.   I can say now in hindsight it is much easier to run the race than it is the manage it.   It was a great experience for me and I learned so much about how to manage a race, deal with difficult people, and work crazy hours for no pay.  A real character builder.   :-)   For those of you who want more info on the race surf on over to the blog.  Potato Creek Trail Runs.
This past weekend I was fortunate enough to run the Dances with Dirt relay with my brother-in-law and his friends down in Gnaw Bone, Indiana.   This is the funnest ( is that a word?) run I do all year.  Imagine people in costume covering 5k-10k distance thru some of the worst ilk possible.  Its great!   This run has also helped me get back on track with consistent run mileage.   I hope to take the training leading up to this and funnel it into more training for a fall 50 miler.  It all depends on what kind of time I can chisel out.   I am looking at a few 50 milers  right now and have not committed to anything yet.  Once I am able to nail down more of a schedule I can then move forward with getting ready and training.   I'll keep up on the posts as well; and get some photos up of the t-bucket as time permits.   I have to get that thing on the road.  Right now I am shooting for July.