The Rambling Raider

Waiting for the plane ...

2008-12-31T11:52:00.001-06:00

Shopping Quotes

2008-12-23T08:03:00.003-06:00

College age (or older) Girl #1: " So I got there and he said 'You look just like one of those 'Bratz' dolls' and I waslikeI don't know if I should be happy or offended.

College age (or older) Girl #2: "Oh my god,like,you know they're getting sued?"

College age (or older) Girl #1: "No way, maybe that's why he said it?"

====

Lost Dad a cell phone: "I'm here in the toy section at the North Austin store. YOu toldme there was 2copiesof Super Mario Cart left."

Lost Dad a cell phone: "Wait,this isn't Best Buy, is it?"

Holiday shopping started off right!

2008-12-22T08:44:00.001-06:00

Happy Holidays

2008-12-07T13:55:00.000-06:00

Hope you all get some of those delicious holiday goodies!

Wine trip

2008-12-06T15:51:00.001-06:00

Travel Map

2008-12-05T22:00:00.001-06:00

Finally got around to Updating my Travel Map.

Christmas Yard Art

2008-12-05T21:11:00.003-06:00

It's that time of year again. Time for that totally awesome Texas tradition - crazy ass Christmas blow up yard art. With lights.

A few from nearby:

This one is hard to see, but in person it looks like a rampaging Santa killed off the rest of the yard art which is deflated a strewn all over the place.

Here is the result of a small happy hour with Father Time, Mother Nature and Santa and large bottle of Patron. Mother Nature is still looking for her bra. (Check behind the sweet Light Train or maybe under Frosty's sweet army men?)

The awesome glow-deer and glow-forest seem to have blinded Santa to the point he needs to wear shades!

Happy Holidays!

Pics from the city

2008-12-02T21:46:00.000-06:00

Good Morning from Chi-Town

2008-12-02T07:09:00.000-06:00

2008-11-29T18:47:00.001-06:00

Good times at the parade today. Ate at z-tejas afterwards.

Holiday pics

2008-11-28T15:32:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving was great! Posting a few pictures from stops at Bass Proshop, starbucks, and SeaWorld.

Car surgery

2008-11-27T18:54:00.000-06:00

Thanks to our youngest, we performed an emergency quarter-ectomy from the tapedeck before the trip to SA.

Turkey trot

2008-11-27T07:40:00.001-06:00

Rest Week - Bring on the Turkey

2008-11-24T17:49:00.005-06:00

Rest week in many respects.

Figured out today that I've run about 54 miles this month. It's nuts to think of it in those terms. Definitely feeling it. Aches. Pains. Dirty clothes everywhere.

Getting closer to the marathon ~ 82 days and counting.

Onward and upward.

I *HAVE* to lose some weight. I need to drop about 3 lbs a week until the marathon. I think I might start tracking it here. Need to check out some of the training / nutrition sites. See below for reason #1 why I didn't make a dent in my 3lbs this week (note the browning banana's just to the left).

Happy Birthday, honey!

Pics from the SA Marathon

2008-11-16T13:53:00.001-06:00

Overheard @ SA Marathon

2008-11-16T12:04:00.002-06:00

"Hey Pops! Crap, he has his good ear to the phone."

Powerthirst

2008-11-11T19:39:00.001-06:00

I need energy made with "Real Lightning"!

TECH WINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-11-02T05:12:00.001-06:00

Probably the best Tech game I've ever seen. Way to go!!!

Big Game Today

2008-11-01T07:14:00.002-05:00

Go Raiders!!!

Howdy Neighbors

2008-11-01T07:00:00.003-05:00

We spent the evening yesterday Trick-or-Treating with the neighbors and all the kiddos. The night also included a hybrid B-day / Halloween Party.

Awesome times.

Livestrong Ride Recap

2008-10-26T18:51:00.007-05:00

I did it. 90 miles. It was awesome.

Everything I would expect from the LAF foundation and the man himself. What a great day.

The big surprise of the day: Dripping Springs, TX. Man, these folks made us feel so welcome. People all over town cheering us on. Thank you for letting us invade. :-)

Training notes: 250 - 300 calories / hr made a huge difference. It feels very difficult to eat that much but I maintained good energy all day. Strong legs. Also, drank constantly, felt like every 7 -10 minutes, but was probably more like 15 - 20. Drank about 5 bottles, good for the cool day, could easily need double this on a hot day.

Highlights of the day:

Beautiful Dripping Springs, TX:

First Rest stop, Mile 39ish:

Blanco, TX:

The sun's out, let the baking begin:

Team Dell Rest stop!

And the big finale:

53 miles

2008-10-26T11:14:00.000-05:00

On my way to dripping springs

2008-10-26T06:19:00.002-05:00

TFT Lives-Strong

2008-10-25T15:25:00.004-05:00

I ran in the Livestrong 5K this morning. Awesome time! What a great event!

Afterward, I ran into my Tom Ford Team-mates (2006). They had the whole family and were doing the walk version. I joined up and walk the last 2 miles with them.

The TFT merged with Team Dell last year. Pretty cool stuff. Dell takes great care of us providing jerseys, coaches, as well as matching donations and such.

Topped it all of with a Kerbey Lane breakfast with the fam.

Octoberfest (Finally!)

2008-10-25T05:30:00.000-05:00

I've been looking forward to a nice visit to Octoberfest this year. Ever since the dinner at Epcot back in the summer - I've been German-crazy.

Last nite we went with MM crew to Walburg, TX. They have a nice little Biergarten and German meal. So we chowed, drank good german "bier", and listen to some German-Texas music.

Good times!!

Endorsement

2008-10-24T07:37:00.001-05:00

Livestrong Weekend is here!

2008-10-24T07:04:00.004-05:00

... and so is Lance.

I've been on the fence with Twitter lately. Not really sure the value of knowing every incremental detail of the folks I follow. However, Lance Armstrong has it right. I've been really interested in following his posts. Probably because he's an interesting dude.

He's here. Twitter told me. He drove the course. Twitter told me. A reporter went with him. Twitter told me. Found the article:

Apparently they talked about marathons.

Cool. The e-mail has been flying getting all the Livestrong folks geared up for the big weekend. Here is what it looks like for me:

Friday PM ~ Packet Pickup
Saturday AM ~ Livestrong 5K ~ Downtown
Saturday PM ~ Football
Sunday ~ 90 Mile ride

Should be fun

Livestrong Intel

2008-10-19T17:50:00.003-05:00

Gearing up for the Livestrong next weekend.

Looks to be another big time:

Schedule of Events

Highlights:

Packet Pickup Friday afternoon
5K at the Capital Saturday @ 7:30

I'm thinking it will be me and the kiddos down at the capital for this - Look. out.

90-Mile Ride on Sunday @ 7:30

Looks like a challenging course. Hope all the HIM training pays off... Start time is 7:30 in Dripping Springs (!?!). Gonna be up early that day.

TGIF & Weekend Plans

2008-10-17T20:58:00.003-05:00

Whew. Tough week.

Topped off the week with a citywide 3-hour scavenger hunt today at work. Pretty cool way to get to know folks at work.

Tomorow AM I'll be out on the Outlaw Trail trying to set a pace to get in ~50 to 65 miles before...

Texas Tech vs a&m. Go Red Raiders!!!

Then more football. Texas / Mizzou, probably.

Hoping to have enough energy to get up and get a 10-mile run in on Sunday. We'll see, I'll at least go 6.

Happy Weekend!!

Lance-alot

2008-10-15T15:02:00.002-05:00

Check this out: http://twitter.com/lancearmstrong

Austin American Statesman says it's really him.

Gearing up for the long LAF ride in two weeks. Drop me a note if you need a place to donate. ;-)

Enjoying the fire.

2008-10-13T22:23:00.000-05:00

Margaritaville

2008-10-12T15:54:00.000-05:00

Arizona sun

2008-10-12T13:46:00.000-05:00

Kona

2008-10-12T09:17:00.002-05:00

NBC will air the 2008 Ford Ironman World Championship on December 13, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST.

Recovery and Weekend Plans

2008-10-11T08:11:00.002-05:00

Spent the whole week "recovering". Basically, eating like a beast and lying around.

This weekend we are off to AZ. Will post pics along the way.

Next week starts marathon training full tilt.

Longhorn in the bag

2008-10-09T20:04:00.004-05:00

Toughest race of my life ~ and the longest by a half hour!!

Wait, that's a bad thing, right?

Check out the pics.

Transition Area - pre-race

2008-10-04T20:52:00.000-05:00

Weekend Warrior

2008-10-04T13:08:00.001-05:00

2008-09-30T20:34:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone!

2008-09-29T17:47:00.000-05:00

Soccer class tonite. Woohoo!

Race Pre-Ride

2008-09-28T20:15:00.003-05:00

Been sitting on these for a few weeks. Pics from our pre-ride of the Longhorn Half Ironman course:

Can you see that chasing dog in the one above?

Race Countdown

2008-09-28T19:19:00.002-05:00

One week left till Longhorn Half Ironman. Left with my training buddies on a 40 mile ride / 4 mile run brick around 7 AM today. 61* and sunny. Amazing.

Should be a fun weekend! Check out the schedule of events.

2008-09-27T09:39:00.000-05:00

Breakfast of champions!

Required Reading

2008-09-20T11:21:00.003-05:00

I ran across my copy of "Going Long" (Friel / Burn) while getting ready for the garage sale this morning. Totally forgot I had it ~ and ~ and haven't finished it. Started leafing through it and figured I better add this to my reading list ASAP.

Anyone used this to train for Ironman?

Garage Sale

2008-09-20T09:51:00.002-05:00

4 hours, piles of crap, $17 dollars.

Garage sales suck.

Wine

2008-09-19T22:00:00.004-05:00

First, I know nothing about wine.

Ran across the Clif Bar winery tonight. Pretty cool. The more I learn about that company, the more I like it. Someday I gotta get a job there. I like the builder bars for post workouts.

We've been uploading pictures of wine labels we like online. Pretty cool way to keep track of the "good" stuff.

Early Thanksgiving

2008-09-18T20:59:00.002-05:00

No turkey. In case you were wondering.

Stopped by the toe doc again today for a checkup. All clear, btw. The doc told me about a surgery he had later in the day with a 44 year old patient who had survived 2 heart attacks, a failed kidney transplant, diabetes and was now in danger of losing a limb. This person spends 15 hours a week on dialysis.

Ug. All this after I turned in 1200M in the pool. First, I felt a little guilty. Then, thankful. Really thankful. I couldn't shake the thought of that situation all day.

Sometimes it's good to be a little thankful for a lot of our time.

Ironman - pump me up

2008-09-18T20:42:00.001-05:00

Dude.

M-Dot Tat Candidate #2

2008-09-17T20:10:00.001-05:00

Found this in a BT Newsgroup

I am Philip Henslowe

2008-09-17T16:02:00.004-05:00

Henslowe
Originally uploaded by rushysgirl

This about sums up my day:

Philip Henslowe: Mr. Fennyman, allow me to explain about the theatre business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster.

Hugh Fennyman: So what do we do?

Philip Henslowe: Nothing. Strangely enough, it all turns out well.

Hugh Fennyman: How?

Philip Henslowe: I don't know. It's a mystery.

Not sure how I missed this...

2008-09-17T00:16:00.001-05:00

Did you catch this?

2008-09-16T22:11:00.001-05:00

Summer

2008-09-16T21:51:00.001-05:00

Kids 7-19-08 013
Originally uploaded by robert_phillips_1954

This makes me smile.

Bubble Bubble

2008-09-16T18:56:00.001-05:00

Today I am glad to have a 3-sport outlet to relieve work overflow. Work was insane in the membrane. Swam at LTF this afternoon.

Just me, two sunbathers, and a 78* afternoon. The pool felt like it was about 42*. (I wonder if this is what triathlon training is like in California and Colorado?) These days are the reason I love living here. 1500 meters clicked by without incident. I started cramping at 1600M and decided to cut it short. Lack of fluids is the likely culprit.

Started twittering. Not sure I'm doing it right. It's boring to read. Even more so than my blogs. Dang.

Long run first thing in the morning ~11 miles. Taper for Longhorn starts soon. 2 Half IM races in one season. Go me.

M-Dot Tat Candidate #1

2008-09-14T20:37:00.001-05:00

Silly to think of this now. But already planning...

Swim like a fish

2008-09-14T20:00:00.001-05:00

Ingrown toenail is in check after surgery last week. OWS picks back up this week. Join us Wednesday afternoon.

Lance's Ironman Journey

2008-09-13T10:59:00.000-05:00

Night at the movies

2008-09-13T10:57:00.000-05:00

By a red neck coming out of a stall in the men's room...

I'd rather spend $400 at a strip club than $20 on a movie.

TGIF

2008-09-12T18:00:00.000-05:00

Total Efficiency

2008-09-10T22:15:00.000-05:00

"We should be striving to optimize the efficiency meetings to their fullest potential."

2008-09-07T20:53:00.000-05:00

Healing toe:

What to expect...

2008-09-01T18:38:00.000-05:00

Signed up for Ironman Louisville, KY today. 12 months to consider...

Course videos here.