Hows my little Half-Runner?

On Saturday Laura and I set out for what seems like an annual tradition down here, participating in the Illinois Marathon weekend. This all started in 2010 when I got coaxed into signing up for the 5K. Three more 5K races and three more half marathons equals three I-Challenges completed since then.

Every year at the expo there a cool device which measures a person's vital stats. I like seeing the progression of things so here are my results (I didn't post them last year):

Weight: [2010] 199.4  [2011] 198.4 [2013] 198.6
Height:  [2010] 6'4.7"  [2011] 6'4.3" [2013] 6'3.5"!!!
BMI:     [2010] 24        [2011] 24      [2013] 24
Fat %:   [2010] 16%     [2011] 15%   [2013] 22%
Fat:      [2010] 31.9 lb  [2011] 29.9  [2013] 44.3 lb
Fortunately I don't trust anything like this to be accurate. But still pretty shocking results, I'm getting shorter, I've gained more fat and apparently have lost muscle which makes sense I guess due to...

This year Laura and I both did a pretty crappy job at training for this race. I probably ran about 1/4 the miles/runs I should have. Unfortunately I've been working out a calf injury that I haven't quite figured out and running aggravates it. Switching shoes isn't an option, because then I'd be rebattling a knee injury. Also I got a case of the poopies right when I was planning on working out my longest runs (pun happily found). Fortunately we've been running in Kickapoo on the hills which I think was my saving grace for the race. Also this year I wanted to mix in quite a bit of High Intensity Interval Training into my workouts to keep my runs shorter in duration. I foolishly thought I could make my own workout plan, I got overwhelmed and didn't make any schedule, which usually helps me stay on track. Next time I'll just look up something online. So break out the tiny violins, yeah, I didn't work hard enough this year.

The race itself was great again this year. I think there was more music along the course and the crowd along the road was more vocal than ever. Due mostly to my calf issues I decided to run with Laura for both races. Initially I had planned to run with her for about 10 miles and maybe break off if I was feeling antsy. That antsy feeling never came and right about mile 10 my legs decided that they were pretty sore/tired and we ended up finishing the race together, holding hands. Aww :)

5K Times: Tony - 34:08 Laura - 34:09
Half Times: Tony - 2:38:50 Laura - 2:38:49

Laura set a new record for her Half Marathon this year by 7 minutes.
I on the other hand ran significantly slower than last year by 46 minutes.

Our three I-Challenge Medals.

It was fun to have a running partner. Like all of these running events the people watching is incredible. Runners are starting to wear some excitingly funky clothes and I like that. As usual I love watching all the fit bodies running around me. Thanks to running with Laura I saw quite a few more of the blooming flowers in the neighborhoods than I have in the past. My favorite was the CrossFitters who ran the 5K with weight vests and giant medicine balls stopping throughout the course to do various workouts with them. We got to the starting line late this year and got to see the fast runners zip across the line including the staple guy dressed as Abraham Lincoln holding a (full sized) Boston Red Sox flag instead of his staple american flag from years past.

Which brings me to the other portion surrounding this weekend's marathon events. The tragedy at Boston Marathon is still fresh in everyone's mind. The event organizers sold stickers with all proceeds going to the Boston One Fund. There were signs all along the route with inspiring words to remember the events that unfolded just a few weeks ago. Laura and I noted that there was a significantly increased visible security presence throughout the race with plenty of armed and prepared police with (extra?)paramedics all over Memorial Stadium.

This was an awful thing to happen anywhere and fortunately Americans aren't used to it. When I was reading the details of the event unfolding all I could think of was who targets runners? But after thinking about how dense any race is packed (especially in the beginning and end) its easy to see how someone can destroy a lot of lives in a small space and time.

After closely following the Botson events unfold I wanted this race to symbolize something for me. I had a hard time deciding on anything because I wanted to prove something. Remembering Boston wasn't enough, #RunForBoston won't prove anything to any terrorist (unless I'm facebook friends with one). I understand everyone's heart is in the right place with these phrases but I wanted proof that people can't ruin my life because of their actions to me or another. I wanted to show that I'm not afraid, and I settled on that for my symbol. I didn't wear it outright, I didn't tell people, but I thought by treating this event like the usual great weekend it is and by only worrying about whether or not my body will allow me to finish. I was doing my one in twenty thousand part of showing up and thinking, I'm not afraid. Life is too short to worry about every stranger that walks by, people must pick up, bravely grieve and eventually move along with their head higher than ever.

So we had a great time, we ran with thousands of other smiling people who were taking pictures, involving their kids, and celebrating new life milestones. Will I do it next year? I'm not sure. My Dad raised a good point last year about this race, while an incredible experience with a great crowd and fun times, its a race through a town without a lot to look at. The biggest highlight is finishing at the 50 yard line of a stadium that houses a team/college I don't care much about. The greatest positive to this race is it gives me incentive to work out in the winter/early spring. Next year I'd consider doing the marathon relay, or maybe volunteering, but overall I think I'm ready for something new.

Our legs held out to the finish!

Bring it on Big Mudder!

Hows my little bitter mouth?

This week I was reading an interesting article about an olive oil competition (no link sorry) and it stated that Olive oil connoisseurs look for oils made from young green olives and are bitter. Which got me thinking...

Why is it snobs of taste always gravitate towards bitter?

Wine, Dry wines particularly reds are not necessarily bitter tasting but certainly a similar feeling in your mouth. I should know our untrained customers will often call a dry wine too bitter.

Beer, ask anyone you think is a beer snob what their favorite beer is. Its almost guaranteed the majority of them say an IPA or anything hoppy.

Olive oil, See above

Coffee, I'm reaching here since I despise coffee because of its bitterness but, I'm assuming those shots of espresso and exotic coffee aficionados aren't dumping sugar and cream into the black stuff when they want the most expressive flavors of the roasted beans.

Chocolate, Dark bitter chocolate, milk chocolate is for kids on halloween, give these guys the 75% cocoa.

What sticks out to me is that people who like these flavors don't just tolerate them they LOVE them. Everyone knows someone who is a lover of at least one bitter on this list with a strong distaste/preference away from their more mild counterparts. Why is it? If you think about it they are a minority in each category with the majority liking a more mild and/or sweeter version of any of those things.

This is just a bitter idea as food for bitter thought.
I don't have any guesses nor solutions.

Hows my little flood?

It's been a particularly wet spring here in E.C. IL. As winter ended we got several big rains which for a couple of weeks didn't seem to do anything, then suddenly ponds and lakes began to fill up as the ground finished swelling with much needed moisture after our intense drought last summer.

As they say, when it rains it pours.

Last week it rained for four days in a row, we got a short break of glorious sun and warmth and this week its now rained for another four days in a row. Yesterday it rained hard for easily 14 hours straight and was a nice way to cap a week of gloom.

Just two blocks from us, there is a 5' ditch with a culvert under the road here. Those brown piles are corn stalks from the nearby field.

The park I fly my kite at two blocks away.

You can typically walk another 20-30 feet down this path.

A log jam on a river that's over doubled in width.

A canoe can go under this bridge usually.

This was already a civil engineering marvel, for some reason someone thought it was a good idea to run the overflow water over this road always. So usually there is about a 2 inch deep 4 foot wide channel of water running from right to left here. There is a 3-4 foot drop on the left side of the road. When we run here we have to balance on the submerged curb on the left to get past with dry feet. Laura and I stood on the curbs here for quite a while watching the HUGE carp swim around in the road area while swimming back and fourth over the curbs. After while we noticed that the water was actually beginning to backflow into the lake. A stranger later told us it was the river overflowing into the lake. 

This is our usually awesome draining back yard. Thats our garlic on the near right side of the garden that we hope survives all this rain.

At least its not snow I guess.

Hows my little Ashevillian?

Asheville, North Carolina is a really really great town. It definitely has several of my heartstrings attached. You might remember me mentioning this a few months ago, and this trip solidified and reaffirmed it.

A few months ago Laura's parents offered the whole Davis gang an all expense paid family vacation to Asheville. Admittedly a strange place to take a family vacation where most family members are under 40 years old. We certainly made the most of it, more so, we even had a good time!

Laura and I broke off from the family early on a rainy first day to work in a stop at the Highland Brewing Company where we managed to walk onto a tour that was starting just as we walked in the door. We got really excited because we toured while people were actually working, which was pretty cool! We saw a guy pouring hops into a tank! This seems pretty trivial, but we rarely see a brewery in action on a tour since we are always visiting on weekends, with the exception of Lienie's where we saw the bottling line rolling briefly. Highland is the biggest brewer in Asheville and I was bummed it didn't work out for us to visit during our first time around, which is why I was so amped to get there this time. My overall impression was that they are making solid, and clean beers. We really liked their Gaelic Ale (and so does everyone else apparently) and aside from their fantastic trappist style (test batch) they didn't have anything that really stuck out as full flavored and outstanding, they were more crowd pleasing mild beers. Which is probably how they became the biggest brewery in town.

The next day we headed to the main attraction of our vacation, visiting the Biltmore Estate. Way back in 2007 (remember that year?) I got to visit the Glensheen Mansion in Duluth so naturally I was drawing comparisons to both of them for the first ten minutes until I realized they are nothing alike aside from being large old houses.

Example: Glensheen is a big house (with a name) and someone was killed there. Biltmore is not only a big house (with a name), but looks like a French castle with English decor, atop a massive property with immaculately manicured grounds, gift shops, restaurants, animals, gardens (for both restaurants and beauty alike), a winery, a resort, and tourists, lots of tourists.

If someone really wanted, they could spend two entire days exploring all of Biltmore's offerings. We managed a guided tour of the house, some animal time, and a trip to the winery. The winery was pretty cool because one of their tanks (of over a dozen) could contain our annual capacity. Which makes sense, they claim to be America's most visited winery. We didn't spend much time walking the grounds because nothing was growing (thus nothing blooming), I don't regret this decision. One of my favorite things of our time at Biltmore was the fantastic banana split that Laura and I shared. Yum!

Lactose be damned!

Supposedly the most photographed thing at Biltmore...a pretty lame photo-op if you ask me.

The next day we got some family time in playing at a great wooden playground and hiking around/geocaching at the North Carolina Arboretum. Afterward we got a trip to the Asheville Brewing Company & Pizzeria. I liked that the pizza slices were as big as our heads. I also liked we found another growler to add to our collection.

After our walk downtown I realized that Asheville is truly a great city. From my small glimpses now and then I found that I love the diversity of people, the hills, the trees, the lack of corn, all of the breweries, the signs everywhere saying 'Put your $ where your heart is - Asheville', the many good looking places to eat, and drink. I love that driving only an hour from town will give you plenty of opportunities to camp, hike, and sightsee. The only thing I think the town is missing is a snowy winter. If someone were to ask me what would make up my ideal place to live I would point them to most of this list. I'm anxious to visit again for some more exploring.

Leave your 'Choking the Chicken' jokes in your head, thats a turkey.

Hows my little bunny?

This year Laura and I were faced with a never before missed experience in our lives. Easter Sunday, her, me, and no one else. Including the bunny.

Including the bunny.

Yeah I'm almost thirty, but I'll be damned if I don't get to hunt for some eggs once a year. So this year we took matters into our own adult hands, by dying some eggs with kool-aid and non-toxic markers to hide for each other the next day. Thankfully it was a complete success and we surprised ourselves with how many good hiding spots our small house affords.

Jinx helping Laura search. 

Yes, those are my feetie onesies. Yes, I love them.

Later that day since it was beautiful outside we strapped our canoe to the Subaru and headed to Kickapoo for an afternoon of paddling around, chasing geese, and watching turtles jump off their sunning logs.

We also saw a snake. This was the worst part of the day.

After our paddle we played a couple of rounds of Kubb while I overcooked our prime rib. Thankfully it was still fantastic.

 Dear everyone who likes their meat well done...you're missing out on really good tasting meat.