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 Well it’s the end of another training season, which always culminates with the Houston Marathon, or in my case the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. This was my third time to run this race, and for some reason I always seem to struggle with it. During a 14 mile training run in December, my right knee began to hurt, and a week of rest didn’t really help when I ran 10 miles the following weekend. Xrays didn’t show any problems, so we hoped that a couple of weeks of rest before Aramco would do the trick. So Sunday rolls around, the gun fires, and we’re off in downtown Houston… or in my case we wait 15 minutes for my back-of-the-pack pace group to make it TO the start line along with 26,000 other folks. Things start out fine, but by the time we exit the Elysian Viaduct my knee starts to talk to me. By mile 8 it’s really singing and I begin to fear that I might actually damage something, so I ‘walk it in’ from there. Made me laugh that my finish time (yes I finished the race) this year was the exact same as when I first ran the race two years ago, and yet I had walked 5 miles of the course this time. Guess my pace has improved just a tad over time.
So now I wait three weeks for an appointment at the Orthopedist to see what’s what. Had planned to run Sugarland in 2 weeks but that ain’t gonna happen. Man, it’s always sumthin!
Ever since I’ve known her, Stephanie has wanted a pool. Since we’ve been married, the answer has always been ‘maybe someday’… well baby, someday is here!! We decided a few months back to embark on this project once Fall arrived, and Stephanie did all the due-diligence necessary (as usual). We contacted a half-dozen pool companies and five were interested enough to come out and bid on the project. Each had their good points and bad points, and to be honest – as we learned more about the process and what was available, our requirements changed a bit. In the end, we chose Shawn Carter at Pulliam Pools to fulfill our outdoor entertainment needs. So our Autumn project is a 38 foot pool with a 4 foot firepit and a 15×15 arched shade arbor to house a future outdoor kitchen.
We are SO excited!!! I’ll be updating this thread with photos and more information once construction begins.
October 5 – HOA approved our construction plan. Pulliam immediately put us on their dig schedule for next week, and told us to expect a visit within 48 hours to mark utility lines in the yard.
October 7 – Pulliam’s construction supervisor came out and spray-painted the pool outline on the lawn for next week’s dig
October 12 – Bad weather on Sunday threw a wrench in this week’s schedule, slipping us to Wednesday for the dig. Then, we were the 2nd dig for the day, so the excavators didn’t show up till almost 2pm. They finally finished around 9pm, much to the dismay of our neighbors. But we gots a big ol’ hole in the backyard now!!
October 13 – Rebar and plumbers showed up to do their thing
October 14 – We were the second shoot of the day for the gunite crew, so they showed up around 1pm and finished up around 7:45pm
October 17 – The plumbers worked from dawn till dusk to get all the pipes laid and equipment setup. They’ll be back tomorrow to work on the gas lines for the outdoor kitchen and firepit. After work the pool builder took us to see a few of his pools, and we finalized our selections for plaster and peagravel. Our plaster is called ‘Negril’ and is a combination of pebble and Beadcrete.
October 18 – Plumbers finished their work. Tile & Coping crew showed up and set all our tile, and began on the flagstone coping. It’s gonna look great.
October 19 – Flagstone guys finished almost all their work today, and will finish completely in another week or so when they return to install runners in the decking. Carpenters showed up and set the posts for our Arbor and stained all the wood for tomorrow’s build.
October 20 – Arbor work continues… more painting, more sanding, some assembly
October 21 – Even more Arbor work
October 24 – Electricians do their thing and the arbor guys finish up
October 25 – Decking guys set forms, remove grass, install drainage, bring in crushed gravel base, and set rebar for tomorrow’s pour
October 26 – The decking crew showed up early and got everything prepped just in time for the 8:15am arrival of the cement truck. One group spread the concrete while others followed along behind them with peagravel to cast on top and work into the surface. Then when the time was right, they came back through with a gentle water wash to expose the aggregate just right. We’re thrilled with the result.
October 29 – Stone guys showed up to lay the flagstone runners in the decking, finish the spa-spillway, and build the firepit. They got most of the work done, and then said they’d be back on Sunday… but, alas, they were a no-show the next day.
October 31 – Cleanup crew was here to cart away trash and make everything more presentable. Then the stone guys showed up to finish the firepit and spa spillway.
November 1 – Sprinkler system guy showed up and installed all new heads around the pool area and fixed the other zones that got trashed during the build. It’s nice to water the lawn again now that winter’s coming.
November 11 – In preparation for plastering next week, a crew showed up to clean the pool out nicely
November 12 – Guys showed up to acid-wash the peagravel decking so that it looks all pretty
November 14 – Plaster!!!!!!
November 15 – Acid wash the new plaster
November 16 – Fill that bad boy up with water!!
November 17 – We return home from vacation to a full pool with filters running
November 18 – New sod installed to make the yard pretty again… POOL SCHOOL!!!
November 22 – Defective spa light replaced and new gas meter installed
November 25 – Black Friday!! I took my first plunge into the 68 degree pool… OOO RAH!!!
December 1 – Polaris 480 delivered and hooked up
 It was a lazy Saturday and nobody wanted to do much about supper, so I grabbed a recipe from the ladies over at Crock Pot Girls and threw some stuff in the slow cooker for the afternoon. A few hours later, and voila!!!
Plus!! it’s Hatch Chile days here in Katy, with the local HEB smokin’ em up and sellin’ bags of ‘em at the entrance… and since I’d grabbed a bag of the spicier variety, I diced up a couple of those bad boys and threw them in the mixture. YUM-OH!!!
BACON RANCH CHICKEN
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 tbsp real bacon bits
- 1 tsp minced garlic (really? 1 tsp? I used 2 tbsp)
- 1 pkg ranch dressing mix
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1 cup sour cream
- egg noodles
Combine bacon, garlic, ranch dressing mix, soup, and sour cream and mix well. Pour over frozen chicken in the crock pot. Cook on high 3-4 hours, then shred the chicken and return to pot for 30 minutes. Cook the egg noodles and add those to the pot as well simply to coat them with the creamy goodness. Scoop it out and eat it up!
 There I was, kickin’ back on the couch and catchin’ up on some DVR’d TV from the week before, and right in the middle of Torchwood the phone rings. Good friends Matt & Angie had some excess peaches they needed to get rid of, and I couldn’t say YES fast enough when they offered to drop some off for us. Sure enough, just a few minutes later I had myself 20 VERY nice Freestone peaches. Testing a single peach told me that they were perfectly ripe right now, and there was just no way that we’d be able to eat all 20 before they went bad… so I decided to take a baker’s dozen and make some peach preserves.
My buddy Google led me to good ol’ Allrecipes.Com for the perfect basic recipe, and after a quick run to the grocery store for a single ingredient, it was off to the races. Pitted ‘em, sliced ‘em, diced ‘em and boiled ‘em all up with some sugar and pectin, and heckfire – I even got fancy and threw in a few slices of crystallized ginger for an extra little taste surprise. Dragged out the refurbished half-pint canning jars from the closet and threw ‘em in some boiling water for a while, and in an hour or two it was all over. 10 jars of peach preserves are cooling in the kitchen right now, as I listen for that distinctive ‘snap’ as the lids signal an airtight seal.
And best of all, I ran out of jars with about a half-pint left, and Lord knows you can’t throw that stuff away… so I’ll just have to have some biscuits tomorrow morning to taste-test this stuff out… quality control and all that nonsense ya’ know!
 
 It just ain’t Independence Day without some BBQ – and I’d been wanting to try one of Ree Drummond’s great sounding recipes for a while… so this year it was Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork for us. We had everything right in the pantry except for the peppers, so a quick run to HEB solved that little dilemma… and I even grabbed a small container of Asian Cole Slaw to adorn the sandwiches.
Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork
- 1 whole Large Onion
- 1 whole Pork Shoulder (“pork Butt”) – 5 To 7 Pounds
- Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1 can (11 Ounce) Chipotle Peppers In Adobo Sauce
- 2 cans Dr. Pepper
- 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
The detail instructions are in the official recipe link above, but in short – throw all this stuff into a dutch oven and cook at 300 for about 6 hours… then shred the meat and put it back in for another half hour. YUMMY!!!!
 For years and years, that lazy morning cup of coffee on weekends just wasn’t complete without a shot or two of Baileys Irish Cream in it. Weekdays were sort of restricted to the unleaded versions like CoffeeMate Hazelnut… until now. While reading through one of my favorite daily blogs (lifehacker), I ran across a recipe for making your own Irish Cream. When I mentioned it to friends at work, they immediately said ‘oh man, there’s nothing like it’… so of course, I had to try it.
My old friend Google let me know that there were any number of recipes out there, ranging from easy-but-good to tougher-but-richer, so I decided to start off with the easy-but-good version. A quick trip to Specs for a bottle of Bushmills Irish Whiskey, and it was off to the racetrack!
Homemade Irish Cream Recipe
- 1 C heavy whipping cream
- 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
- 1 2/3 C Irish whiskey (I used Bushmills)
- 1 t instant coffee
- 2 T Hershey’s chocolate syrup
- 1 t vanilla
- 1 t almond extract
Combine all ingredients in a blender and set on high speed for 30 seconds. Bottle in a tightly sealed container and refrigerate. Shake before using. Will keep for up to 2 months.
This turned out really good, but really strong… and since it made a quart and only lasts a couple of months, I’ll need to force myself to enjoy it every morning to get my moneys worth out of it… oh my! what a sacrifice!
Next time, I’ll try the richer version and see which I enjoy more!
 Some months back, running-wife Angie mentioned that, in her youth, she had participated in the annual Garden of the Gods 10 Miler held in Colorado Springs. Even though she said that it ‘kicked her butt’ 20 years ago, this 1500+/- participant race sounded like the perfect cool-weather weekend-getaway for we triple-digit-temp Texans, so of course I shouted “HECKFIRE! LET’S GO!!”. Thus began 6 months of travel planning, prep work, and training. And, of course, 2 days before our planned departure, we hear that Arizona wildfires have spread their smoke & ash over exactly the area we’re headed for… a Rocky Mountain bummer!
With an eye to getting as much acclimation time as possible prior to Sunday’s race, on Thursday evening, the Matthew Davis Taxi Company took Stephanie/me & Angie/Matt up to IAH for a quick little 2 hour trip to chilly Colorado Springs. The recently mashed-together Continental/United Airlines flew us up in one of their little 70-seater Canadian built ‘regional jets’, something I always enjoy due to the speedier boarding/exiting process and 2×2 seating arrangements. A few chapters read on my Kindle later, and we exit the airport to NICE NICE NICE chilly weather with only a hint of smoke in the air. Then it’s up to iPAD navigating to get our Alamo Rental Tahoe to the hotel.
Voted one of Travel + Leisure Magazine’s “Top 100 Hotels of the World” in 2006, the Cliff House at Pikes Peak was a really great place to stay in downtown Manitou Springs. We checked in at around 11pm and decided that we just had to have a nightcap… so we wandered a block or two away to the Townhouse Lounge for one or two… or six… drinks to start off our mini-vacation. By 1am it was finally beddy-bye-time for Bonzo.
Friday found us up bright-and-early, with plans to spend the day checking out some Colorado scenery via a road-trip to Breckenridge. I was excited, so went walking in search of a coffee-shop by around 7am, but it’s a lazy place and none opened till 8, so I stared at Pike’s Peak for a while and then came back to the Cliff House. We submerged ourselves into the hotel’s breakfast buffet, and a few cups of caffeine later felt ready for the task at hand. Angie’s great, and local, friends Susan & Steve were scheduled to be our tour guides for the day, so once again the iPAD took us right to their house for a hi-and-howareya and lets-get-this-show-on-the-road.
Colorado scenery is just breath-taking, especially for someone like me who was born & raised in the flatlands of southeast Texas, where the only hills are freeway overpasses. Being an avid hiker, Steve is very familiar with the area, and kept up a running narration during the trip. Starting in Manitou Springs at around 6200 feet elevation, we watched the forests and plains go by, along with the occasional Pronghorn Antelope. We stopped at the Forest Service Visitor Center at Wilkerson Pass at around 9500 feet to stretch our legs and check out the great view of Southpark. Then we pushed on to Hoosier Pass at around 11,500 feet to cross the Continental Divide, where we stopped again for a few photos and a snowball or two. When Steve asked if any of us were experiencing any high-altitude problems like headaches or nausea, I had to admit that I was a bit car-sick, but apparently the workaround is simply to drink lots of water, so I started pounding down the bottles and soon felt significantly better. We wandered through some side-streets in Fairplay to see their South Park (the TV show) recreations, and then motored on to Breckenridge.
We were hungry by the time we got to Breckenridge, so we stopped at the Breckenridge Brewery for lunch. Our outdoor seating gave us a great view of the surrounding mountains, and also introduced me to how easy it is to get sunburned without really knowing, as my ever-expanding forehead attested to. Having never snow-skied before, I was curious to see Breckenridge’s famous ski-slopes, so we took a drive up to the ski-lifts and then a little run through Shock Hill to gawk at the beautiful homes. We parked and walked through the downtown area to do some sightseeing and a bit of shopping (I bought some Breckenridge Vodka), then piled back into the Tahoe for the circle-tour through Denver and back to Manitou Springs.
After a brief pause at the hotel to freshen up, the six of us met up again at The Blue Star for supper. Stephanie & Susan had come up with this offering, and we all SURE enjoyed the fruits of their labor. Our appetizers included such items as Flash Fried Calamari, Grilled Queso Blanco, Black Bean Soup, and even Chicken Fried Sweet Breads. We ordered a couple of bottles of awesome 2006 Sequoia Grove Cabernet Sauvignon to toast our get-together. Then we went for the good stuff… like Sesame Scented Ahi Poke, Pan Fried Pot Roast, Banana Leaf Roasted Bacon Steak, and their Steak & Salad specialty. And of course we had to finish things off with items such as their Creme Brulee or The Corleone (Vanilla bean ice cream rolled in graham cracker crumbs, white and dark chocolate, roasted walnuts, pecans & almonds, cinnamon, nutmeg, honey drizzle). After a quick drive home, nobody had room for a nightcap, so we all retired to our rooms with plans for a fun-filled Saturday to come.
Saturday morning bloomed sunny & bright, and we were up and out by 7:30am or so. Susan & Steve had suggested a legendary local dive for breakfast, so we headed over to The Western Omelette, choosing a parking spot just past the Harleys and Classic Cars. These folks are known for their Green & Red sauces, and our waitress ‘Crybaby’ brought us a ‘sampler’ of each so we could taste before ordering. The red was yummy, the mild green even yummier, and the hot green was OMG-THAT-BURNS!!! Angie got the Pony, while the rest of us ordered the Huevos Rancheros… only Matt opted for the hot-green-chile-sauce and we giggled every time he wiped away a tear or asked for more Diet Pepsi! Not really a tourist-trap, even the hotel staff asked ‘How’d you hear about THAT place?’ when we asked for directions. But it was a great great breakfast!
Next we scooted over to Colorado Running Company to pick up our race bibs and event shirts. Of course everyone had to pick up some little last minute item or two, and in the midst of it all, non-runner Steve decided that he’d join us on Sunday for the race, so he signed up on the spot. He’s pretty darned fit and an avid hiker, so nobody thought he’d have much of a problem with the race, although he was far less certain. We chatted with the locals about the run, petted the huge Springer Spaniel outside the door, and headed for the cars (where ONE of us was surprised with a parking ticket).
Stephanie just LOVES animals, so her one request was to visit the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo while we were in town. This turned out to be a real treat for everyone as we wandered through this multi-tiered menagerie. There were tons of Giraffes, and the raised walkway allowed you to feed them lettuce leaves face-to-face… it was a real hoot, and those tongues surely make them the Gene Simmons of the animal kingdom. Some opted to pet the Wallaby when offered, but only Matt zoomed in on the King Snake petting exhibit. After a couple of hours and a couple of miles of walking, we decided it was time for some lunch and a break. So it was off to the nearby Broadmoor Hotel to ogle at the property, take a few photos, and grab a drink and a bite at the outdoor patio. After that we were all pretty much spent, so we headed back to the hotel for a quick nap before our 6pm dinner reservations.
While Steve stayed home to prepare for the next day’s event, Susan joined us for a nice dinner at the Cliff House restaurant in our hotel. We enjoyed dinner on the hotel’s veranda, and the runners sipped on iced-tea while Stephanie & Susan enjoyed another bottle of Sequoia Grove Cab. We actually called Sequoia Grove Winery during dinner to order some for direct-shipment home. Afterwards, some enjoyed the chocolate decadence cake, while some had vanilla bean cheesecake, and I simply drank in the scenery and enjoyed a glass of 20 year old tawny port. Then it was time to crash and burn to get ready for Sunday’s big race.
Angie, Matt, and I met in the hotel lobby on Sunday morning to walk down to the starting line of the 2011 Garden of the Gods 10 Miler. The temperature was only in the upper 40′s, which thrilled us, and Susan & Steve met us there to snap photos and wish each other luck and get/give last minute pointers. The catchphrase for the day was ‘walk up, run down’. We had customized race-shirts made for us with a great GOG logo on the front and on the back “TEXAS ARMADILLOS – IF WE GO TOO SLOW, JUST RUN OVER US”, which drew a lot of smiles and comments from folks. One lady misread the shirt and chatted with Matt about growing up in AMARILLO. A fellow Texan joined us for the start and chatted about his Colorado running experience and his new job in drug rehab… so when the sweet smell of marijuana wafted over the crowd JUST prior to the starting gun, everyone cracked up and he said ‘probably one of MY guys’. Finally the gun sounded and we were off!!
I won’t bore you with all the running details, but I will say that the elevation didn’t affect me all that much, although the mountainous terrain did. The scenery was SO beautiful that I had to stop now and then to grab a snapshot of some majestic landscape or another. Some hills were steep, and all seemed never-ending, but I muddled along, my only goal being to finish before the 9:30am reopening of the park and official end of the race. In the end, Angie finished in 2:02, Steve in 2:16, and me in 2:20. Matt strained his IT Band at around mile 4 and had to walk back, so although he didn’t finish, he did complete 8 miles of the course. His complaints about his sore ass and incessant water intake earned him the nickname of ‘SpongeBob Broke-Butt‘ and he now refers to the course as ‘Brokebutt Mountain‘.
We made it back to the hotel for a quick shower, then checked out and headed to Susan & Steve’s for lunch. Susan had prepared an awesome post-race-recovery brunch full of breads, fruits, and a delicious breakfast casserole with green chiles, and even though I’d have sworn that I wasn’t hungry, I went back for seconds on everything. After eating and taking the nickle tour of their home, we all exchanged hugs and promises to share weekend photos and headed off to the airport. A couple of hours later we were home, where our pups were overjoyed to see us.
This was absolutely a fabulous weekend! I’m actually considering trying to go back next year for this event!!
<for a replay of the run, check out my Garmin Forerunner data at http://connect.garmin.com/player/92026925 >
  Since the 1980′s, Damian’s Cucina Italiana on Smith Street has been one of my favorite dining experiences. I may stray to other neighborhood Italian restaurants for a change of pace, but when the question arises of ‘where’s the best?’, I always direct them to Damian’s. BFF’s Sam & Terrie wanted to celebrate her Mom’s birthday with a nice Italian dinner, and we got invited along since Stephanie is always referred to as the ‘adopted daughter’, and of course – I’m always good to ‘stir the pot’ as they say. Our favorite waiter Benjamin showed us to our table and thus began a truly great dining experience.
The ladies enjoyed their pre-dinner bellini’s, margaritas, and martini’s, but Sam and I went straight for the good stuff. I’m a little familiar with Napa grapes, but when it comes to choosing an Italian wine – I’m a noob. Sam & Terrie, on the other hand, have sat on the terrace at Bellagio overlooking Lake Como and enjoyed more than a bottle or two of good Italian wine, so Sam was tasked with choosing tonight’s red-wine-for-the-boys, and man-oh-man did he come through. His choice was a 2006 Amarone Tommasi and I have to say that it’s truly one of the best wines that I’ve ever been served. It’s definitely on my list of ‘need to add to my cellar’.
Things started out with Insalata Naparst, Asparagus Mike Wells, Lobster Bisque (served in a bread bowl), and Sweet Potato Ravioli. By now the ladies had gone through their liquor warmup exercises and ordered a wonderful bottle of Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio. For entrees, we had the Fra Diavolo Linguine and the Pistachio Crusted Rainbow Trout over Seafood Risotto special. And of course we finished up with Panna Cotta, Chocolate Raspberry Tart, Infusione de Cioccolato, and a bowl of gelato… each paired with a snifter of Limoncello.
Folks, this was definitely one of the best meals I’ve ever had, and the wine topped it all off wonderfully. Benjamin got lots of thanks and pats on the back as we waddled out to our cars, and we’re already trying to figure out when we can come back to enjoy it all again… and if Spec’s has that wine in stock…
 Of our 4 pups, Sage is the hunter. Flies are snatched out of mid-air as they lazily buzz about their little fly-business. Then she patrols the backyard perimeter, in search of intruders. She actually looks ‘up’ and watches the birds land on the fenceline, then stalks through the wild savanna to suddenly spring at them… but of course the cowards always squawk and fly away only inches before she would have devoured them (well, in HER mind).
More recently, she’s found her nemesis… that craven coward of a beast who digs holes to hide from her prying eyes, and yet loudly brags to its friends as soon as she’s out of sight… yes… the dastardly Frog!! In search of her latest enemy, she has to listen carefully to the echoes of its taunting cries, slowly advance on his position, and then dig furiously at the site of her discovery to unearth the little b@stard! I’ve never seen her do much more than fling him into the sky, but By Golly he better be scared next time!!!
The other morning I was in my office beginning my work-day when she padded up to me. I started to pet her head and suddenly realized that she had turned into a chipmunk. Her cheeks were both extended out as if she were hiding pencils in there, but when I prized her jaws open, there was nothing but redness. But man those things were swollen, to the point that it really concerned me. When the vet couldn’t work me in, Stephanie suggested that it might be an allergic reaction to something and suggested Benadryl. Luckily the vet called back a few hours later to alert me to a cancellation, and I ran Sage over to Wilcrest Animal Hospital for a late-in-the-day visit. Dr Wise agreed that something had indeed bitten the inside of her mouth, and that she was obviously having a bad reaction to it. It didn’t appear to be anything TOO bad, as Sage still was still eating, drinking, and playing with the other dogs… but it sure looked bad. So she got a shot, and was sent home with antibiotics and the promise of a follow-up visit in one week. I’m also supposed to give her a couple of Benadryl each day till the symptoms go away.
So whether it was a frog, lizard, spider, wasp, snake, or porcupine… she may have bit it, but it sure bit her back. Hopefully ‘lesson learned’… well, i SAID hopefully!
 BFF Terrie surprised us a few weeks ago with a small decanter of homemade vanilla extract. For us, it was a great gift, and one we’ve already really enjoyed and somewhat depleted. So I decided to try my hand at it ‘Wally Style ‘. So here we go!
OK, so I’m a guy, and although I can’t come up with recipes off the top of my head, I can sure as heck follow one… so off I went to my buddy Google for help… and voila, it introduced me to the nice folks at Instructables
What followed was a search of the cabinets and pantry to see what we had available that might fit the bill for ingredients…
- Amber colored bottles – CHECK
- Bottle stoppers – CHECK
- Liquor – CHECK
- Vanilla beans – uhhhhh, nope
So I looked up the bean experts at Amadeus Vanilla Beans and ordered a small bag of the beasties. These things are really expensive in the grocery store, so buying them online seems a LOT smarter method. I think HEB charges something like $7.50 for a single bean, while I got 10 of the excellent Madagascar variety from Amadeus for only $1 more. A couple of days later and they showed up in our Saturday mailbox.
You can read the Instructable for yourself, but in a nutshell, I thoroughly washed the amber bottles after emptying the original beer-flavored contents into my tummy, sliced the beans lengthwise and scraped out all the caviar, diced the beans into quarters, scraped it all into the bottles, covered it all with some good Bacardi Rum (I chose Rum over Vodka cause, well, I didn’t want to experiment with our precious Kettle One), stuck a nice Zyliss stopper into each bottle and shook them puppies up.
I’ll continue to shake them each day for a week or two, and then taper off to weekly, and give it a try soon. Right now though… sure smells YUMMY to me!
   
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Well it’s the end of another training season, which always culminates with the Houston Marathon, or in my case the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. This was my third time to run this race, and for some reason I always seem to struggle with it. During a 14 mile training run in December, my right knee began to hurt, and a week of rest didn’t really help when I ran 10 miles the following weekend. Xrays didn’t show any problems, so we hoped that a couple of weeks of rest before Aramco would do the trick. So Sunday rolls around, the gun fires, and we’re off in downtown Houston… or in my case we wait 15 minutes for my back-of-the-pack pace group to make it TO the start line along with 26,000 other folks. Things start out fine, but by the time we exit the Elysian Viaduct my knee starts to talk to me. By mile 8 it’s really singing and I begin to fear that I might actually damage something, so I ‘walk it in’ from there. Made me laugh that my finish time (yes I finished the race) this year was the exact same as when I first ran the race two years ago, and yet I had walked 5 miles of the course this time. Guess my pace has improved just a tad over time.
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