Do The Hustle: My Son's First 5K

Me and Bryden with our medals

My son's school (Valley Center) put on a 5K/2 mile/1 mile run today-The Hornet Hustle. I probably should have signed my 8 year old up for the 1 or 2 mile runs, but I decided to stretch him and do the 5K with him. I told him that we needed to pace ourselves, that 3 miles is a long way, and that we could just take it easy and enjoy the day running together. It turned out to be a blast, and he did awesome.

The weather was absolutely perfect for a run. I saw the Running Lawyer, and tons of people I know. We ran on grass the whole way through a park, and it kind of felt like my old high school cross country races. There were about 350 runners between the three events, and maybe 150-ish in the 5K. I am pretty sure that my son was the youngest person running the 5K. He ran really strong, and I'm proud of him. We ran together , talked throughout, and even held hands at various point of the race. It was a really special run. As for time, we hit the 2 mile mark at 20 minutes, but struggled a bit the last mile to finish in 33:30. Not bad for a kid that just turned 8 in June.

Running strong.

This race was put on by his school (Valley Center Hornets) in an effort to not have to do any fundraisers this year (you know, selling popcorn or candles or gift wrap, etc). If they raised enough money through this run, we wouldn't be asked to do any fundraisers. I am hopeful that this run will do the trick.

My son with the webkinz that came in his race packet.

The title of this race reminded me of the old disco song "The Hustle." How can you not love that song? My parents were big into disco dancing back in the day, and they actually won the first disco dance contest in Wichita. (Happy Birthday dad!) Check out this video to learn to "do the hustle."

Giveawy Coming!!

Yes, it's round 2 for a CSN Giveaway! In case you haven't heard of them, they have a gazillion products from everything from a Coffee Maker , to luggage, to exercise equipment (tons of yoga and strength training items), to bird cages. You name it, they probably have it. Check it out - CSN. I'll try to post this little giveaway in the next week. Stay tuned.

Running and Riding

My wife and I celebrate 14 years of marriage this week. To celebrate we had a great date night Friday night. We used a gift certificate that I won in a golf tournament to stay downtown and went to dinner and then to Mosely Street Melodrama, right across the street from our hotel. This is one of our favorite places, they have really funny shows. We had a great time.

Our hotel room overlooked an open square that is home to a Farm and Art market each Saturday, so when I woke up early I strolled through it on the way to my run.

I was able to run about 4 miles all around downtown, which is a place I don't get to run very often. I ran by the new Arena, by the River, and all throughout downtown. My path would have looked pretty crazy, like a wild Etch-a-Sketch. I ran down one way streets and alleyways and through parking lots and around buildings. I was exploring as much as I was running. I did also happen to find quite a few can tabs , and I realized later why there were so many empty beer cans littered everywhere--Rush was in concert the night before.

It was a fun run, and a great little anniversary getaway into the heart of the city.

Today I got up and went for a bike ride. I just went about 7 miles because I didn't have much time, but it was a good ride. I did notice that on a bike you stay cooler because of the breeze created by riding faster. Since I don't run that fast, this heat has been brutal to deal with. I had a buddy contact me that did a duathlon over the weekend, and he wanted to see if I am interested in doing one with him, so I am looking into that. I think it sounds fun. I've got a 5K with my 8 year old this coming weekend--the Hornet Hustle--and I am really looking forward to doing that with my son.

Girls Will Be Boys and Boys Will Be Girls

Harvard Sailing Team does some funny stuff....with football season upon us, I thought these were pretty good....Enjoy

The Visor King

Here are four new visors I got from Headsweats . They have really good running hats and visors. Since I love bargains, I got these in the Outlet Store, and it was a "Grab Bag" of visors. I didn't know what they would look like, but I like them all. There is a Joint Juice visor, a Clif Shots visor, a Phoenix Triathlon visor, and I'm not sure what the fourth one is, the white and blue stripe one with a red/yellow "C." If anyone knows what that logo is, feel free to fill me in.

Anyway, I love visors, and have quite the collection now:

My wife says I have too many, but I say you can never have too many good visors. ( ;

My New "Old" Bike

Fuji S12-S LTD

I have been wanting to get a bike for awhile now to be able to do some cross training (something I did none of my first year of running, which I believe led to injuries). I checked out some bike stores, looked around online, did some research, talked to some friends, etc, etc.

I pretty much knew what I wanted--a 5 to 10 yr old road bike for under $400. And I didn't want a cheap bike either. I didn't need to get top of the line, but I wanted to get bike that I would want to ride. Bike shops were selling bikes of this variety starting at $800. Bikesdirect.com had some nice bikes (albeit no-name brands) for about $500. Still above my price range. So, I resorted to Craigslist, and after looking for a couple months, I found one. Even though it wasn't exactly what I wanted, it was still a very nice bike.

I got an early 1980's Fuji S12 S LTD. Back when it was made, it was about second from the top of the Fuji line for road bikes. In researching it I found that some people have ridden this bike across the country multiple times, and that it is a very dependable bike.

The people I got it from bought it new in 1985 and have kept it in mint condition. It seriously looked brand new. They kept it inside their house, and the man said he hasn't ridden it in about 3 years. It rides really nice, and is pretty light, maybe a pound or two heavier than a new road bike, which isn't bad considering its age. Looking at this bike, it is hard to tell that it is 25 years old. The components are really good on it too.

The bike looked like it just rolled off the factory floor.

Here are some specs:

Model S12 S-LTD, Black in color, Chrome-Molly Double Budded Frame, 12 Speeds, Type 331 tubing construction. ( has to do with the grade and thickness ), Bar Con Shifters (these are a little odd, the shifters are at the end of the handle bars-see pic below), new handle grips, Avocet Seat (the only thing not original), Extras added by the seller --- Mile counter on the front wheel, Seat bag, Light on front

Barcon bar-end shifters. Apparently they are more reliable than standard shifters.

The best part of this deal was the price -- $150. I'm a bargain shopper, so I love getting good deals, and I think this was a great deal. It is a nice bike that I will enjoy riding, and it is a good starter bike for me. If I get more serious about biking and want to take it to the next level, I can always spend more money for a nicer bike. Until then, I'm very happy with my find. It's older than I planned but it doesn't feel like an old bike, if that makes sense.

Something else this bike had that I hadn't seen before was a sticker-protector for the tire/tube. See the little mechanism to the right of the fork in the picture below? That is there to catch any stickers that you ride over and scrape them off before you roll over them again. Pretty ingenious, I thought.

The sticker protector (or whatever it's called)

I've been in Arkansas, so thus far I've only ridden it twice, but it rides really great. Looking forward to putting many more miles on this baby!

Plug for Prairie Fire

This past Sunday I was able to attend the Wichita Open, a Nationwide golf tournament. I had an absolute blast and saw some great golf, despite the 100 degree temperatures.

While there, I was sitting next to a man wearing a "Prairie Fire Marathon" shirt, and struck up a conversation with him. He said he was the owner of the marathon, which is having it's innagural race on 10/10/10. It was interesting hearing from him all the work that goes into planning an event like this. Truly a remarkable feat that takes tons of coordination and lots of volunteers.

Here are a few details: This race will replace the former Wichita Marathon, and will feature a full, half, 5K, and fun run. It will start at the Hyatt downtown area and wind through the city, through the College Hill and Eastborough neighborhoods, and feature 13 live bands playing on the course. There will also be a pasta dinner the night before. Much of this information is on their website if you are interested. He said they have to coordinate blocking off like 247 intersections. Wow.

As he was talking, I was getting excited, thinking, "hey I could do the half, this sounds like a fun race," only to learn later when I got home that I have my cousin's wedding that conflicts that weekend. Anyway, I hope this race is a success in it's first year and if you're looking for a midwest marathon in October, take a look at this one. He said he was hoping for 500 racers in the marathon and 1000 for the half. Interestingly, as we were talking, he was getting online entries popping up on his blackberry. "Just got another entry, a man from Arizona doing the half," he'd say as he showed me his phone. Gotta love technology.

In other news, I got a bike over the weekend. More to come on that later.

Winding Down Summer

I can't believe my boys start school next Friday, less than a week away. Where has the summer gone?? It has been a pretty fun (and hot) summer, with a lot of fun family time together, but I think the boys are ready to get back to being with their friends all day again.

I was thinking back on this summer on some of the things we've done:

Silver Dollar City, Ripley's Believe it or Not, Rock River Rapids water park (twice), 4th of July parade and city party, Drive in Movie theater (twice), swimming at the local pool (too many times to count), Pinks all Out, Arkansas trip, VBS, Wingnuts baseball game, Naturals baseball game (minor league), coaching my youngest son's baseball team, an art class for my oldest, and on and on and on.

One of my favorite things we've started doing is taking evening walks together, about 3 times a week. We have a 2.5 mile loop that we go on that has a park along the way where my kids like to play. We have been trying to encourage healthy eating and exercise for all of us, and that is a part of the routine.

I ran 5 miles this morning, another can tab run , so it was nice and easy pace. I also found a roll of duct tape, that I added to my workshop. woo-hoo. You never know what you'll find by the side of the road.

Keep running long!

Jamba Juice Cheeseburger Chill Smoothie

I love Jamba Juice's response to burger places getting into the smoothie business. Great video, very well produced and believable. They look as gross as they sound, but heck, I'd try one.

The new Evil Kenevil...

About a mile from our house is a Harley Davidson dealership, and this past weekend they had their 5th anniversary party, featuring a motorcycle daredevil named Bubba Blackwell.

Little did I know that Bubba Blackwell has set two world records with jumps over vehicles. He broke Evil Kevevil's records for jumps over cars and buses (20 cars/15 buses). The first time it was 18 and the next time it was 20. Then in 2001 he tried to break his own record with 22 cars and came up short. He had a bad crash, broke many bones, and many thought he would never jump again. But, he is back, and still jumping. We saw him jump over 11 trucks, not a record, but it was still a fun time.

my son in front of the motorcycle he wants...

Bubba after his successful jump...

getting ready to jump...

doing some wheelies for the crowd...

Running Update

It has been way too hot to run lately. Yesterday was 109 (a record high) and it was the 5th straight day of temps in the triple digits. I am planning on doing the Hornet Hustle 5K at the end of the month though, so I need to get out soon for some conditioning runs. This race is put on by my son's school and they are doing this to try to raise money so that the kids don't have to do fundraisers during the school year. I am all for that.

Hood To Coast Movie

Have you all heard about the Hood to Coast documentary movie that should be coming out this fall? It looks pretty good....check out the trailer:

Hood To Coast Trailer from HoodToCoastMovie on Vimeo.

You can also go to the website and put a request in to have it come to a theater near you.

$50 CSN Winner!

Using Random Number Generator, the lucky number was #50, which means that new follower Karen has won the $50 to CSN Stores. Karen, send me your email address and I'll pass it on to CSN to get you the prize.

Congrats!