Couple of things before you hit play on my latest and greatest video. First off, I am still trying to determine what’s going on with my dontations to my fundraising. The reason for my consern is that my folks donated and it still hasn’t shown up on my scrolling donation meter on the MS site. Not good. I have changed the way the links are done on my site, youtube and on facebook. Hopefully this will prevent any problems in the future.
Also a word about the videos. There is no script. There is no multiple takes. I often don’t get a chance to review the clips after I have recorded them. The main reason being that the pocket picture camera I use, has a VERY old battery. It doesn’t last very long. If I was reviewing all the clips I took, it would be dead before I made it out to the bike ride! (This is being corrected as I type, I bought two new batteries off of Amazon!)
I want to give a shout out to my good friend Mike Collings, who made it out and rode with me. He’s the guy I rode with the first time and did many training rides with over these last couple of years. Our conversations about real life, work and biking have made it made it worth all the while. He may not be the fastest out there, but he sure is the funniest and best damn rider friend to have out there!
And remember folks, I ride because people with MS can’t. The money you donate to my page, goes to developing research to finding a cure to beat MS. Give what you can, and I’ll keep riding!
Feb 18th, 2010
by Eric.
Comments are off for this post
I’m going to disclose a little secret here, I on a girlie email list. Not cause I’m really interested in getting the best deal on purses, the latest fashion trends or nail salon specials, but because they also have openings and preview openings of cool places to go. Well they really delivered with this one.
Location is Mid town, right on the Main street area where you can see the rail line. Parking is in the back. Pretty easy to get to, with website has directions to get there from most directions. (Link is at the bottom.)
After seeing the mini write up in the girlie email blast, I made plans with a friend and her husband to meet me out there on a wednesday for a couple of drinks. Not a happy hour night, but the email blast did give me a secret password to get a special price on the drink of the month: the Debutante made by the bar manager Alexis Casanova. Sweat tea vodka, peach schnapps, ginger juice, sour, and soda. $5 for the month of Feb if you say Tidbits. Don’t worry the sweet talkative and attentive Alexis will totally take care of your drinking needs.
But really the place is all about the LAMPS. You see, they have hundreds of reproduction tiffany lamp shades hanging from the ceiling and all around. It is gorgeous. I didn’t bring a camera, so these blurry cell phone camera pics will do for now.
Ceiling lamp closeup.
Side area.
Main area.
I did go back for a second drink, only this time I got a traditional martini, Bombay with Lillet and olives. Clean. Alexis was a doll and suggested the Lillet when she detected what a picky martini drinker I am. It was my first time using Lillet as a vermouth. I wasn’t disappointed. Delicious and very clean/neat.
Will be heading back to this place with my camera&tripod for more shots. Do stop by if you get a chance. The interior decorations are beautiful and well worth the visit. Be sure to check out the web site for more photos as well as a schedule for special events on certain days. The Tuesday Mazzy Star music night looks to be killer cool…
Feb 18th, 2010
by Eric.
Comments are off for this post
Well in the last month I have revisited Lola’s on two different visits. Each time with different people and at different times. Once at dinner and one during the breakfast brunch (early). Both with success.
On my second visit, I went to meet up with a friend I hadn’t seen in a long time. We spent a lot of time talking. That doesn’t mean I didn’t pay attention to my burger. The Lola Burger. 100% cerified angus, cheddar cheese, greens, tomato & pickle. Along with an order of salad. $10.
The Lola Burger with salad option.
My friend got the Aloha Chicken that is a teriyaki glazed chicken, swiss cheese, bacon and pinapple burgerwich. He got fries wid dat for $10 as well.
The Aloha Chicken with fries.
Both were excellent and delicious.
On my third visit, I was there on a sunday morning around 8am. This was just before the “Sunday Crush” there. Again I met up with a friend for a last minute brunch. We were not disappointed. I had heard about a comparison of waffle and chicken competition between The Breakfast Klub, Lola’s and another place, which I’ve forgotten. Lola’s came out on top. Take a look:
Fruit waffle and chicken with natural cased sausage.
My friend got theirs with the apple bacon which they liked. My sausage was nothing inspired. But my house seasoned chicken breast was outstanding. Flavorful and moist. I had a hard time not eating it all. This is a big plate with a lot of food. My waffle came out warm and perfectly done. Personally I had kinda wished for more fruit, but was just fine the way it was. Well worth the $12, especially since I had take home leftovers.
After having been to Lola’s now three times, I can say, great place to go. I’ll be back!
Feb 16th, 2010
by Eric.
Comments are off for this post
Hey everyone! Here is the latest video of my training rides. You will notice that #5 is missing. This is intention. I’m still working on it. It’s going to be quite a different video than these. Stay tuned. In the mean time, here is Feb 13th, 2010 Training Ride #6:
Just a few things to add: My watch/GPS said I did 48 miles, while the map was 46 miles. I did ride with a friend and her father for almost the entire route. It was nice to not have to ride alone! At one of the rest stops, I had stepped in some standing water which got my shoe covers wet. (Which I found out about later) This was a major reason why my feet were cold for most of the ride! Argh! For those that are interested, below is the map that they give us. I’ve modified it a little to fit here, but you get the idea.
After the ride, I met up with some of my team mates Bayou City Outdoors at a near by Chili’s to warm up and fill out tummies with some grub. It was good to see that I wasn’t the only one who struggled with the cold that day!
About the video. My knowledge of Final Cut Express is coming along. I am realizing the limitations of my “camera” that I’m using. I am using a pocket camera on VIDEO mode. The camera is 3 years old and there for the battery gives out much earlier than it should! For instance: I really wanted to video the entire road trip out to the location and was then going to speed it up in Final Cut, but if I had done that, the battery would have been dead for the bike ride! Also it is kinda hard to remember to VIDEO stuff! I’m supposed to be training! Lol!!! Oh well, I’m giving it my best shot and I’m having fun while doing it.
Please, don’t forget to donate to my MS150 fund. The money goes to raising funds for research to help find a cure for MS. I ride because those who have MS, can’t. All these videos, all these training rides, the big ride in April, it’s not about me. None of this is. It is about raising money to find a cure. Help out and donate. Thank you!
Jan 31st, 2010
by Eric.
Comments are off for this post
Well it’s my first official training for the MS150 for 2010! Unfortunately I was not able to go out with the riding group and get it done. I had a very busy day full of things that couldn’t wait, so I got up extra early and biked at home on the trainer.
I was very excited! Bwhahaha! Hopefully my “video” presence will improve!
Remember I need your donations to help me to raise money to help find a cure for MS. Please go to my donate page and give what you can! Thank you so much!
Jan 24th, 2010
by Eric.
Comments are off for this post
1.) In the morning went to my folks to get ready to take them to the airport for their trip. Helped them out by taking their cat to the vet for boarding. Was taking “Sammy” out of the car into the vet when I noticed the vet technicians bolting out of the vet building carrying a stretcher. They rushed out over to a SUV an popped open the back where a man in a runner outfit was covered in blood. They pulled out a dog covered in blood and not moving. They loaded it on the stretcher and sprinted inside. It immediately shook me. I started crying immediately and told the runner guy covered in blood, “I’m so sorry!”. It was overwhelming. I just stood there in the parking lot for several minutes just crying and feeling the shock and pain of the poor animal. Once I made it inside it was clear that everyone that works at the vet were shocked. Turns out the animal and owners were customers of the vet and had been for many years. Even more sad.
2.) As I was leaving the vet, I was exiting the parking lot out onto the main street/throughfare and I noticed that there was a major, MAJOR accident just up the street in the opposite direction I was going. THREE ambulances and a fire truck at the stop light just up the road. I have no idea what was going on, but the entire lane of the traffic was stopped.
3.) When I got home and relayed the events to my parents, my mother mentioned to me that my sister, two days prior, had lost one of her three dogs from getting hit by a car. Something to the effect of, she had let him outside and he got in the street and got hit by a car.
4.) I was at my place and was conveying the above three events to a close friend when she commented about a book I was reading that was open on the coffee table infront of us as I was talking. I was like, “What about the book?” And she said, look what the page is talking about:
Chart about Death
5.) Me and my friend, later on when to the Asian Market Restaurant and had dinner. When we got out of the store and walked to the car, parked next to me was a hearse vehicle!
I’m not going to try and pretend to understand what this all means. I’m just going to say, I noticed. It is what it is. That being said…my new friend has me feeling more “alive” than I have been in the last 4 years. She’s rocking my universe!
Jan 21st, 2010
by Eric.
Comments are off for this post
Now I’ve done three marathons. Two completed, one DNF. (Did not finish) With this last year I was an assistant coach for the Yellow running group for Houston FIT. I’ve had some good experiences with this adventure. The adventure of running a marathon. I’ve come to realize that it is NOT just about the day in which you run the marathon. It is that cliché that they use…it’s about the journey. It is about getting up early on saturday mornings. It’s about making sure you go to bed early on friday night. it’s about being aware of what you eat. it’s about begin dedicated to sticking to the training program, whether you run solo, with a partner or with a group. It is about sacrifice of your free time. But it is also about getting to know your body, through the pain and the growth. I initially started running to meet people and get in better shape. Well I can say now that I’ve done both. I’m in some of the best shape of my life and I have made lots of friends and good acquaintances. I’ve also enjoyed the responsibility of being someone that new people can come and ask questions.
But, I’m not compelled. I’m not compelled to run a marathon in every state. Not compelled to run the legendary Boston or NYC marathons. Or run one on each continent. I improved SIGNIFICANTLY this year over last which is amazing. I do believe I have more room for even more improvement, maybe not as much, but more than just a 5 minute improvement. So for next year, I’m aiming for a sub 4 hr marathon. At this time, I’m not sure I’ll continue to run marathons after that. Because, I’m questioning do I want marathoning to be part of my identity? Is it what I want to spend my free time doing? Planning my vacations around? I can answer both of those with a solid “no”. I know I won’t stop running or doing things to keep healthy, far from it. I just don’t believe that “marathoner” is MY identity. The reason I want to do “just one more” is because I believe that I am almost at the cusp of a maximum level of physical fitness. I want to go there. I believe that many people reach that cusp and then are forever trying to improve and spend a lot of time chasing that improvement. I KNOW I have the room for another large leap of improvement. I want to do that and then move on to the “next” thing. Whatever that may be I don’t know exactly. It won’t be something more harder physically, like a triathlon or ultra run – no cause thats just more of the same training. I’m looking to find something that is more my identity that I can pour my time into. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see where that leads!
Jan 18th, 2010
by Eric.
Comments are off for this post
Yesterday I participated in the Houston 2010 Cheveron Marathon. My third time for Houston. I did pretty well and improved my time significantly over last years time.
2009 – 5hrs 17min
2010 – 4hrs 23min
Not bad eh? That’s a P.R.* in my book! This year’s marathon differed from the two prior in several ways. One of the main differences was my ability to have brought more “awareness” of myself, the run and my surroundings more than I have in the past.
It is without a doubt that my awareness has been heightened lately, partly because of a refocusing on it as witnessed with the latest blog posts here, as well as the recent interactions I’ve been having with my parents and a very nice new young lady I have recently meet. These exposures have been leading to more insight, which I am working out here on the blog.
So what did I noticed this year on the run?
The start song to the second wave was Iron Maiden’s Run To The Hills. Totally rockin’ song, but totally not the best song to start with, except for the lyric refrain of “Run toooo the Hilllllllllllllllllllllllllllls! Run foooor your LIIIIIIFE!” The song is actually about Native American’s attacking the white settlers. Maybe they were referring to a revival of the KARANKAWA INDIANS to the area?
I was MUCH closer to the start line than I have been in years past. I had expected to take up to 20 mins from gun start to actually crossing the start line! Not so this year, it only took 2 mins.
I was witness to 1 person falling and saw one person already downed. Plus I heard several ambulances AND ran by a patrol officer calling in another! Wow. It was a lot of accidents for perfect running conditions.
Starting closer up to the front had me placed in with lots more people around me while running. This was good and bad. Bad: all the people irritated me. Not at first, but it did get irritating after a while. Especially since I could get my actual run pace at the beginning of the race. I was REALLY looking forward to the Half Marathoner’s turnaround point so the crowd would THIN out. Not so much, because I was running much faster than years prior AND I had started much closer to the start line, I was in the PACK of people. I think the prior years I was so much slower I was simply among the last of the runners! In short, it wasn’t til much further in the race, past the 13 mile mark, did it “thin” out from the people. The Good: Having that many people in the beginning, actually kept me from starting TOO fast in the race. This ends up assisting me to have the negative split for the race. First half run slower than the later half. I enjoy thinking of myself as the “negative splits man”
I really need to remember, use bathroom before starting the marathon. I don’t think I need to say anything else about this.
It was really great seeing many of the coaches & assistant coaches and friends from HoustonFIT Yellow group out along the course. Running with them or having them cheer me on, friends help out alot! This of course goes without saying how wonderful and supportive it is having my support team of my Mom and Dad out on the course meeting me at the designated meet up spots. They rocked it for me.
5 G.U.’s and a little bit of some sticky nut trail mix, doesn’t make for a good fuel on the course. BUT I did participate in the weigh in prior to the race and then weighed after the race. Only lost 2 lbs! I must have been doing SOMETHING right!
I ran this race quite solo. My “training” partner of two years, didn’t run this year and I never really buddied up with anyone from the training group. It was quite lonesome there at the starting line. But it was good. I was focused on “what am I doing” mentally. Still stark comparison from years prior. I wasn’t even with the Yellow group. I think they were behind me at the start line. I dunno, just that I started the race “alone” this year. Not a bad thing, but I definitely noticed it. I think that this was a major reason I was able to notice all these things this year. Not too many distractions.
Speaking of distractions, I was totally expecting to be preoccupied in my thinking about a person, but ended up not as much. Partly to the forcing of my surroundings, but also because of an article I had read the night before about Managing Stress Through Mindfulness by Catherine R. Barber, PhD. In the article it talked about being in the present moment with the activity at hand. Maybe it’s because I was running, but it was actually kinda hard to be lost in my thoughts outside of the marathon! 4 1/2 hrs of mindfulness!
I noticed when I really “dropped the hammer” on the running around mile 18. My vision focused and I became much more singleminded about my running form. I began to take more much narrowed attention to my actual running. People around me had less focus, although it was during these last 8 miles I saw the most people I know!
All in all, juicy stuff. Certainly a memorable Marathon. I am certainly thinking about running it again. But after that, I’m not so sure. I feel like I have a sub 4 hr marathon in me. With a running program that carries me through out ALL year long, I’m sure that next year this will be possible, bar any accidents or injuries. The question is, after that, what next? I don’t think the next level of physical challenge is what I will really be looking for. Not sure where this will lead me.
Jan 15th, 2010
by Eric.
Comments are off for this post
Today is the 5th day of not sitting in front of the computer eating breakfast and reading blogs/news. While I do miss the news, my initial thought of “what will I do?” quickly passed when I realized that there was quite a bit going on up there in my noggin!
Today I was thinking and working on extending my todo list that I posted previously. But I wasn’t really consciously “sitting” with it. I had actually awoken up earlier this morning, laying in bed thinking of something else. The notion of conflict between the emotional excitement and expression of that vs feeling that emotion and then rationally, calmly expressing it. Dunno if that is exactly what I’m feeling, but I think with continued writing, hopefully it’s full idea will be come manifest.
So. Excitement. It’s been bubbling forth with me lately. Giddy. A sense of young childish like excitement and wonderment. Silliness. It seems like a good thing. Keeping in touch with the young side my life. Keeping a connection with the emotive, feeling it express itself. A almost letting go, so to speak of control. No…more like a feeling of aliveness. Sometimes solitude and responsibilities can have a sobering effect on the disposition. it’s not like I don’t have activites that don’t bring me some sort of enjoyment or happiness, it just seems like there has been a lack of emotional intensity of awakefulness? Joy? hmmm…not sure exactly, but something. But it’s here right now for me. I feel it every morning when I get up, while I’m driving, at work… Just in my being as of late.
The thing that concerns me about this state is the unfilteredness of it. Just because I feel it, and let it “wash” over me, doesn’t mean others around me “get it”. I feel a little self conscious about the expression at times of these emotions. I’m kinda wondering how much of the expression is too much of an unfiltered emotional response. Is it impulsive? I am I just expressing cause it feels good? Is there some other “story” behind the expressing that’s motivating me to doing it? Lets see…
Clearly lately there HAS been an influence that has jump started this. Namely the activity of dating again. Joining the online dating site and meeting new people. I know that I am a person who is very receptive to meeting new people and that my personal energy is recharged with interaction with people. While I like my time alone, I realize that I NEED interaction with people. They bring me energy that I need. There is also the excitement of meeting someone new and a possible new girlfriend. Yes that is exciting. Having been single for a while now, the prospect of finding a new girlfriend IS exciting. Well that seems normal. What else…
The interactions with the dates have been fruitful. One in particular has jumped started conversations with myself about what’s going on upstairs. There has been a refocusing of awareness that I haven’t been paying as much attention to. The activity upstairs has brought about the excitement. Looking at the issues that have become apparent has been interesting as well as exciting. The discovery of them, looking at them, writing about them, and even working on them, has been EXCITING! And very positive.
I think that maybe I’m a little unused to having this much fun positive excitement about myself. Ohhhhh…now that statement kinda rung true. Hmmm. More fat to be chewed. I love it.
