Race results

I did it. I participated in the 2006 Mackinac Island Great Turtle 5.7 mile trail run. I was able to run the entire way. I finished within my goal times. I finished in the top 10 from my age group. Here's my stat line from the website: 9 110 Paul Weaver Remus 53:03 9:19. The first number is my place in my age group. The second is my overall place. The third number is my time and the 4th is my pace. The race started at the Mission Point resort and started uphill. Really uphill. We went up a big steep hill and at the top the view was great. You could see some of the island and the resort and see the water. There were some really cool houses at the top of the hill. After that though, we disappeared into the woods. There was great views of trees and more trees. There were uphill parts and downhill parts and then there was a mile that was pretty much all downhill. After that mile we came out on the shoreline. The view there was cool for a couple of seconds and then I was too tired too enjoy it anymore. I slowed down for the last mile before finishing in a sprint trying to beat the guy in the second picture. I didn't beat him. He's also the guy in the first picture. He's the guy I ran with when I was training. We were pretty evenly matched. I wonder what my time would have been if I hadn't had the hamstring injury. We had a good time walking around the island, hanging out with family, playing in the indoor waterpark at the hotel, and just being away for a couple of days. These are before and at the end photos. I'm loving the guy in the hair and hat. I wonder if I could be him for Halloween.

The waterpark at the hotel in Mackinaw

I had some problems with the lens fogging over.

Man I love even a mini-vacation.

Running update

The race is just days away. I'm a little nervous. I'm pumped about the 3 day weekend though. I'm leaving Thursday and coming back Saturday. I ran the distance of the race last Friday and did ok. One of the toughest things about my hamstring injury is learning pacing again. I either go too fast and wear myself out or go too slow and have plenty of energy left at the end. I'm looking forward to having a milkshake after the race. Steph won't let me have one until afterwards.

"I'm going to Carolina in my mind"

This is what it's like here in Remus Michigan.

Next month we go to Myrtle Beach where the November average is 69 degrees.

NBA talk

I love the NBA. Preseason started yesterday. I watched some of one of the games. There are a couple of preseason issues I like and I couple I don't like.

First, the Pacers. Stinking Stephen Jackson. You want to be a leader and you've got 3 other players out to 3 in the morning at a strip club? There's marijuana in the car. And you get in a fight. Man I wish the Pacers would get rid of this guy. Hint to Larry, you waited too long to get rid of Ron, learn from your mistake. Oh and if you didn't hear, Jackson didn't fulfill his probation requirements so he has another year. Stand up guy right there.

Speaking of Artest, I'll give you a couple of recent Ron quotes. "When the Pacers gave me $6 mil a year, I was grateful for the money and I thank (GM) Donnie Walsh, but I wasn't getting what I deserved. I should've been getting $14-15 million, so I never wanted to give them that extra $9 mil. That extra nine is my mind and leadership. Sometimes I felt I was giving too much. I mean, I was an All-Star and Defensive Player of the Year, but I never wanted to give them an MVP-type season because they didn't treat me like one." Forget the rest of the quotes. I can't stomach anymore.

Here's what I like. Sorry Pistons fans, the NBA is cracking down on the whining. You can no longer curse, throw your hands up, or make other gestures that show disgust. Everyone knows that this is aimed at Rasheed. But it's good for the game. These outbursts, from any player, are just disgusting and wrong. I wonder if this includes Sheed's "Ball don't lie" shouts after a missed free throw? I hope they encourage Prince to leave his wings down after a foul call.

How long would you wait?

Let's say you crash your car in the middle of the night. You break your leg and lose consciousness. When you awake you are still in your car and you are 30 feet from the road in some bushes. You are diabetic. You can reach your insulin and some crackers. How long do you wait before you try to get back to the road?

This happened to a guy. He waited 4 days. No way am I waiting that long. I need my food and lemonade.

Some of the places I run past

I promised some running pictures and I'm finally delivering. Here's a few.

This is Anna Moore. She's the two mile mark.

This is Paul's place. He's the three mile mark.

This is an old place in Millbrook I've run past. I've been told it was the old train station. It made me laugh.

Here's the close up.

How can we compete with this?

This church is a half mile away form ours.


You get the sin and the scarlet letter all in one stop. And $200 OBO, come on at prices like that sheesh.

I'm bummed

Our church last year started a Young Adults group. This group really expects me to be a part of it. Their group goes from just out of high school and up to I don't know, we have people pretty close to being in their 40s in it. They had scheduled a scavenger hunt for this Saturday. I had an opportunity to go to the Notre Dame Stanford game. So I called on Tuesday to make sure they were doing it before I gave the tickets up. They reassured me that it would go on. So I gave the tickets up. Last night after 9 I got a call. The event has been postponed to November 4th.

Ugh.

Ronan Tynan

Ah the fall. I love football. I love the cooler weather. I actually enjoy watching playoff baseball. I watch the Yankees and the Astros. This year the Astros just missed. So it's just the Yankees. I'm the worst kind of Yankees fan. I only watch the postseason and if they are playing the Red Sox. I despise all Boston teams. So cheering for the Yankees is perfect.

Even if you aren't a baseball fan you need to check out the 7th inning stretch sometime to hear Ronan Tynan sing "God Bless America". He's good stuff, and he's Irish, and he has a great set of ears. Go Irish!

More John L. Smith

The man, the myth, the crazy weirdo. Another example of his coaching genius this last week. Did you see them lose to Illinois? After the game there was a fight at midfield because the MSU players were defending against a flag plant. They should know that the best way to defend against this is to win. In the postgame interview, John L. showed that he hasn't yet moved past the ND game. Check out this short little video. Right after he slapped himself he said "and I got slapped".