Mid-Week Report (Updated Thursday...)

Took in a little Monday Night Football (Bodunklivar style) as Bolivar HS beat on Hillcrest 28-0. BHS plays Webb City Saturday (at SBU) Saturday afternoon in the state quarter finals. Jake spent the evening 'studying' with a certain someone; I find it interesting that the two of them aren't taking the same class, but yet they 'study' together.

Tuesday Ira and I knocked out a nice 45 minute run in the AM as the weather continues to be perfectly coolish in the mornings and mild in the afternoons. Spent a little time with Coach Bandy going over trail race details for this weekend. We are getting more and more feedback of runners intent on showing up. We have no idea how many to expect, but will be thrilled with 50 for a first-time event.

Basketball was on the agenda for lunch yesterday and once again I sucked into an 'interval' session as several of the ex-players from SBU was in attendance and the intensity/speed of the game always increases. 1:30hrs later I was trashed (no bike intervals this Wednesday - will push to Thursday since don't race until Sunday).

Tuesday Deb and Marla knocked out an hour walk after work while Ian and I had basketball practice. My kids are really getting into the flow and looking sharper every time on the court. E had a couple sick passes last night; unlike Crusty hopping off a berm, Ian truly has SKILLZ. We have a game this Saturday in SPR and will look to improve on our 3-1 record.

After practice we all dove into some of the best home-made chicken and noodle soup Deb has ever made! Afterwards I addressed some well needed bike maintenance issues ('cross, mtb, and Deb's rig). Later Ian snugged into bed while Jake, Deb, and I caught up on some Monday night 'shows'.

I am heading down to Sac River Trails this afternoon for some mtb'ing while firming up the 5 mile loop for this weekend's trail race. Trip to Sac was a success. Took the mtb and cruised the course numerous times at a moderate pace. Sac is a fun place to ride/run as long as you don't do it ALL THE TIME (then it simply gets mind numbing) and I probably hit it once every two months so still in the 'fun' range for me. Was able to mark 1/2 of the course (yes, all those orange streamers tied to trees are mine) before I ran out of materials. Ran into a couple runners who knew nothing of the Saturday race and they said it sounded like fun and they would be there (play, work, and recruiting/promoting all at the same time). Heading back down Friday afternoon to finish it up. It is amazing how fast it gets dark now.

After Sac I headed over to chat with the good folks at the Starting Block (key contributor of our race this weekend). Eric had 14 pre-registrations and a bunch of awards to give out (free shoes, Nathan trail water bottle packs, and $10 gift certificates). Trail running is a different bird from road races when it comes to awards. At most trail events there is usually a memorabilia award to the top two or three (of course only top 2 at SwampStomper since I got 3rd) overall and nothing else; that's absolutely normal for trail running, but roadies want something for every division/distance..., so this weekend's event is a little mix of both worlds. Eric and I looked at this weekend's run calendar and now there are like 5 different area running events going on (a couple months ago when we posted it there was only us and one other), but we are the only 'trail race' in town and hopefully folks are looking for something different. Eric seemed to think we will do pretty well and estimated anywhere from 75 to 100 (we were and still are shooting for 50).

I gave coach a call on my way home and he reported receipt of 20 or so pre-registrations (up to 35 so far) and the bulk of folks he knows (and I) will be race-day registrations; so who knows with how many we'll end up (good problem to have). During our conversation coach reported that Jake was selected/voted to 2nd Team All-District Cross Country (sweet!).

Got home in time to watch a little Cavs .vs. Magic with Ian before bedtime. It was a struggle as UNC was playing on a different channel, but in the end he stuck with the Cavs. Shared the All-District news with Jake and a light smile broke across his face along with a hug for me (bonus for dad). It was well deserved for a good season of dedication and hard work.

Ira and I are hitting some intervals on the SBU XC course at noon today.