1/2 Marathon is here!

Here we go race fans… it is almost that day, and we are happy to be done training!  Below are some links and information about the event on Sunday.

• A map of the course – Google Maps mashed up with the race course
• Another map of the course – PDF w/ cheering sections highlighted (remember we are only doing the half)
• Link to main race website

The race is scheduled to start at 7am (we will send an update on Saturday if we hear different), and we will cross the finish line a wee bit before 9am (optimistically) – we’ve been training for a 9 minute mile.

For those that cannot make it to the race at 7am there is (geek heaven) an online tracking system that shows our progress throughout the course.  Technical info:  We will be wearing RFID tags and as we cross certain points in the race they will update their live race map.  Here is the link

Wish us luck – here we go

James

Crown Molding – Done!

This weekend we decided Crown Molding in the first floor bathroom would really enhance its look and feel.  It also made it consistent with the rest of the downstairs.  So, armed with YouTube, a few home improvements sites, a magazine, a Ridgid mitre saw, air gun, an Angle Projector, and two dogs I got the molding cut and up on the wall with no major issues.  Of course measuring and cutting are only half the battle, the real talent comes with chalking and painting to make two generally flush pieces of wood look like a single clean piece.  Total project time was 5.5 hours.

Overall the only tips I would impart are:

1. Make test pieces!!  These were by far the best validation of the angles needed for each corner
2. When you purchase the wood it will say the angle it is cut for (this will make sense after you read up on this process), and then simply set your mitre saw w/ bevel edge – done
3. Find and mark the studs on the wall and the joists – no fun making extra holes while balancing on a ladder with a 7 foot piece of wood ‘perfectly’ placed on the wall and thumbing around for the trigger on the nail gun.

Here are the sites I referenced that I thought were helpful in this process:

1. Site 1 – good tutorial site, small pics, decent text
2. Site 2 – better pics, but less text
3. Google Video Directory of DIY – watch the spelling and try variants
4. This Old House – helpful video

- James

Half-Marathon – Check

Thanksgiving morning Jill and I finished our longest run ever (13.1 miles), and we did it with just under 10,000 other crazy people at 7 in the morning.  So while most of my family that had flown in town was in a warm bed, we were standing outside in 40 degree weather in shorts!

We ran very strong and the race was put together very well.  Next stop 26.2?  Our official time was 2:12:11 2:10:48.

Thank you for everyone’s support during these past few months.  Now we just need to find another race that is organized so well for March / April for our Marathon run… suggestions?

A simple 10k

Never would I have imagined the day that I would say we are running a “simple 10k”, but that is exactly what Jill and I said, as we got dressed at 5 in the morning on Sunday.  We are in the middle of our half-marathon training program and have already run that distance as part of our training.  In fact we are running 6 days a week and despite recent rain and the evenings getting later quicker we have stuck to our regiment.

Speaking of rain….  Sunday we awoke to the wonderful sound of rain hitting the ground outside.  This is normally a wonderful sound on a lazy morning, but today we were racing and that was NOT the sound we wanted to hear.  No worries we thought, it will stop eventually.  So, with coffee in hand we start driving out to the Alpharetta 10k.  The rain continues… and being around 45 degrees, dark, and very wet it was not making for a nice morning.  None the less, Jill and I got out in the rain (got soaked), and ran our race.  It was a slow run for us since we were miserable, but we are glad we did it.

This weekend we are running 7 miles (which is .9 more than the race above for all those none runner types), so the progression to 13ish miles continues.  The nice part is the weather – Saturday and Sunday look perfect!!

Enjoying the Fall,

James