Weekend at Boerne's

We survived our trip to San Antonio with flying colors I think. It was a whirlwind weekend but I think everyone had fun, nobody got hurt, and we all got back to normal fairly quickly. Prepare yourself for lots of words and lots of pictures.

Thursday
We got up at the butt-ass-crack-o-fucking-dawn. I know I usually exaggerate a bit when I say that but 4am is super early. Well, we got up at about 2:30am so yeah, it was too damn early. I nearly stayed up all night but decided a few hours of sleep was better than none.

We got everyone in the car, drove to Richmond, parked, and walked into the airport. The kids were still a bit sleepy but were alert enough to be excited. We checked our bags at the counter, got our tickets, and headed to security. We took our shoes off but found out on the other side that we didn't need to do that. We went through the standard metal detector as a family so that was good. Once we got dressed on the other side, we found our gate and sat down. The kids and I walked around a bit, bought some gum, and generally just chilled out.

Our flight left on time and the sun was up just enough so the kids could look out the window to see what it was like to fly. There were no panic attacks just lots of ear popping. We had drinks, read, colored, played, etc. We landed in DFW, went to the bathroom, grabbed snacks, and boarded out next flight. William was lucky enough to see the first cockpit so of course Elizabeth wanted a turn so she got to see the second one. Even got to push the throttle forward (don't worry, we didn't move).

Stormy takes flight!

Second flight was much shorter. We got in the air, they served drinks, they collected drinks, and we landed. Once on the ground in DFW, we grabbed our suitcases, took the shuttle to our car, and then drove out of town. We grabbed some lunch and chilled a bit to get our land legs back before heading to my sister-in-law's house. We got to visit with family there, ate dinner, then went to our hotel in Boerne. Which by the way is pronounced "Bernie." So it quickly became our "Weekend at Boerne's."


Friday
Friday we got up and hit the Riverwalk in San Antonio. The Alamo was unimpressive for everyone but we had a great time on the Riverwalk and on the boat tour.

The Alamo was ... meh.

The Riverwalk was awesome!

After that, we headed back to the hotel for naps then to the rehearsal outside of Boerne to the rehearsal dinner in San Antonio.

Saturday
Saturday brought rain and cooler temperatures. We visited a local cave/cavern, saw bats (eek!), and then did some chilling out before the wedding. The wedding was great, had no issues, and we all went to the hotel tired from the adventure.

The dinosaur at the cave.

Some RANDOM letters we saw on the trip.
 

Sunday
Sunday we went the newlywed's house and had brunch, more time with the family, and then we went shopping. It was generally just an easy day of doing nothing and getting ready for the slugfest that would be coming.

Monday
Monday was indeed a slugfest. We got up at a more normal hour, checked out of the hotel, dropped off the car, and checked into the airport. Saw a neat sculpture,went through security, and waited at the gate. The kids had a great time watching all the ground traffic with tow cars, baggage cars, planes landing, and more. We also got one more chance to see my brother-in-law and his new baby.

After a good three hour delay, we finally left San Antonio, endured a bumpy ride to DFW, and got off the plane well after our connecting flight. Which meant we had to wait for a new flight which was about 5 hours later. So we checked out the terminal, I entertained the kids with two trips (one in each direction) around the airport on the train, and then dinner. After dinner I took each kid on a walk around the terminal before we moved to another gate for departure. While we hoped for a decent departure time, we had another 3 hour delay leaving DFW so thankfully we had plenty of time to do all the goofy things you need to do to entertain two extremely bored kids and one bored adult. I'm just glad I didn't buy a bottle of booze in the "doodie free" shops.

We finally left DFW and arrived in Richmond on Tuesday.

It's made out of suitcases.

William's artwork from dinner.

This is how you entertain yourself (and your kids) in DFW.

Tuesday
Once we arrived, we got our bags, found our car, and headed home. Everyone was snoozing away but I managed to grab some coffee on the flight so I was good to go. We eventually crashed around 3am. Yvonne got up for work at her usual time but we let the kids (and myself) sleep in. They slept in a little but I fed them and sent them off to school anyway because I figured half a day of school was better than none.

Finally, this is what everyone looked like on the last flight home. Pooped.

2014 12 Hour ATR Race Report

This has been quite a year. I've toughed it out through an 8 hour race, a 24 hour race, and a few shorter races. I moved a few months ago, I'm in the middle of dealing with a flooded basement, and I still have a trip halfway across the country to plan for. So no, things haven't been quite lately. So to say that my training has suffered from all the stress life has thrown at me is quite an understatement. But I'm okay with that. Part of running is dealing with adversity, adapting to it, and either pushing through it or finding a way around it.

Last weekend I spent a few hours in the emergency room with back spasms. It was sudden, painful, and still on the mend. I knew the day after that I was going to be healthy enough to at least start the 12 hour race. But I also had to temper my plans and just chill out and not do anything stupid. I wanted to live to run again another day.

And that's exactly what I did. I played it safe, dealt with things as they arose, and pushed through the pain to meet my original goal from earlier in the year. In some of my other races I felt the need to run for other people. Friends or family that either died or were sick. People that were important to me in some form or fashion and I felt the need to honor them by running in their name. A lot of people do it for a lot of different reasons. I generally didn't advertise it but it was still something I felt like I needed to do. Well, for this race, I did it all for me. And I didn't feel one bit guilty about it either. In fact, I frequently found myself doing something I very rarely do when I run a race, I smiled. A lot. And if felt damn good.

My day started at 0345 when I woke up 15 minutes before my alarm. Instead of trying to get another few minutes of sleep, I just got up, showered, and headed out the door. I got lucky and had dinner with fellow runners the night before who agreed to carpool my stinky butt to the race. So by 0430, I was loaded into their car and headed to pick up Moises, the other runner they were picking up. Mike and Tracy, and their son Mikey, were very gracious to make the offer to drive me and it made for a much easier day.

Once we unloaded our gear, we prepped, I saw a few other runners I knew and before we knew it, it was time to start. The first loop was mostly in the dark and I took things slow. I ran here and there but wasn't in a big rush. On my second loop, I ditched the lights and long sleeves and picked up my hydration pack. It didn't hurt my back but it made me feel it more than just the handheld. So when I came back through for my third loop, I ditched the hydration pack and stuck with the single bottle. For loops four and five, I did run out of water at the end of the loop but I was never more than mile from the finish so it wasn't that big of a deal.

While I could have pushed things hard on my fifth loop just to make an attempt at six, I knew by the halfway point of loop four that it would have been stupid. I was lucky to hook up with Moises on my last lap. We walked nice and easy and played it safe. Near the end, fellow local runner Rob caught up to us so he helped us push the pace a little bit at the end.

In the end, I'm happy with how things went. Sure I could have done better with so many things but to be able to do so many miles without too much effort felt great. So I'll take it as a win and move on to my next goal.

Photos:
The cemetery in the woods.

One of many gravel roads.

One of a few spots where I stopped long enough to bask in the sun.

Enjoying my donut (off camera) with my feet up at the end of the race.

Weather:
Temps were about 55F to 60F at the start but warmed to about 75F to 80F. Sky was clear. Winds were light. Humidity was low.

Fluids and Fuel:
Had coffee, banana, and GenUCAN for breakfast. During the race I had GenUCAN electrolyte mix, plain water, and a bottle of GenUCAN. And a couple of coffees. I also ate some pierogis, half a grilled cheese, and some chips. Recovery was Hammer Recoverite, a donut, and Burger King on the way home. Although extremely tempting, I only had a sip of soda.

Aches and Pains:
Back was still tender but no pain. Feet hurt on the last two laps. Ended up with one blister on my right heel but it was too deep to lance. And I did have some mild monkey butt on the last lap but nothing bad enough to hurt in the shower. Outside of that, everything felt fine.

Gear:
No new gear or special gear but I did get plenty of questions and comments on my JWalking Designs running kilt.

Splits:
I normally track my time in the aid stations but each time through, even when going to the bathroom, I was there maybe 3 minutes at most so I didn't bother to track it.
Loop 1 - 1:52:12
Loop 2 - 1:52:28
Loop 3 - 2:00:01
Loop 4 - 2:19:21
Loop 5 - 2:24:30
Finish - 10:29:30

On becoming an old man

As time passes, so do we.

I was recently reminded that I'm getting older. While we've taught our children to be polite, I can tell they're lying when they say I'm still young. I know they think I'm old. But I still appreciate the gesture of them being polite and trying to boost my confidence. And maybe get a free toy.

So where does all this talk of being an old man come from? I totally wrenched my back on Saturday. Even today, just a few days later, I find it difficult to talk about. I don't want to be an old man. I see my parents and how old they are. I see my grandparents and how old they were before they died. I see so much age around me and I refuse to accept that I'm getting old just as fast as they are. So when I reached over to pick up that remote and my back seized up, I thought I was going to die.

Okay, so I'm being dramatic, but it hurt. A lot. Like a 9 out of 10 on the pain scale. It hurt bad enough I laid down on the dirty basement floor in my nice clothes in an attempt to reduce the pain. It didn't go anywhere. I rolled around on the foam roller like a half-dead fish but it still hurt. So I somehow muscled my way back up the steps and laid down on the floor up there and had my wife stretch out my back. It didn't help.

It didn't help to see the look on her face either. She kept looking at me like I was going to die. Was the pain on my face that noticeable? It must of been because she kept asking me if I needed anything. What I needed was somebody to take the damn knife out of my back. What I needed was that thing from Back to the Future.

I eventually got some cream rubbed on it and went to bed. I tossed and turned all night. Barely made it into any sort of standing position to use the bathroom. Which seemed to happen every 3 hours. Yet another sign I'm getting old, right? But I made it to the next morning.

And then I promptly called had my dad drive me to the emergency room. I felt like a damn kid again. It brought back memories of him driving me to the doctor one day and I'm barfing out the door. Or the day the Bears were playing in the SuperBowl and he cut his wrist changing oil and needed stitches. For a few brief moments at least, I was a kid again.

That all changed when I rolled into the ER. It's not a place I go nor is it a place I like to go. People go to the hospital to die. I hate it. Not the people that work there or even the patients. It's just the principal of a place that's sole purpose is to heal those so ill they can't take care of themselves. I don't like that. And sitting there in pain on a gurney wearing socks, underwear, and a giant t-shirt split down the back didn't make things any better.

Hearing the Code Yellow over the PA didn't help either. I can only hope they're okay. But I would like to thank them for making me realize that my back pain wasn't that big of a deal. At least not compared to whatever they had going on. So as I sat there and tried to distract myself, I pretty much just worked up my blood pressure beyond where it needed to be.

A group of nurses finally came in and got more info from me. Did this happen, did that, does this hurt, etc. The PA came over and poked my back a bit, diagnosed me, then left. The nurse continued asking questions and had no idea what lichen planus was. So that was a nice distraction for a few minutes. And the last nurse, or scribe, asked a few more questions after that. I found it odd that she took notes on her glove. Guess it's easier to keep that handy than a tablet.

After shift change a male nurse came in for my medication. Got to take a Valium and got a shot in my ass. Although he said it was in my hip, I'm pretty sure it was closer to my ass. After staying alive for 15 minutes I was cleared for discharge.

While I'm not 100% better, I will say that I was reminded that it's okay to ask for help. As much as I hate it, it's O K. Even when it's a pain in the ass like my shot, if it takes care of things, then do it.

Fighting Fireman's 5k Race Report

Just a low key, local trail race that was ideal for me to just get out and de-stress. Best of all, I got the chance to help a local firefighter and his family.

The race had a pretty good turn-out with over 50 runners for the 5k and 1 mile kid's race. I showed up early and helped with the registration table. From there, it was ready, set, go and off we went down the trail. The front runners were speedy of course but the rest of us were out there to have fun in the woods. Once across the finish, I hung around for the award ceremony then headed home to spend the day running errands.

Photos:

Weather:
Temps were about 80F. Humidity was high. Sun was out. Breeze was light.

Fluids and Fuel:
No breakfast before the run, just some coffee. During the run I had a bottle of plain water. Recovery was two slices of toast and more coffee.

Aches and Pains:
Nothing really hurt.

Gear:
No special gear.

Splits:
I had them but then cleared them by accident. But I remember the rough numbers.
Mile 1 - 12ish minutes
Mile 2 - 13ish minutes
Mile 3 - 11ish minutes
Finish - 36:06

Let's talk basements, standing water, and mold

This is a novel, so skip to the end if you want to see what my question is. Otherwise, grab a coffee and delight in the fact that you got to enjoy your Labor Day weekend.


So our new-to-us-for-2-months house, aka Fort Max, experienced a flooded basement this weekend. We used an exterior faucet to do some cleaning and an hour or two later realized that said faucet had burst due to freezing. Seeing as it's September in Virginia, it had to have happened some time ago. Which means our home inspector didn't catch the busted pipe.

Lesson 1 - Home inspectors don't catch every single thing that's wrong with the house you want to buy.


As soon as we discovered the leak, we shut off the faucet, shut off the water in the house, and shut off the water to the house at the water meter.


Lesson 2 - Know where and how to shut your utilities off. Thankfully the house shut off was in the same wall as the leak and we could easily access it. Thankfully we also know where the water meter shut off was located as well as the special wrench to use (although a crescent wrench works fine too).


We immediately began tossing rags down and moving things that were still dry out of the way. Anything that was wet that could be dried off and saved, we did that too. And we started running the wet/dry shop vac to get as much water up as we could. It was laundry day so most of the dirty clothes caught some of the leaks. Not everything but it did help contain some of the flood.


Lesson 3 - Keep rags handy (ideally large towels) in case of a leak.
Lesson 4 - Store all your important stuff in your basement in plastic totes.
Lesson 5 - If you store items in cardboard boxes, wrap all the contents in a garbage bag.
Lesson 6 - Be prepared to lose anything that's on the floor.
Lesson 7 - Install a leak alarm of some sort.
Lesson 8 - Test all your utilities, like you faucets, right away when you buy a new house.


We were lucky to have two shop vacs on hand. My dad was on his way home so that added some extra help. William, age 7, could help a little but not a lot. Thankfully he could clean up the tools outside that we had been using to clean. Elizabeth, age 10, and my father were more help.


Lesson 9 - Have a clear chain of command when you encounter scenarios like this. The incident leader needs to delegate and communicate with all parties involved.


Once we got a break, we called the home warranty folks and they said a local plumber could come by. The next day. The same plumber we've dealt with before for a leaky toilet who was an ass. We tried to get a different plumber but no dice. The home insurance folks were more helpful and had a tech here in hours to help clean up. He sucked up some water, then set up fans and dehumidifiers. I'm glad I kept checking his work because one of the dehumidifiers had a drain line that fell out of  another drain line and would have just added water to the floor. We also had to run extension cords upstairs because the circuits kept popping from all the fans running.


Lesson 10 - Have fans and dehumidifiers on hand to help remediation start as soon as possible. These should already be a part of your standard issue basement supply list.
Lesson 11 - Check behind everyone's work, especially contractors, to make sure they're doing it right.


The jack-ass plumber came the next day and cut the supply line to the faucet and removed the faucet. He glued a shut-off valve to the supply line so we could still have water in the house. But he did a crappy job of everything. I'm no plumber but I at least know that when you cut a copper pipe, you need to de-burr the end. He didn't. You also need to clean the ends with sandpaper. He didn't. Instead it was a quick glue. Since the home warranty folks didn't want to pay for a pipe that had frozen, we said good bye to the plumber. We weren't going to pay him to do a shitty job. And as far as I'm concerned, he can join my blacklist.


Lesson 12 - Don't be afraid to tell a contractor no. It's easy to just say fix it but if they don't fix it right the first time, you'll be paying for it again later.


With the plumber gone and quick-fix in place, we're now waiting for the insurance adjuster to arrive, the clean-up people to come check on their work, and the HVAC service tech to ensure the equipment is still good. We already got the all-clear from the washer/dryer manufacturer to use the units. The "brains" of them are up high and they're built to be in an inch or two of water. But we still kept an eye on them just to stay safe.

Lesson 13 - After an incident like this, pay attention to any anomalies. This could be the pre-cursor to a new incident.

I know there will be more lessons in the future. But until the final outcome has been reached and everything has been repaired, who knows.

Volcanus Vomitus

Wow. Talk about a whirl-wind weekend. Saturday we had new carpet installed at the rental house. Sunday I got an hour-long run in. And then puked my guts out. And then shit my brains out. And then spent most of Monday in bed.

So, what went wrong? I have no idea. My son got sick on Friday, puked most of the night, and was better by Saturday. Saturday I supervised the carpet installation. Sunday I got up, ate breakfast, and went to run. We assumed the culprit behind my son being sick was a slightly different, yet still dairy free, butter. I had the same butter Sunday morning but didn't think much of it. After my run, which was after breakfast but more than an hour after eating it, I felt queasy so I laid down. I figured the heat had gotten to me and I needed to rest. Well, a few hours later and I still felt like shit.

Queue the volcano-like vomiting. I haven't puked that much since my mother-in-law accidentally tried to kill me with turkey sausage nearly a decade ago. As I puked my guts up, I prayed that the next time I got sick I'd just shit my brains out instead. While that did come later, the puking really wiped me out.

So after Puke Fest 2014 was done, I cleaned myself, and the toilet, and crawled back into bed. I dozed on and off the rest of Sunday and all day Monday. Sadly, my wife got sick about the time I was getting better. Thankfully she's on the mend now (Tuesday) and seems to be almost back to normal.

As for the run itself, well, I took off down a road that used to be part of my old stomping grounds. I meandered a bit into the new power line then headed back. I made another pit-stop at a local fishing hole before finally making it home. There was a short bike ride after that then recovery time. Saw a bike rider out on the road which was cool. And that was about it.


Photos:

The local fishing hole.

Weather:
Temps were about 80F. Humidity was moderate. Winds were light. Sky was partly cloudy.

Fluids and Fuel:
Breakfast was waffles, eggs, and yogurt? After at least an hour, I started the run with a bottle of ice water and a bottle of iced GenUCAN electrolyte mix. Recovery was half a bottle of GenUCAN followed by lots of barfing later.

Aches and Pains:
Right ankle was a little tight the first mile or so. After that things were fairly normal. Aside from the queasy stomach.

Gear:
No special gear. But I did remember my sun screen!

Heart Rate:
Stuck to the plan with my zones and timing. Pretty easy to keep the heart rate up in the later stages of the run, especially with a giant hill on the route.

Splits:
20 minutes - 20:07 (AVG HR 140)
40 minutes - 48:57 (AVG HR 162)
10 minutes - 5:45 (AVG HR 162)
Finish - 1:14:50
AVG HR - 156
MAX HR - 183
MIN HR - 92

Painting Fort Max

I've painted with my father, mother, step-father, wife, and kids. I've painted in school, for fun, and for work. I wish I was an expert, but I am not. I'm not very creative and I'm very much a perfectionist. Because of this, I quickly learned that I should not paint with anyone else in the house. They disturb me and interupt my workflow.

So when it came time to paint Fort Max, it became apparent that everybody just needed to leave the house so I could get some work done. There were several times I painted late into the night just because I was alone, I could crank Eminem, and I could throw paint on the walls.

And sometimes that's how I felt, like I was just making a giant mess. But it got done and I'm happy with how it looks. There's still a few spots that need touch-ups but overall, it's done. Now to share a few things I learned along the way.

My son picked blue for his accent wall. Having the kids pick a color (for ONE wall) and helping paint that wall kept them semi-entertained.

Supplies. You'll need a lot more than you think you'll need. One brush per color per day. Don't try to wash out your brush or stick it in the fridge or re-use it the next day. Just use a new one. Same with pretty much everything else you use like tray liners, rollers, and more. The basic stuff you'll need to buy quality versions of are your roller holder (that thing with a handle), a nice wooden handle that screws into your roller holder, a paint can opener (you'll need one for the gallon metal cans and one for the 5 gallon plastic buckets), a hammer for the metal cans and rubber mallet for the plastic buckets, a pour spout that fits into your gallon bucket and one that screws onto your 5 gallon bucket, a metal paint tray for your roller, and a small paint container for your cut-in work. Phew! Quite a list. But trust me, that's just the quality stuff you want to buy.

For the cheap, disposable stuff, you'll need tray liners, a box of rags/paper towels, paint brushes, blue painter's tape/frog tape, and rollers. And expect to buy more paint brushes than you ever thought possible. So far, we've gone through close to 30 or so but that's mostly do to the doors needing lots of coats of paint. Anyway, plan on spending more on the disposables.

My daughter's accent wall is pink.

And plan on paying an arm and a leg for paint. We got nearly $1,500 in paint and that's just for most of the house, not all of it. We have some left over but we'll likely use that at the rental or in the kitchen. Either way, it's a ton of paint. So try to catch it on sale or when there's a nice rebate.

As far as your process goes, I found I worked best when I started at the top left corner of a very busy wall. By busy, I mean a wall that had the largest number of obstacles requiring cut-in work. By cut-in work, I mean working with a paint brush to cut-in or trim the area I'm painting. So windows, doors, vents, and anything else you need to paint around with a paint brush. Once I picked a wall to start on, I'd use the brush on the corners (the inside corners) and brush out the heavy strokes on the wall I'm not painting. Then, moving left to right and top to bottom, I'd cut-in along the ceiling, around windows, etc. Except for a very long wall, I could trim one wall before using the roller.

The rest of the house is a plain brown, although it has a touch more red/pink than I expected.

When it came time to use the roller, be prepared to use two coats. It depends on the paint, the wall, and your technique. What worked best for me was to use the roller to get the right texture on the horizontal lines, like along the ceiling and the floor, tops of windows, and doors. Then I'd do the vertical lines like corners, windows, doors, etc. From there, I'd again work left to right and top to bottom. I'd throw some paint on fairly thick, get a good 5 to 8 feet (horizontally) of the wall covered, then go back. When I went back, I'd add more paint, but I'd treat it as my finish coat. I'd go floor to ceiling getting the right texture but when I'd get to the end of the section I was working, I'd kind of brush it out like I would with the paint brush. Hard to describe in words but you're basically taking the roller (or brush) off the surface you're paining but without coming to a full stop. Kind of like a plane taking off, it leaves the ground gently, it just doesn't stop then take off like a rocket.

A few pro-tips. First, that light on the left will turn your room into a sauna and dry your paint faster than you want. Second, that coffee is essentially for late nights. Finally, that platform on the right is ideal for painting.

Once you finish a wall, you simply (ha!) repeat the process a million times until you're done. A small mini roller may help if you need it but I found a normal sized roller will fit above doors and windows and the mini roller only got used once or twice. Once the paint dries, go back with a nice light and see if you  missed a spot so you can touch up as needed.

When it comes to painting trim, especially windows, don't be afraid to lay down on the floor to get it all.

When it comes to clean up, this is where the disposable stuff comes in handy. Dump the extra paint back into the can/bucket, but don't scrape all the stuff that's dried back in there. Leave that scum right where it is. No sense contaminating that small fortune of pigment with crap. Using the tray liner as an awkward glove, grab the roller and muscle it off the holder. Then toss them and the brush into the trash. Now all you need to clean up is the roller holder and the pour spouts. Pretty easy.

2014 DRHT 50k Race Report - DNF

Yet another DNF. But this one was totally planned well in advance of race day. It still hurts though. I know I can do the distance. Even up to a few minutes before the race started, I was tempted to go the full length. But I knew in the back of my mind that that was not the plan and that even though I would finish, I was not prepared. I didn't want to risk doing anything too stupid and that's what I would have been doing. So I dropped at Mile 4 as planned and returned back to the Start for a full 8 miles of running. A quarter of the distance I could go but those damn cutoff times were looming over me the whole way and I knew I wouldn't make them.

I'll post my full race "report" below the dotted line but I wanted to go over something that happened on race day that made me proud, sad, and inspired all at once.

Have you ever had a complete stranger come up to you and know your name? Kind of freaky, right? Have they ever known more than just your name? You know, like your wife's name or kid's name or where you work or knew of some accomplishment that you made recently? Super-freaky, right? Well, that's happened to me a few times over the years. And yes, it freaks me out. Like when I ran the Oil Creek 100 last year, somebody knew me from my race report from the year before. I felt so honored that they knew me and appreciated my race report but it was like an out-of-body experience that they knew so much about me. Yes, I know, I don't exactly hide behind a curtain and feel comfortable sharing my life online, but you get the idea.

Anyway, I had several people that either knew about my planned DNF or that were concerned about my DNF on race day. It was crazy. I never knew that many people even knew who I was or would remember me after last year's race. I mean, these are people I see once, maybe twice a year. And to have them care about me enough to either ask why I planned to drop or to ask if I was okay made me feel great.

And a bit like an ass. I mean, some of these people I just don't care about enough to even think of until I see them at a race. Well, now that they've shown me this much kindness, I'm sure I'll be thinking about them for awhile.

Race Report:

A planned DNF, meeting the legend MikeWardian, and a day of volunteering. Wow. Where should I start?

Let's start with the planned DNF. Even though I was seriously considering attempting to run the whole thing right up until the start of the race, I realized (and my coach confirmed) that running the whole thing wasn't a good idea. Taking 2 weeks off to move and not quite being up to where I needed to be before that meant that I just wasn't at the training level I needed to be at to finish the race. Well, that's not entirely true. I knew I could finish the race, I just knew that my lack of training meant that I'd likely not make the cut-offs. So I started the race and turned around at the first aid station and ran back. It was a tough decision but it was one that I knew I needed to make. And at the end of the day, I was glad I made the right decision.

Meeting Mike Wardian was a great opportunity. I had sent a tweet ages ago when the race director did an interview on a show he helps produce but I never expected him to show up. He registered at the last minute and as soon as the news broke, I about crapped my pants. I mean, to see such a big name show up at such a small race is incredible. So as I directed cars into their parking spots, I got out of his and asked a question. I knew his voice right away from various podcasts and interviews but I didn't recognize his face. A beard, no backwards hat, and the pre-dawn light makes a great disguise. I caught up to him again as he was waiting in line for the porta-john and he offered to take a picture right there. Well, timing worked out a bit different and I managed a picture after he went. It must be weird to have people stalk you outside of a toilet waiting for a picture.

See? I told you I stalked him near the bathrooms.

When it came to volunteering, it felt nice to return something to the community. And better yet, to a race I really enjoy and have fallen in love with over the years. After all, this was my first 50k five years ago. So to be able to help out here and there felt nice. I did my best to take pictures of all the finishers and got to listen to some speedy people (and not so speedy) talk about their race. Wardian broke the course record then promptly turned around and ran a few more miles. The first female totally crushed the course record and came in 4th overall. Amazing to see these people run so fast. And just as amazing to see the slower folks tough it out over a long course on a hot day.

That's Joyce Ong in the pink. She's a fucking rockstar.

Video:

Weather:
Temps were about 65F at the start and got up to about 75F at the end. Sky was overcast. Light breeze. High humidity.

Fluids and Fuel:
Had a banana, yogurt, and coffee before the run. Drank a serving of GenUCAN during the run. Recovery was another GenUCAN serving.

Aches and Pains:
Nothing really hurt. Generally felt good.

Gear:
No special gear but I did wear my new JWalkingDesign kilt over my TStarRunning shorts. Got a few compliments on both.

Heart Rate:
Didn't wear my HRM but I'm sure I was in Zone 4 most of the time. After the first couple of miles I took more walking breaks but felt more at ease with the faster pace.

Splits:
Mile 1 - 11:23
Mile 2 - 12:50
Mile 3 - 13:04
Mile 4 - 13:02
Aid Station - 7:36
Mile 5 - 11:36
Mile 6 - 11:56
Mile 7 - 13:05 (includes pee break)
Mile 8 - 12:41
Finish - 1:47:48

More early days of Fort Max

Previously, I covered the stripping of the carpet, padding, and a million staples. Let's move on to the walls since that was the next big project. Once the carpet was out, we had to clean the walls off. That meant clearing any hooks off the wall, removing any hardware on the wall, and essentially gutting everything down to the drywall.

Sounds like small stuff but like the carpet, the project grew with every passing second. Take a closet for example. We had already removed the bi-fold doors to remove the carpet. But now it was time to remove the shelves. And the brackets. And that odd cable that ran from the attic to the basement. You get the idea. The only brackets we left up were the ones in the master closet (we ended up taking them down anyway later).

We're quickly learning that we hate bi-fold doors.

Other hardware we removed included the doors, the hinges, strike plates, outlet covers, and a few other things I've forgotten. You never realize all the little things that are there until you go to remove them and suddenly you're left holding the bag with a ton of stuff to keep track of. Fortunately we knew in advance that we wanted to replace the outlet and light switch covers so we just bagged those and donated them. But we also had window blinds, closet hardware, and more.

You get the idea. Lots of stuff to take off the wall. Once that was all done, we then had to clean the walls. Just some simple dish soap and hot water. We'd attack a room with a couple of mops and do the ceilings first, then the walls. We quickly learned that one room was shut off from the world but also appeared to have the most dirt on the walls. Haven't figured that on out yet but it almost looked like somebody smoked in just that room (even though it didn't smell like that).

Probably should have mentioned that before we washed the walls, we vacuumed the floors. No sense washing the walls only to spray dust and dirt all over them again. So the floors got a good vacuum which in turn gave us a great opportunity to find staples that we missed. We did pretty good and only found a few that were missed.

During this time we also had to deal with other distractions. Like chimney swifts in the fireplace, DirecTV installing a new dish and line to the house, getting new locks for the doors, and installing a new mailbox. I drafted the kids to help with the mailbox because it was a fairly small job and they were getting bored. I mean, it's a rough a life swimming half the day and playing the other half.

My helpers for the new mailbox.

Speaking of door locks, the old ones were a pain in the ass to remove. They were the old school Schlages and had these small covers over the allen screws/bolts that you needed to get to in order to remove the locks. Well, after using a hammer, prybar, drill, and lots of muscle, we were able to remove the old locks. Only to find that we needed to drill new holes so the new locks would fit. Which meant more drilling and more muscles.

Those damn metal covers in the top lock were a bitch to remove. Totally trashed the old lock beyond repair. We didn't install them in the new locks.

Recycled Bi-Fold Doors

A quick and fairly easy, not to mention cheap, project that was completed here at Fort Max was installing some shelves in the laundry room. We've been removing bi-fold doors like crazy in this house and knew we could re-use them elsewhere as shelves so we just filed them away in the garage for later use. Well, the time came to install them.

These particular doors came from William's closet but we also have doors from our bathroom, our closet, Elizabeth's closet, the living room closet, and as of last night, the utility room. So, plenty of spare material to work with. They aren't painted pretty but that wasn't a strict requirement before installation.

Supplies needed were fairly simple. The spare bi-fold doors (in this case, one side of the closet gave me two shelves). The screws from the hinges that came off the doors. Some new brackets to hold a rod. Scrap rod from our closet (we didn't have the right size so we needed to buy more). Scrap shelf brackets from some unknown shelf in the house we ripped out. Spare nails left by the previous owner.

Tools needed were a hammer, level, tape measure, and cordless drill. A helper was also needed for some of the awkward reaches.

I measured the master closet to see how the spacing was between the upper and lower shelf. I then added a couple of inches to them so that the bottom shelf in the laundry room isn't too close to the ground. Don't want clean clothes to sit on the floor. Anyway, once I measured my two starting points, I put a bracket in the wall. from there I leveled to the next one and installed that. Since only two of the three brackets per shelf were going to hold a rod, they were pretty easy to install and keep level. The third bracket was recycled and a bit different in design but it went in well enough.

Because I didn't want the shelf to fly off, I re-used the screws from the hinges to attach the shelf to the bracket. I repeated this process for the bars. No sense having them slide off.

And that was it. Presto, two shelves, two bars, and the only thing new was a couple of brackets.

The first days of Fort Max

We closed on Fort Max on July 2nd. We did our final walk through in the morning, signed our papers, then went back to claim it as ours. I carried my wife over the thresh hold and we promptly went to work making it our new home. Yvonne focused on cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen and I had to go back to work. So we didn't really get any "solid" work done until the 3rd.

Our primary areas of work were the three bedrooms, the hallway (which included two closets), and the living room. The bathrooms were functional and dated but we left them alone. The kitchen was up to date but was also left alone. The basement and outside were left alone. We focused on the main living areas so we could prep for painting and flooring.

A before picture.

So off with the carpet we went. The old carpet and padding were ripped out. The best way to remove it is to use a utility knife to cut it into manageable sections and just yank. A mask may be needed if you don't want to breath in the crap left behind but I didn't care about that, I just wanted to get rid of the 20 year-old crap. Once you remove all the carpet, remove all the padding. In our case, it was that greenish, mottled stuff. There were remnants of the egg carton stuff under it but not much.

Some more before pictures.

Then comes the tack strip. A hammer and prybar work great. But be careful. Those things will stab you faster than you think is possible. Have a trashcan ready (but no bag) so you can toss them right in. I learned that breaking them in half (carefully) made them not stand up too high out of the trash can and therefore less likely to cut me.

The previous owner's name on the carpet.

After the tack strip comes the really hard work. Staples. Tons of them. Thousands of them. Seriously. It took my right hand a week and a half before it was back to normal. After a day I could barely grab anything. Needle-nose pliers work best but the prybar and hammer worked in a pinch. It's slow and painful, but necessary.

And then comes the baseboard. Take. Your. Time. We lost a day or two because we went a little too fast and ended up popping holes in the drywall. That meant patching and mud and more mud and sanding and more mud. Not fun. Go slow, take it easy, and it'll work. The best technique I found was to use a drywall putty knife, a wider one that's pretty stiff, a hammer, and a thin prybar. I call them the cat's paw type of prybar but it's a small one with a thin end that can slip between the wall and the baseboard. If you don't have a putty knife to pry against, use a small, thin piece of wood or plywood. Something to distribute the pressure of prying the boards off.

Once that was done, we were down to bare wood on the floors. And quickly noticed a few that needed to be replaced. Expect this to happen at every level of home repair. I'm sure there's a rule of thumb out there for it but everything we've done so far has come with some hidden cost of either money or time that we didn't plan for. But the key should always be to take the time and money to do it right.

As for the flooring, we had diagonal slats on top of the floor joists then glued sawdust on top of that. The glued sawdust has a special name that I don't know. But it's not the typical plywood you would find in the stores today. In fact, the thickness was not normal either. The flooring guys had to buy two sheets and sandwich them together to get the same height as the original floor. Anyway, the pets that had lived her before had peed all over the floor and it was readily visible in every room. So in a couple of spots the sawdust layer had started to dry rot and from our normal foot traffic with no carpet to protect it, it got worse. So it got replaced. We were tempted to just re-floor everything but the floors weren't squeaky and the sawdust layer was solid.

After a second day of staple removal, we walked around like people with claws instead of hands. But it was tons better. We vacuumed, looked, and looked again. We still missed a few staples, but generally speaking we got 98% of them the first time through.

Stay tuned for more adventures at Fort Max.

Brass vs. Steel

When it comes to plumbing, or anything related to water, you want to stick with brass. Or at least avoid steel. In the continuing adventures of #FortMax, we had a toilet begin dripping water shortly after we moved in. Thankfully the leak wasn't a major one but it was certainly inconvenient to be down a working toilet right away.

The final diagnosis on the cause of the leak was a steel bolt was used to attach the toilet tank to the toilet bowl. It was clearly an after-market repair as all toilet kits come with brass bolts for that particular connection. The steel bolt rusted over time because it is in direct contact with the water inside the tank. That rust led to a leak.

My working theory is that at some point in time the steel bolt was put in during a tank repair. Because the house was not used frequently, the rust accumulated but didn't have any movement in the tank. Once we started using it, the water coming into the tank and going out caused the rust to move, thus causing the leak to appear.

Again, we're thankful that the leak wasn't a big one and didn't have any lasting impact on the bathroom floor (or basement ceiling). But it's yet again another thing to think about when doing your household repairs. Take the time (and the money) to do it right the first time. The cost difference between a brass and a steel bolt can't be that much. Maybe pennies. But even if it was a few dollars, imagine the amount of money you would need to spend on repairing your bathroom floor and cleaning up a flooded basement. All because you used a steel bolt in the toilet.

So many lessons learned, not enough time to teach them

In what I hope will be a continuing series on the lessons I've learned in home ownership and maintenance, I'll attempt to dispense with what knowledge I have. For those looking forward to these posts (or hoping to avoid them), simply look for the tag #FortMax. That's what we have dubbed our new house and the name seems to have stuck.

Which leads me to how we came about naming our new home. Once upon a time, I was a kid in the 1980s growing up with my father. We lived in a quaint little neighborhood with a pool, a couple of dead-end streets, and plenty of families that were always nice to you. Our new house is two doors down from that house I grew up in. I knew the previous (and original) owner when I was a kid. His first name was Barry. One of our favorite TV shows is The Goldbergs, a show about a kid growing up with this family in the 1980s. His older brother is named Barry. So with the 80s, the Barrys, and the shared childhood experiences, I asked Adam Goldberg to name our new house.

He came up with Fortress Maximus. I'll admit, I wasn't too impressed. But over time, I shortened it to Fort Max, started using the nickname, and it stuck. Stuck so much, my kids and my wife are using it. Not all the time but enough to know that's the nickname that'll stick.

So there you have it, the birth of a new house for us. Stay tuned for future installments of what I've learned from Fort Max.