Monthly Archives: September 2010

We Broke Free!

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Saturday morning, Jenny and I joined some good friends at our first mud run, the Jailbreak. As first-timers, we weren’t exactly sure what to expect except mud, obstacles, some running, and more mud. As a non-runner, Jenny was a little apprehensive, but she stepped up and gave it a try.

We met Lacy, my best friend from high school, his wife Amie, and our friends Jon and Amber for the 9:00 wave, first of the day. The location was DFW Adventure Park in Roanoke, which is normally used for outdoor paintball, ATV riding, and other extreme events. Each wave had 300 runners of varying speeds and ages. To fit the jailbreak theme, Jon and Amber dressed up as a ball and chain, with Amber as the ball and a chain tying her to her husband (see pics below!).

Lacy and I ran together, running most of the way and catching up. We rarely see each other anymore, so it was great to hang out for a while. Jon and Amber were slowed a bit by their attachment. Jenny and Amie stuck together by choice rather than chain and actually ran a lot more than Jenny had planned. I don’t think she realized how much her stamina and strength have improved over the months she’s spent in the gym, and I’m proud of how well she did.

The run itself was quite interesting and prettier than I expected, with much of the course going through a quiet forest and a cool, refreshing river that we waded through (my favorite part, right in the middle of the course after we were nice and warm). The obstacles weren’t as difficult as I expected. We kept a comfortable pace rather than blasting through at full speed, which would have been impossible due to the MUD. The shallow, slippery mud simply threw off your footing and made you worry about spraining an ankle. The thick, sticky mud nearly sucked your shoes off and buried them forever. Jenny and I both nearly got stuck in a few places. We both chose not to take home our nasty shoes or socks. You’ll understand once you see the pictures. After the race, a fire hose provided a welcome chance to clean off the mud before we enjoyed a free beer and some tasty barbecue.

Although I still plan to do most of my racing in a mud-free environment, the Jailbreak was a fun change of pace and a chance to hang out with good friends while benefiting a worthy cause. Jenny actually wants to do another mud run next year, so I’ll look into our options. Maybe you can join us!

Here are some pictures:

Jailbreak 2010 Pics

Wind Turbines for the Home

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My eco-friendly mother-in-law sent me a very interesting article about residential wind turbines. One company, Urban Green Energy, even makes turbines you can mount on your roof. Here in Dallas, the average wind speed is about 10-11mph, so they would work. When they’re turning, your home uses the power they create. If you aren’t using all the generated power at the time, you can store it in a special battery or sell it back to the power company. Nice, eh?

Unfortunately, at current energy prices, the payback period for us would be prohibitively long. We pay about 11.5 cents/kWh, and the mid-level Urban Green Energy turbine (about $4900 after the tax credit) would generate about 1000kWh per year, saving us $115 annually. So I doubt we’ll install them anytime soon. But if the turbine prices come down and energy prices go up, we’ll certainly keep this solution in mind.

Haiku Tuesday 4 – Romance

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Today’s haiku topic is romance, suggested by my wife. =)

Smile, a laugh, a look
Warm hand on a chilly day
Makes the trip worthwhile

Your turn. (please keep it PG-13 or lower – no pornohaiku!)

Brenden the Scholar

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Thursday was Brenden’s first day of school at Colleyville Christian Preschool. By all accounts, he had a blast! I stayed up late after work to go along. We arrived a bit early and looked around outside, checking out the playground’s array of jungle gyms, seesaws, and tricycles. I tried to take pictures in front of the school, but he was more interested in looking around at all the cool stuff at the school than in posing for Daddy. He’d already been there a couple of times before and knew right where he wanted to go once I opened the front door: the train set in the central play area.

Jenny visited with his teacher, Miss Jennifer, while I chased him down and took him back to his room. Miss Jennifer is very nice and very tall. She reminds me of my sister’s lifelong friend Brittney, who teaches elementary school. Once in his classroom, he didn’t waste time with teary goodbyes or whining. Instead, he went straight to the Magna-Doodle and began to draw. His classroom is filled with the things you’d expect for a preschool classroom: short tables, tiny chairs, a tiny toilet in the attached bathroom, lots of toys and posters. Brenden seemed right at home, so engrossed that he pretty much forgot we were there. No drama this time on either side!

Pics from B’s First Day of School (and Fingerpainting)

Afterward, Miss Jennifer said he’d been very good and had a great time. He played well, ate most of his lunch (a concern of ours, since he can be picky), got along with the other kids, and even napped on the nap mat that YaYa made him. Our main fear was that he wouldn’t nap. After he left babyhood, he never napped with other people in the room, so we didn’t know how he would handle naptime in an exciting room full of toys and other kids. We sent Chilly, his stuffed polar bear, with him, and Chilly did the trick. He came home asking when he could see his “boys” again, so I guess he made some friends. We are very thankful that Brenden had such a good time and for such a great school.