August 31, 2007 by jon.

Kala and I have been talking a bit about the security of this blog and the fact that everything is open to everyone.  I did some checking and found a blog system that we can set the security controls on posts, comments, photos and just about everything else.  We’re going to give this a try.

For the most part, the whole blog will be open, but there will be times that we have a post that we’ll want to keep “Private”.  Many for family and friends.

Take a look at our new blog at CoffeeAndBagels.vox.com and tell me what you think.  I strongly suggest creating a basic account so that I can then add you to our friends and family list to see any of the protected content that we post.  When you create an account, you don’t need to create a blog at all.  A basic account will let you see most content.  This might even be your chance to create your own blog.  This new site is extremely simple and you can easily add photos, music and other content.

Signing up is two steps.  Give some basic information and the system will email you a confirmation.  Click on the confirmation and you’re good to go.

This will probably be my last post on Snurkafamily.com unless things really don’t work out on Vox.

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August 27, 2007 by jon.

  As you may or may not know, I’m doing an abreviated training for the Appleton Fox Cities 1/2 Marathon.  That means I really need to get my long runs in so that I am as ready as possible.

  Well this weekend I had a dilema.  I was scheduled to run 10 miles but I also told a friend that I would run the Windrunner’s 10K.  Also, the local flooding of my favorite route made it a little difficult to get some runs in.

  I didn’t want to run 10 on Saturday and be completely worn out for the race Sunday.  It’s been a long time since I’ve run a race to see what I can do.  I’ve run relay’s and a few races with my kids and wasn’t really pushing hard to see what I can do.

  So what did I do?  I ran the 10K Sunday morning then came home and ran another 4 miles. 

  The Windrunner 10K was a nice, smaller race with about 350 runner.  It was in the Danada Forest Preserve and was completely on a crushed gravel trail that 4 runners could run abrest.  Also relatively flat.  The weather was almost perfect.  In the 70’s with a lot of sun.  There was some humidity, but it wasn’t oppressive.

  The first mile and a half or so was fully in the sun before we hit some shade.  Since it was an out and back, that meant the last bit was in the sun as well.  I started out strong, almost too strong and had to hold back a bit.  My goal was to run the race at a 8:30 pace.  At the start I wanted to go a little slower just to get acclimated.  When I looked at my watch and saw 7:45 and 8:00 I had to reign myself in.  By around mile 2 I had settled into a pretty good pace.

  There was a girl who passed me around a mile and I caught up to her again around mile 3.  About that time we were running roughly the same pace so we stuck together.  It’s always better for me to run with someone because it helps to push me.

  As we were coming up to mile 5, we met up with another runner who was slowing down a bit.  (Remember there were only 350 in the race so there was quite a bit of distance between runners at times)My partner tried to encourage him to keep going saying that I was pulling her along and he should join us.  He hung with us for a half mile or so but finally had to drop back.   

  We passed the 6 mile mark and I looked at her (Never got her name) and asked if she was ready to finish strong.  She said to go ahead but I told her to keep up with me.  We ended up finishing together and both slowed down to let the other finish first.  Probably just to thank each other for the challenge.  I finally crossed first and then we high fived each other and we went through the chute.

  I finished at 52:16.  A 8:25 pace.  11 out of 25 in my age group.  Not too bad.  Like I said, I like running with someone because it pushes me harder.  I enjoyed the race and at the end I felt like I actually ran a race!  I was tired.

  So what did I do?  On the way home, I stressed about getting in my 10 miles so I ended up changing clothes and going out again.  This time I stayed around a 10:00 mile with walk breaks every mile.  I figured I earned it.

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August 26, 2007 by jon.

Last night I went to the first Geneva High School football game of the year. Last year the Vikings lost in the State Semi-Finals to the Batavia Bulldogs (Boo Hiss!) who went on to lose in the State Championship.

Attending these games is pretty neat because we get to see some neighbors and get in on the community support.  It also allows us to see some friends from our old church and keep in touch with them.

Geneva of course won over Dundee-Crown by a score of 34-7. We were up 21-0 after the first quarter and then just coasted.

It was a great first game and fun to watch. We’ll see where the season goes but at least it starts with a win.

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August 24, 2007 by jon.

Here is the route that I normally run when I go along the Fox River. Over 3/4 of my runs go along the Fox. I guess I’ll have to wait a bit until the water recedes.

We received 2.47 inches of rain in 24 hours. It was mainly in 3 storms of .85 inches in 20 minutes, .83 inches in 30 minutes and the rest over the night. Other CoCoRaHS observers in Kane County recorded over 3 inches! That’s a lot of rain and right now it’s all coming down the Fox.

Here are some photos of the bridge in Geneva and Island Park. For those who have visited us, the playground is the one we would normally walk to. That’s a lot of water!

You can see more photos on our Kodak Album site.

I also uploaded a video shot looking at the dam just above Route 38 in Geneva. You can see it by clicking on Videos on the left.

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August 23, 2007 by jon.

Talk about some rain.  We’ve had two storms this afternoon and so far they’ve delivered over 1.6 inches of rain.  Add that to the 5.57 inches of rain so far this month and animals will start lining up 2 by 2.  And it’s not over.  We should get more rain maybe tonight and tomorrow before things slow down a bit.

CoCoRaHS has some interesting reports showing Intense Precipitation and total acumulation. 

Check it out if you get a chance.  Better yet, sign up so you can contribute to the data!

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August 20, 2007 by jon.

I was Tagged by Diane recently and had no idea what that meant. So I checked with her and it seems I answer a number of questions about myself. So here goes:

Jobs I’ve Held:

• Walgreens - Clerk through Assistant Manager
• USNR - Quarter Master - My Job was to steer ships but in 6 years in the reserve I was on a bridge for 15 min…
• Round the Corner Restaurant - Burger flipper to Shift Mgr
• Barnes & Noble - Clerk through 2nd Assistant Mgr
• Abracadabra Antiquarian Bookshop - Booksearch Specialist to Mgr
• Bit by Bit Comptuer Rental - Assistant Mgr
• Ciber Inc. - Contracted to IBM Global Services to do deskside support at Xcel Energy
• HRH - Local IT Mgr Denver to Regional IT Mgr Midwest Region
• Volunteer for CoCoRaHS

Movies I can Watch Over and Over:

• Saving Private Ryan
• Lord of the Rings
• Moulin Rouge
• Harry Potter movies  (What a range of interests)

My Guilty Pleasures:

• Wasting time on the computer…
• Carribou Coffee Large Skim Mocha  (Yum!)
• Panera Asiago Cheese Bagel (Hence Coffee & Bagels at

Places I’ve Lived:

• Roseville, MI
• Sanford, MI
• Monrovia, CA
• Diamond Bar, CA
• Littleon, CO
• Ft. Collins, CO
• Thornton, CO
• Geneva, IL

Shows I Enjoy:

• Mythbusters
• Dirty Jobs
• Any other geeky Discovery Channel shows - Esp concerning weather!

Places I have Been on Vacation:

• Colorado (Before we lived there)
• California (Again, before living there)
• Cancun
• Chicago & Circle tour of Lake Michigan (Again….Before living there…Gotta be careful where our next vacation is…..)
• Estes Park, CO (Great place for a honeymoon)
• Philmont Scout Ranch (That’s a vacation, right?)
• Government Sponsored (USNR) Tokyo, Japan  Hawaii  Norfolk, VA
• Las Vegas

Favorite Foods:

• Cafe Mocha  (See above)
• French Fries
• Pizza
• A good Filet Mignon

Website I Visit Daily:

• Coffee & Bagles at 8
• CoCoRaHS
• RealClearPolitics.com
• MyYahoo.Com
• LinkedIn

Body Parts I Have Injured:

• Stitches in 2 different places (Head, Thumb)
• Various running ailments (Shin Splints, Achillies Heel, Lower Back problems)
• No broken bones although I did chip a joint playing basketball a while ago
• I do have a BB lodged in my left hand from a stupid stunt in 7th grade

Awards I’ve Won:

• Eagle Boy Scout
• Employee of the Year for HRH Denver (2000)
• Top bowler in bowling club, Senior year high school (Yipee!)
• Fantasy Football Champions (2001???)

Nicknames You’ve been Called:

• Snurk
• Other bad ones from when I was younger that left emotional scars 

Pick 5 Other Bloggers:

• Don’t really know any others, but I’ll pick Kala

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August 20, 2007 by jon.

As Kala knows, Global Warming really gets me.  When reading articles or seeing shows, there usually is evidence that is left out and it irks me.  A prime example is the Discovery Channel show Can We Control the Weather.  While they talked about some interesting stuff on how cloud seeding might help change hurricane courses, what got me was an early statement that hurricane strength and frequencys are increasing since 1970 as proof of Global Warming.  They implied that this hasn’t happened before.

In reality, hurricane seasons run in cycles.  The last time we had a cycle of increased activity was from the 1920’s - 1940’s.

Cal Thomas has a good opinion piece today that discusses how the current Global Warming scientists conveniently leave out or just don’t look at all of the facts.  Cal Thomas

I just find this all interesting and sometimes frustrating.

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August 17, 2007 by jon.

  I just had to post a link to this it’s so weird.

  The Top Earning Dead Celebrities from Forbes. 

  There’s really only one person on the list that I’m pretty sure of where he is now.  J.R.R. Tolkien.  As for the others, who knows and why does it matter how much their estate gets when they are in a bad place?

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August 16, 2007 by jon.

Ok, I try to do no more than 1 post a day, but I just had to put this out there.  This little video really explains the Social Bookmarking trend that actually, I’ve not really gotten in to.  I may have to now.

Social Bookmarking Explained

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August 16, 2007 by jon.

If so, let me know what your blog address is and I’ll post in on my links section.  It’s always good to read others blogs to catch up with people.

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August 16, 2007 by jon.

It seems all of my friends (That I grew up with) are turning 40.  Today is Steve’s turn.  Steve and I met almost 20 years ago when the girl I was dating at the time (Heidi) brought him to our weekly volleyball get together.  Since then we’ve roomed together, he stood in my wedding party, got married within a month of each other (Obviously I didn’t marry Heidi), we’ve done vacations together, helped each other move, played football (And fantasy football) and many other things.

Steve married Rachelle who has been Kala’s friend since 2nd grade (Yes, that long) and they continue to be great friends even though we’ve moved 1000 miles away.

Back to 40.  Jodi started the march by turning 40 last July (Jodi is another of Kala’s great long-term friends) Karl then hit 40 in January (Another friend that I’ve known longer than Steve!) and Rachelle hit the big four O in July.  Kala is next in October then we take a break for almost a year when Heidi (We still keep in touch) hits in August, I’m in September along with another friend Kevin.

It’s amazing, looking back, to think of all of the time that we spent with these people and the fun we had growing up together.  Most of them have been in my life or Kala’s for 20 years or more.  There’s something to be said about that.  Even though we’ve moved to Illinois, we still see most at least occassionally.

Here’s to friends and doing life together.

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August 14, 2007 by jon.

This blog posting from Kristin Armstrong (Ex-wife of Lance) sums it up nicely why I run.  I run to be a better person, I run because I enjoy it, I run because God gave me that ability.

I’ve been thinking lately that I would like to find a running coach to improve my running and my overall health.  Do I want to do this to increase my time in a race?  No.  Times are great and I’m sure I would get better with proper training, but I want to do it to be better overall.  To be healthy.

Why do I run?  Why not?
Mile Markers: Spot on, Bertha

If you get a chance, read some of Kristin’s other blog postings.  They are quite good.

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August 9, 2007 by jon.

Here are the legs that I ran for the WWR.  These were downloaded from my GPS and then uploaded to the Motionbased system.

• Leg 8
• Leg 20
• Leg 32

Just to show that I actually ran some before the race to acclimate to the altitude, here are 2 runs I did earlier in the week.  a 5 mile run and a 3 mile run.

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August 8, 2007 by jon.

Here is a link to my photos on Kodak Easy Share site.  You can log in to take a look at them.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=154ynoj9.8so4dsbx&x=1&y=-1seieb

Jon

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August 6, 2007 by jon.

  Our HRH team finished the Wild West Relay this past weekend.  This was the fourth time any of us have done a relay and the first for the WWR.  We all were impressed with the race organization and the course.  The course basically followed roads throughout so it was difficult to get lost.  The only course related complaint was that in some places the shoulder on the road was not that wide and we were nervouse when trucks passed by.

  So how did I do?  Not too bad I guess.  I’m always think I can do better after a race and this one was no different.  I was in Van 2 so we didn’t begin our running until after Noon on Friday.  I was runner 8 (Second runner in Van 2).  One of these races I’m going to have to be in the first van just to see what it’s like.  It is difficult to get up and get ready for a race, have the race start, then have 3-4 hours before your first run.  I was full of nervous energy and only running would help that.

  Oh and I was full of something else.  We had stopped at a little country store while waiting for our turn.  Most of those in our van had breakfast buritto’s with sausauge and then had upset stomachs.  Of course I had more than just the upset stomach so I was visiting a port a potty at every stop. :-(  It was only later that we pieced together that the common denominator was the buritto’s.  We all thought it was just nerves.  So keep this in mind as you read on.

  My first run sucked was difficult.  I should put that a little different but I don’t really know how.  I ran it all wrong.  Remember I had my nerves running as well as other stuff so I went out too fast.  I looked at my Garmin after a 1/2 mile and realized I was running a 7:30 mile!  Way too fast.  I tried to slow myself down, but for some reason my body just wanted to run.  You see,the reason I wanted to slow down was so I could save some energy for the upcoming hills.

  When I started the inclines I just melted.  They were hard!  I ended up walking about 5 times in 3.2 miles.  I was pretty annoyed with myself.  It was weird because my mind kept saying lets go but my body stopped.  It’s hard to keep running like that.

  My first leg was again 3.2 miles.  I started at 5900 feet and gained a total of 402 feet in elevation.  My miles were run at 8:08 first mile, 9:37 second, and 11:14 for the third.  See how I killed my self by starting fast?  Total time for the leg was 31:39 for an average of 9:45 per mile.  Some of the factors that detracted from the run were my stomach, running into the wind, the heat (Close to 90), I didn’t bring water and the hills.  I just did not run it well but I finished.

  One thing that I liked about this relay was that they provided a pretty detailed time spreadsheet where they would take a runners 10k time and using a formula, predict how long it would take that runner to finish a leg.  Our team was trying to stay ahead of “Schedule” throughout the race and for the most part we did…except my first run.  I was 2 minutes behind schedule.

  After our van finished we had a beautiful drive up the Poudre Canyon and through a large valley to get to Wood’s Landing in Wyoming.  We had about 5-6 hours to wait until it was our turn again.  Wood’s Landing is a little hole in the wall town with one bar/restraurant and gas station.  The store stayed open late for the runners and the bar served up lasagna and spagetti for $10 per plate.  It was a nice break from the race. 

  Since we had so long to wait we all settled down to try and get some sleep.  Try finding places for 7 people to sleep in a 15 person van.  Not easy.  Matt actually took his sleepling bag outside and slept on the ground.  As for me, I didn’t get any sleep.  It wasn’t comfortable and was loud (About 50 vans there) and my stomach was still unsettled.

  We started running again around midnight.  Matt took off on a uphill course and we drove to the next point so I could get ready.

  My second run was better.  Matt came in a little early so I started at 1:42 am.  I can’t tell you how weird it is to run in the middle of the night with absolutely no one around.  Every other relay that I ran, my night runs were through a town (Vail) so there were at least lights.  Nothing like that on this run.  This was Wyoming and it was desolate quiet.  I did from time to time see the blinking light of a runner ahead of me so at least I knew I was going the right way.  I kept waiting for the light to sink into the ground because it meant that we had reached the downhill portion of the run.  (About 1.5 miles into the run)

  I ran this one smarter.  I started slower and then just kept chugging.  I kept telling myself that this would be my best leg and that I couldn’t let my teammates down.  The air was cooler but not cold.  It was about perfect for running in.  I had on a long sleeve tek shirt and shorts and it was enough.  Oh and I also carried water.  I learned from my first disaster leg.

  My times?  First mile was 8:59 (Going uphill), second was 8:45, third was 8:12 and fourth as 8:10.  Total mileage was 4.3 miles and I ran it in 36:52, an average of 8:28 per mile.  Much better.  I started at 9100 feet and gained 172 feet in elevation before dropping down to finish at 8774 feet.  Basically an uphill run then a long downhill.

  Better yet, I gained back the 2 minutes that I lost compared to the schedule from my first run.  So overall, I was even verses my predicted time.

  I did get about an hour nap while Elke was running (Runner 11) so that helped me a bit.  We traded with the other van in Walden and went looking for food.  We found a little cafe that had just opened for breakfast (It was just after 6:00 am) so we stopped in.  Even though my stomach was queasy (STILL!) I had some eggs, bacon & toast.  It felt pretty good to get some food down the hatch.

  Our van’s last legs started just before Rabbit Ears Pass.  So we drove to the next van exchange and parked for the next 3 hours.  Again, I couldn’t sleep so I read a bit.  Some others slept, but the sun was up and it was getting warm.  Not too comfortable to sleep in.

  Matt (First in our van) started running up the pass around 11:00.  He had a steep uphill climb to get to the top.  My run started at the top of the pass.  Well Matt surprised us all by getting ther 10  minutes early.  He just was a machine running up the hill and did a great job.

  So my last leg started at 11:51 am.  Luckily I was ready to go when Matt came in.  My stomach was settling down (Finally!) and I had my gear ready and a plan.  This was supposed to be my easiest leg according to the schedule but looking at it, I saw a number of inclines that I would have to tackle…at elevation.  I was a little concerned about that so my plan was to start slow to save energy for the hills.

  I did walk 3 times the whole leg but each time it was at the top of a hill and not while running up.  Something my cross country coach told me a long time ago.  “Never walk while running up a hill, only when going down because you don’t lose as much time.”  I tried to follow that and did ok. 

  There was a girl who passed me about half way and then we leapfrogged a bit because she kept stopping to stretch.  I finally came up to her when we approached the last hill and told her to just keep pace with me and we’ll tackle the hill together.  I think she appreciated it because she was then able to run the rest of the way without stopping and we finished the leg together.

  I finished feeling too strong.  I could have left more on the course.  The hills weren’t as bad as I thought they would be so saving energy for them wasn’t a good plan.  Oh well, I finished and didn’t do too bad.

  Leg distance was 3.8 miles.  I did the first mile in 9:43, second in 11:04 and third in 10:04 for an average of 10:10 for the leg.  I started at 9432 feet, gained 390 feet and lost 302 feet to finish at 9520 feet.  Basically rolling hills at high elevation.

  It was probably my second best run out of the three but I was dissappointed because I could have run it better.  I ended up losing about 4 minutes verses the schedule, but our team was still 18 minutes ahead. 

  I won’t go into much else because this is already too long.  Suffice it to say that I had a great time running with my friends.  We all enjoyed the race and probably would consider this relay again.  The timing in the year is much better for me due to school and vacations.  (The Outward Bound Relay is run in September)

  Overall, we finished 72nd out of 128 teams.  It took us 29:51 with an average pace of 9:14 per mile.  (The top team finished at 20:33 with a 6:21 pace!)

  We seem to be getting better each race.  Everyone on the team ran some strong legs.  I was impressed and honored to run with them again.

  If you haven’t run a relay before, give it a try.  It is a great experience.

Final tally for me:

• 11.3 miles
• 10 Pepto chewable tablets
• 2 Imodium AD pills
• 1 Tums
• 1 Breakfast Buritto that started it all (So to speak)
• Over $200 in new running clothes (See Vacation Log Day 2)
• 40 hours with one pair of contacts in
• No showers over that same 40 hours…
• One fun race with friends

  BTW - I purchased the below poster because it shows the course in great detail and it’s easier to explain to others what the race was like.  Again I did legs 8, 20 & 32 (Ended at exchange 8, 20 & 32)

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