Keep Austin Weird

I am fully prepared to recite the Stoops Prayer, say 50 Hail Switzers, and sing Boomer Sooner multiple times as penance for my crime because I know that I am committing a cardinal sin against the sooner nation by saying that I love Austin.  Despite it being the Longhorn Capital of the world and home to some of the world’s most obnoxious college football fans, it is an awesome City. 

“Keep Austin Weird” is the community slogan and no one seems to have to try that hard to make it happen.  Austin is a paradox and maybe I like it so much because it reflects my own personality and interests. It is an eclectic mix of academia, government, rural, urban, commercialism, independence, sports, music, hippies, businessmen, cowboys and artists.   It amazes me that so many different ideas, cultures, philosophies and socioeconomic standings work together to create one colorful community.  In the same restaurant, it is not uncommon to see the cleanest most conservative businessman tables away from an unkempt, free-spirited hippie while a genuine cowboy waits to get a seat.   This is reflected in the shops, the art, and the music scene as well.  I am lucky to have family in the area so it gives my wife and me an excuse to go down there several times a year. 

We took a long weekend last week and went down with some friends to participate in the Austin Marathon.  It felt like we were back in college.  There were six of us going, so we did the most logical thing to do for six adults who have college degrees and good jobs – we shoved ourselves into one vehicle and crammed into one hotel room to save money!  It might as well have been spring break 1999 when 22 of us piled into a 20 person van for a 20 hour road trip to Florida. 

The ride to Austin was filled with loud music, bad jokes, road games and lots of pit stops.  We determined that the passenger in the front had to be the part time DJ, navigator, and full-time Wikipedia resource.  Anytime someone had a question or wondered about a rumor, it had to be confirmed via the Wikipedia iPhone app.  With all of the goofing off and traffic, we barely arrived at the fitness expo in time to pick up our race packets and visit the vendors. 

The rest of the evening was pretty subdued.  We all had to run the next day  and the pre-race jitters had started to set in.  We met up with my sister-in-law and future brother-in-law and ate at a mom and pop Italian restaurant in one of the suburbs so that we could all use “carb loading” as an excuse to pig out on pasta.   We got back to the hotel room and everyone laid out what they would need for their race the next morning and went to bed.  Between other people snoring (you know who you are) and the thoughts of the big race the next day, it was a bit of a restless night.  I finally drifted off to sleep and woke up to the sound of my alarm at 4:45.  I intentionally set my alarm notification to “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley so that I could “Rickroll” everyone in the room to start our day.   If you don’t know what” Rickrolling” is, then you really have to look it up here:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickrolling 

 I went through my normal pre-race routine – breakfast finished two hours before the race, coffee an hour and a half before the race and at least five trips to the bathroom.  We were extremely fortunate to get one of the last rooms at the host hotel, so the starting line was literally two blocks away.  We left with about twenty minutes until the start of the race and took our places among the appropriate pace groups. 

When the gun goes off for a race like this, it is one of those moments that seem to happen in slow motion.  There is a wave of emotion, exhilaration, and relief that is hard to explain.  It produces a burst of adrenaline that will carry you through a significant portion of the race.  The excitement is so high that you have to be extremely careful not to start to quickly which will cause you to burn out later on in the race. With 21,000 people in the event I knew that it would take a while to cross the starting line and begin to run, so I took that walk to focus and grit my teeth for the more than four and a half hours of running that awaited me.

 I made a special playlist for the marathon and as soon as the gun went off, I hit play.  Johnny Cash’s dark and powerful “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” really got me focused as I prepared to take those first steps past the starting line.  I strategically placed songs throughout the playlist that would give me the emotional support or boost that I needed at certain points of the race.  A race like this is an emotional roller coaster.  There is excitement, focus, dread, depression, hope, and the exuberance all rolled into one event.  I actually think the mental aspect of a marathon is harder than the physical aspect. 

The race was fun.  It was hot, it was windy, and the hills were brutal, but it was fun.  I felt great for most of the race, but the hills did start to wear me down.  They say that the half-way point for a marathon physically is mile 20 and that seemed about right for this race.  I got some much needed encouragement from my wife and friends at mile 22 and even called my parents to chat during some of the doldrums of the run.  By the time I reached the final few miles, some of which passed through the University of Texas Campus, I was even too tired to show the downward horns to all of those evil UT fans.   The last half mile was awesome.  There was a nice downhill portion that seemed to say “Finish strong, you are almost there.”  I was overcome with emotion as I knew the event was almost over. Tears of excitement welled up in my eyes as I turned the last corner and saw the finish line just 200 yards away.  I used every last bit of energy I had to sprint to the finish and pass as many people as I could along the way.  The relief, the sense of accomplishment and the elation was surreal; it almost felt like I was out of my body watching it from above.  Of course, then I came back to reality and felt like I was going to puke – but hey, you take the good with the bad.  I finished about 11 minutes slower than I had hoped, but that doesn’t really matter to me because the joy of this experience was truly the journey – not the finish. 

The rest of the trip was a blast.  We went to all the assorted shops, tried different varieties of food from mobile food vendors and really took in all the City had to offer.  We ate BBQ, Tex-Mex and saw several bands.  We kept it pretty local and organic with the exception of twice-daily trips to Starbucks.  It was the perfect mix of activities with and was a great trip.  We ran, we laughed, we ate, and we explored.  Despite its one burnt orange flaw, Austin is one of the coolest Cities I have ever seen but the experience was made great by having great friends and family to share it with.  My legs are still sore and my stomach is still full – but I think it is already time to start thinking about another race and the next adventure. 

My Very Own Mustache

All of my life, I have been impressed by the majestic being that is the mustache.  A full, glorious mustache demands respect,  it is a sign of manliness, and usually an indication that the person is employed by a agency whose duty is to uphold the law.  Ah yes, the mustache with its many shapes, sizes, and designs. 

I have never been able to grow a mustache.  You see, Muellers are relatively hairless creatures that have to make their way through the world without the power of the mustache to help propel them along.  To say that this is a handicap is an understatement.  Never have I been able to enjoy the fulfillment of perfectly designed facial manscaping. 

Recently, a once in a lifetime opportunity presented itself that would allow me to live my dream and have my very own mustache!  The program was called “Rent a Stache” and this ingenious idea was a fundraiser put in place by a friend to raise money for LIVESTRONG.  My friend had been growing his facial hair for months to provide a full canvas to work with and the person who contributed the most to his LIVESTRONG account got to design the facial hair. 

Knowing that it would take a hefty sum of money to win such a coveted prize, I teamed up with my wife and another friend so we could pool our resources and come away with sweet, sweet victory.   The final hours of the competition were fierce as there were many people vying for the right to rent the stache, but we walked away triumphant.  Now the real work began.  With such an opportunity in front of us – how would we design our work of art? 

After careful consideration, my partners and I engineered the perfect blueprint. The mustache itself is designed in standard handlebar fashion.  On the chin, we chose to go with a skinny goatee with beads added to the end.  I am particularly proud of our creativity involving the sideburns.    They are to be Elvis style mutton chops with double spikes. 

The trip to Austin is this weekend and it will be the first time that we get to see our conception come to life.  While I may still not have the ability to grow much more than a five o’clock shadow, I now have the next best thing. 

Excuse me sir, you have some feathers stuck in your teeth.

My good friend had one and only request for his birthday this year, and that was to go the Ozzy Osbourn concert in Tulsa.  I haven’t been a huge Ozzy fan since I was a kid, but it was a great chance to see one of the big artists that I have never seen in concert.  I still remember back in the early 90’s when Ozzy was on the “No More Tours” tour.   I vividly recall sitting at Pizza Hut begging my mom to take me to the concert, saying “This is his last tour, if I don’t see him now, I never will.”  I couldn’t believe she didn’t want to take me!  She grew up in the era of Black Sabbath and loved “Fairies Wear Boots,” so this should have been a shared interest.  Well, apparently it wasn’t, so no concert for me and I had to come to terms with the fact that I will never see the rock icon. Obviously, almost twenty years later, he is still touring and the “No More Tours” tour was not the last one.  There have been many of the “this is my last tour” statements from several bands, but I think Ozzy is the one who started the trend.  It is a great marketing ploy, but it rarely sticks. 

The concert was a great experience.  An added bonus was that Slash was the opening act.  I went to a lot of concerts when I was a kid, but Guns and Roses is another big band that I didn’t get to see.  Since Guns and Roses isn’t really Guns and Roses anymore and Axl seems to be so far off the deep end that a real reunion will never happened, Slash is the next best thing.  He had Myles Kennedy touring with him as his singer and it was awesome.  Kennedy sang the Guns and Roses songs perfectly – in fact, his vocal range probably far exceeds what Axl has at this point.  Slash was great, he played a mix of solo songs, Guns and Roses songs, and even a Velvet Revolver tune.  The highlight was “Sweet Child O' Mine.”  Hearing Slash play that song live was unbelievable.  There are not any guitarists that can imitate his sound, and that is one of the greatest guitar songs ever written. 

Ozzy was great as well.  He opened with “Bark at the Moon,” and his voice wasn’t very strong.  I thought it was going to be another concert of seeing an aging artist with an awesome band, but significantly mixed down vocals.  I run into that a lot with the bands I see because most of the bands I like are from another generation.  After the first song; however, he sounded great – surprisingly so for a 62 year old.  The set list was good and other than “No More Tears” he played all of the songs that I hoped to hear.  For me, the highlight was “War Pigs.”  It started out with air raid sirens and had really creepy imagery of World War II footage playing on the big screen behind the band during the song.  If my mom would have been there, she would have been pleased because they did play “Fairies Wear Boots.” 

Ozzy’s stage presence was kind of funny; he jumped around a lot and at times, seemed to be doing calisthenics.  He loved shooting the crowd with a fire hose, which probably made for some interesting walks back to the parking garage in the single digit weather.  He also dunked his head in a bucket of water after almost every song and played the entire show sopping wet.  It was all in good fun and he still looked like he enjoyed every minute on stage.  It was a great show and a great experience. 

Old Man Winter is a................

So it is in Oklahoma that winter decides to come on full force during the time of year when all sane people have had all of the barren landscape and desolate temperatures that they can stand.  Old Man Winter’s gift last week was the second most significant blizzard in the state’s history.  What a joy! 

I used to love the snow when I was younger because it usually meant a reprieve from the oppressive hand of the educational system.  In fact, I credit a significant snow storm that occurred during my junior year in college for some great grades because all of my finals got cancelled.  However, as an adult, snow and ice causes everything in my professional life to become chaos.  Winter weather is a phenomenon that every city manager fears!   Whenever it is present, the roads have to be cleared, motorists have to be helped, and fires have to be put out.  This week certainly lived up to the hype.  The public works crews spent every day clearing the roads (which were the best in the area by the way – my guys ROCK!) the police department had to round up any available four wheel drives to make it through the snow drifts, and one of the worst structure fires in decades occurred (more than likely the result of a wood burning stove).      

Needless to say, it caused a lot of work.  All I really wanted to do was strap on my snowboard and tie a ski rope to the Police Department’s T-Rex (the T-Rex is an all terrain vehicle that was generously loaned to the Guthrie PD to break up any shenanigans that may be occurring in the woods at one of our lakes) and have the Police Chief pull me through the streets of Guthrie.  Fortunately, my better judgment shined through because that probably would have been frowned uponJ.  We did spend a lot of time in the chief’s truck helping stranded motorists and observing which roads were passable and which ones weren’t. 

By Wednesday, I was tired of being cooped up and really needed to get a run in since the marathon is just around the corner.  Since the YMCA was closed due to weather, I decided to brave to frigid air and test fate.  I threw on more clothes than I think I have ever worn including four pair of pants, two pair of socks, two shirts, two hats, two pair of gloves, a face warmer, and a coat.  I must have added at least 100 pound to my weight.  I only slipped once and thankfully didn’t fall.  I did break the record for my coldest run as it was 8 degrees and my previous best was 18.  I went seven miles and it really wasn’t too bad. 

Saturday’s run was another story.  It was my last long run in preparation for the marathon and I had to do at least 20.  I decided I was going to try and run at Mitch Park and the Coffee Creek Trail in Edmond.  I had to leave my trusty running partner Toby Dogg at home because I just didn’t think his little paws could handle four hours of snow and ice. Even though he whined and whimpered, I knew it was the best.  He is still kind of pouting about it and gives me the stink eye any time he looks my way. 

 The run was one of the most difficult runs I have ever experienced.  The trails were still covered in snow so I spent the first five miles high stepping before I got to the neighborhood roads in Coffee Creek.  This just sucked the energy out of me and I felt like I had run double the amount that I had.  The Coffee Creek roads weren’t too bad until it started to warm up and the ice turned to slush and started filling my shoes with wet, frosty misery.  I toughed it out until mile 15 and then packed up and went to the Y to finish the adventure.  That was a wise decision and I ended up going a total of 23.3 miles which is the second farthest I have ever run. 

I realize that I didn’t really have it that bad.  I didn’t get stuck, I didn’t lose electricity, none of my family had an accident, and I wasn’t stuck in my house.  Nonetheless, I wish to give Old Man Winter a nice send off with a one finger salute because the groundhog did not see his shadow and that means it is time for an early spring.  Stay Warm! 

Them is Some Fancy Shoes

One of the many exciting things about training for a marathon is the ability to get new shoes on a frequent basis.  The shoes that a runner chooses – excuse me, the shoes that choose a runner are of great importance to the success of any race or training schedule.  They are a key element of success, not only to provide the unique support needed for one's running style, but to ensure that a runner looks his or her best when they are out there putting in the miles.  After all, everyone knows that the key to being a successful runner has nothing to do with hard work, training, or God given ability; it is all about how snazzy you look when you are out there.  If you look good enough during a race, you will intimidate the other runners who won’t dare to pass you, hence you will place high in your age group. 

Last week, it was time for me to replace my worn out shoes with some new ones since they reached the 400 mile mark.  My mind raced with excitement as  I went to my favorite running outlet to see what type of color selection awaited me on this year’s model of the Asics Gel Kayanos.  These are the shoes that choose me over 3 years ago and I have stuck with them ever since.  They have seen me through countless run events, triathlons, trail runs and workouts but never have they given me the gift which awaited me on that day. 

One of the color selections on the Kayano 17s was black on black! Immediately, I pictured myself cutting through the early morning darkness of the Austin Marathon with my black shoes, black running shorts and black tech shirt.  I would be a ninja slicing through the crowded streets on my way to eternal glory.  The anticipation that I felt waiting for the UPS man to deliver my secret weapon was almost too much to bear. 

On the day of scheduled arrival, I clicked the tracking number many, many times so that I may snatch the shoes from my porch before anyone got word of their arrival and attempted to take them for themselves.  At the end of the day, the tracker said “delivered – front porch.”   Oh, I hurried home, unwrapped the package to find them staring up at me just begging me to put them on and go for a run.  How could I resist???

I put on all of the black running clothes I could find and laced my shoes up for the first time.  Oh, the feeling of them on my feet – how they cradled my ankle made every step feel like I was walking on a cloud.  I walked – no I STRUTTED into the computer room to model them to my wife.  I was so proud, I just knew that she would jump out of her chair to embrace me because my manliness and secret agent style would be irresistible to any normal woman.  I prepared myself to fight her off so she could get in the way of my run when she looked over at me. 

At first I thought I heard the gasps of disbelief of being married to a man with such style and debonair, but no!  It was laughing.  I was in shock as between her chuckles she told me that my shoes were the ugliest thing she had ever seen and that they looked like non-skid shoes that you buy at Wal Mart. 

I was in spechless– I have always considered my wife to be a woman of good taste and style.  Apparently not!  Apparently, she does not realize true beauty when she sees it.  It is a good thing that I can ignore these shortcomings or it might cause problems in our marriage. 

Despite her poor taste, the shoes met every expectation that I had.  The only question now is whether or not I should run with my samurai sword during my ninja runs.  Who knows, I might need it to fend off all of the normal people who would stop at nothing to take my awesome shoes! 

One More Mile

Earlier this week, I switched my registration from the Austin Half Marathon to the Full Marathon.  26.2 miles of running - what was I thinking?  I did run the OKC Memorial Marathon in 2008, but to steal a phrase from my buddy; I thought that I ran two marathons that day – my first, and my last.  Well, apparently not.  It is too late, I am now committed and my pride is on the line.  Ok, ok, the real motivator is that I was charged an extra 55 bucks which was the price difference in the half and the full plus a 10 dollar processing fee. 

The whole thing kind of snuck up on me this time.  It is definitely something that I didn’t seek out to do.  After the Route 66 half marathon in November, I decided that I was going run 10 miles each weekend to keep from getting out of shape during the Holidays and get a head start on training for the Austin Half.  I stuck to my plan for two weeks, but then I wasn’t satisfied with the distance and thought, “Well, I will do 12 today.”  That kept escalating and next it was 13, then 14, then 16 etc. etc.   I got to the point, where I was significantly through the necessary training for a marathon without even realizing it.  Then my wife made me a list (that’s what she does – list after list) of the top 8 reasons to run another marathon.  Reason 6 was that it would give me an excuse to wear more spandex and that was the clincher! 

It has been a really fun and low stress experience this time. I haven’t really been following a plan and I am not taking it too seriously.  I usually set out to run significantly less than I do, but end up enjoying it so much that I start thinking “Just one more mile” every time I get towards the end.  That was the case this week. I had planned to give myself a recovery week and run a much lower distance, but ended up running a 22 miler yesterday.    

I get extra motivation from my trusty companion, Toby Dogg.  I started taking him running earlier this year and he has gotten to where he can run almost as far as I can.  He ran his farthest yesterday when he went 20.  It is too bad that he can’t run the event with me – I think he could do it. 

Maybe it is the fact that I have done one before or maybe it is because I was able to run 18 miles before I realized that I was training for a marathon, but the training has been much more zen like this time around.  Rather than looking at the long run I face each Saturday as a chore, I have been seeing them as a way to unplug, spend time with my hound, acquaint myself with new music, and clear my head.  Hopefully the next month will be as good as the last few and the marathon itself will just be the celebration that is the culmination of all the training. 

Tribute to a Lost Friend

On Monday, my cousin Jeffery went backcountry snowboarding with a friend and his trusty dog, Bo.  His friend completed the run before Jeff and Bo and waited at the bottom, but they didn’t show up.  He caught a ride to the top and went down two more times looking for Jeff but did not have any success.  The friend then notified the authorities and they began to search for my cousin.  The weather was not good in the area and the location was at a high risk for avalanche.  The friend has noticed a small snow slide behind them while coming down the run, but still had a visual on Jeff and Bo until a short time later. 

Weather and conditions dictated that the search be called off that night, but a command unit was stationed at the trail head in case Jeff made it down during the night.  Even though conditions in the area were still sketchy the search resumed Tuesday morning.  Friends and rescuers combed the area utilizing all available resources to try and give him the best opportunity to get back to his friends and family.   A report got out through the rumor mill that they had found his body and that he didn’t make it.  The rumor was quickly dispelled, but it was an eerie foreshadowing event that, for the first time, made me realize that this saga might not have a happy ending.   

Once again, the search had to be called of that night due to conditions but it resumed at first light Wednesday morning.  I received a call from my folks around noon that they had recovered his body buried in the snow and that he was no longer with us. 

Jeff was family – Jeff was a friend, but the truth is that we had lost touch over the past 10 years.  Jeff was always off living life to the fullest and wasn’t the kind of cousin that was at every holiday and family gathering.  He had invited me to Colorado several times to stay with him and go snowboarding and I always thought we would have a blast together.  I had every intention of going but was guilty of being too wrapped up in my own life and not finding the time to make it actually happen.

It is not like we didn’t get along; every time we saw each other we had a great time.  I always looked forward to seeing him, enjoyed his company and we had common interests in wakeboarding and snowboarding.  It is sad that we didn’t spend more time together as adults.  Even though he was five years younger than I was, we spent a lot of time together as kids.  In many ways, he was like a little brother.  I would pick on him, we would fight, we would cause mischief and it was always great fun.  We were the only two kids at the family gatherings growing up, but I think we got the attention and caused the trouble equal to an army of kids.

Most of us get so caught up in our daily lives, our problems, our agendas and our activities that we sometimes don’t put the effort into relationships that we have with family and friends  like we should.  We all have relationships that we take for granted and think will always be there.  Sometimes you don’t realize a special relationship or special memories that you may have missed out on until it is too late.  I think it is important to live life to the fullest – to live without any regret and to treat each opportunity, each encounter, and each conversation like it may be the last. 

I truly believe that Jeff lived life to the fullest.  He had the courage and the sense of adventure to pursue the kind of lifestyle and take the kind of chances that most of us only fantasize about when we are teenagers.  He spent is summers by the water, and his winters in the snow.  Living life was what mattered to him, not material things or fitting in to the mold of what society tells us we should be at every step of our lives.  He had the courage to make his own mold.  He had the spirit to blaze his own trails.  To those of us who knew him, his 26 years were not enough on this earth.  There were many adventures left undone and many areas left unexplored.  Although we may not understand the reasons why, I do believe everything happens according to God’s grand plan. 

Jeff – I am sorry we didn’t have more time together in the past few years, but I am thankful for the time that we did have.  I have always admired your adventurous spirit.  You always showed courage that I have never possessed and lived life to the fullest because of it.  I am glad that you got to spend your last day on earth doing something you loved with your trusty companion.  A friend of mine once told me that people live eternally on earth by the memories they leave behind and the impact they have on those around them.  I think you had an impact on everyone you touched and have left many fond memories with many people.  Your spirit will live on, but you will be missed.