Year in Review 2014

It's time again to do my year in review that I post every New Year's Eve. The year of 2014 was filled with so many memories that it will be hard to not write a book for this post. I'll try and just capture some of the high points.

The year began with construction. We decided to remodel our basement to better accommodate the ages of our kids. Having boys in the teenage years of life requires more space, and so we added two more legal bedrooms. They turned out really nice, and come spring we put in the required egress windows, which totally changed the character of the space. We also took the opportunity to get a new floor in our kitchen, and replace an aging and broken dishwasher this year. Because we may not stay in this house once the kids all graduate, we're trying to weigh the options for how much work we want to do, and how much money to invest.

My year in beer was mostly uneventful. I didn't bother entering many competitions this year, although I did volunteer at one. We did partake quite frequently of the new taprooms that are springing up around town, and I enjoyed trying a lot of new brews, and filling out my Untappd check-in list. I did complete my keg collar project, and it turned out great, and I've loved having fresh beer on tap at any time. My final project for this year was trying a cider, which is currently fermenting in my basement.

As I talked about in a previous wrap-up, this was a great year in running for me. I managed numerous races, including my second full marathon. My training this year was markedly better than previous years, and I managed to avoid injury for my entire season. My times dropped, and I was running slower for much of the year, but I felt good and felt strong, so I'm not going to worry about pace. I'm really hopeful for my 2015 running year. My goal for 2015 will be to run a race every month of the year.

On the travel front, we had a couple of big trips. We headed to Las Vegas to visit my wife's parents, leaving behind a snowstorm for a much warmer experience. Then we drove to Michigan for a 25K race with some good friends, stopping in Chicago on the way there, and taking a car ferry for part of the way back. The rest of our travel for the year involved quick trips to the North Shore along Lake Superior, or little visits to St. Cloud to visit family.

The boys have been doing well in school and work. My two boys are in schools that fit well for them, and have helped them get over their perceived bad experiences with middle school. Lisa's son has started working, and making decent money, learning how to be an adult. All three boys are growing into fine young men, and we're proud of all of them.

In the world of education, Lisa had some major accomplishments in 2014. She completed her Fitness Specialist certificate, got accepted, and started, her Physical Therapist Assistant program, and completed the final classes to get her Bachelor's of Elective Studies degree from Saint Cloud State University. I also completed a program this year, finishing my Graduate Certificate in Leadership from Capella University.

Our jobs have been going well, and our major marital strife's have all usually been around hugely major issues such as what to eat for dinner ;-) . So on the whole, life is good and we're happy and healthy. Here's looking forward to an exciting 2015, and all the awesome adventures that are to come.

A story of woe (ya, it's about cars...)

So let me tell you a story. A story of cars. Many cars. With lots of woe and tragedy that befall the sorrowful protagonist...

Our saga opens nigh a few fortnights past. The lovely maiden that doth shares her life with our hero engages in a transaction with the local smithy to correct some troubling misgivings in her primary mode of long distance ambulation. A short time passes, when the offspring of said maiden comes of age and requires a burdensome metal steed of his own. Our hero assists in the carrying out of this search and acquisition and all seems well in the kingdom. Until one fateful night that jabbering box of technology doth ring repeatedly. The offspring has run amok in the hinterlands, not fully understanding the ramifications of cursed alarms and flashing lights. His steed screams and sputters in cries of distress for its sacred fluid of lubrication. With oily substance now absent, the great metal beast gives up the ghost and retires to a place of rust and aged rubber.

But alas! The day is not all lost, as another steed has joined heard the call to hasten to the battlefield. A steed of black, with a name that evokes the image of science and electrification. For sure this metal savior will be the cause of much rejoicing for ages to come. But then, our hero smells a foul odor, burnt and acrid like the pits of Hades. Alas, his own beast of burden had chosen this moment in time to become stricken, unable to contain the viscous fluids that sustain whatever semblance of life that these metal steeds doth enjoy. Many days did pass, and much gold was tendered to the smithy to rejuvenate the fiery red beast to its former glory.

As the deed was completed, the hero sighs, content that the saga is now ended. It would not be so, for upon inspection of the grounds surrounding the castle, our hero did spy yet more droppings of the oily sustenance required by the metal beasts. On this occasion, the newcomer, the black steed of power beauty chose to spread its fluids in a manner most undignified for the nobility of its station. Yet, in distress, there was hope, and the passing of more coinage of gold, and after a moment of exercise in the art of patience, yet again all seemed well.

As the winter winds doth seem to embolden their cry, and the air became more and more like a stinging fly to one's cheeks, yet again was our hero called into action at the behest of those great beasts of burden. The maiden put forth a hue and cry of agony. Her mighty beast, the color of the bluest ocean, had gone lame. Our hero journeyed far and wide to save his beloved, but upon arriving at her place of distress, he discovered that he lacked both scalpel and bandage, rendering his aid fruitless. Being a man of importance, however, does grant one a station of privilege, and our hero was was quick to call in the cavalry to aid and assist the recovery and rescue of the fair maiden. The salvation was bittersweet, as the recovery of the steed of water also required the distribution of more sacred gold coin.

Upon arriving at the castle, the hero retreated to partake in wine and the fermented sweetness of malted drink. His task at sullen rejuvenation was quickly interrupted again by the squawking box message and mirth. The maiden's offspring had forgotten to let his steed sleep while performing his nightly labors, and had tired the beast to the point of complete exhaustion. Our hero, still clad in the riaments of daily work proceeded to act as savior and friend, revitalizing the mighty black steed to continue its journey.

All seemed quiet, and our hero was able to imbibe and cavort in his leisure. Until the next morning when the black steed once again showed a stubbornness, and required immediate admonishment. Our hero consulted the scribes and sages of knowledge and discovered a secret to taming the disobedient beast. But not before requiring the consult of the wise and noble smithy, who could elucidate further on the problems of this noble beast. Yet, this came at the cost of more gold coin, and the fear of more gold coin to come.

So here ends our tale. It is one of woe and sadness, and one that I hope never befalls any of you fine readers.

TL;DR

• My wife's car went in for repairs.
• Her son got a car, but then killed the engine because of a bad oil pump, and not knowing what to do with the oil warning lights.
• My car then had a real main seal leak that cost a ton.
• Then her son's car had a rear main seal leak that cost a bunch.
• Then my wife's car got a flat, and no tire wrench to change it. Had to get it towed and a couple new tires later...
• Then her son's car's battery died, and we had to get a new battery and another item fixed on it.

Running Recap 2014

This year was a big year for my running. After spending most of 2013 doing as little running as possible, Lisa and I hit the ground running (ha!) as soon as we could in 2014 with a full docket of races planned. I decided to start the year off by doing a small running streak. This meant committing to running at least 1 mile per day for as long as I could. I managed two months of a streak, with only one day that didn't really count. So I considered that a relative success.

Once my streak gave way to a more serious running program, I began training for the first major races of the year. The first race was the Goldy 10 Mile, a fun jaunt around the Mississippi River roads. This was followed by the Get in Gear Half Marathon. This was the first year I attempted the half on this course (only 10k before), and despite finishing well, I don't think I'd do it again. It's such a small half marathon, that you end up running alone for long periods of time. I was lucky in that a running partner from my old job jumped onto the course and paced me for a few miles, but my wife was quite lonely on the course.

I also managed to run in Nevada in April. I was out there for the first time, on a brief vacation and got to experience running in a desert. It was so different from anything I've done before, and I encountered such different landscapes, that I think I stopped more than I should to snap pictures.

Finally, the biggest race of the spring was the River Bank Run 25k in Grand Rapids, MI. I had run this race previously, but my wife had not. We worked our training program as best we could and both of us met our goal times for the race. I wanted to beat my previous time (2:40ish), and I managed to finish under 2:30, so I was quite pleased. Apparently I was also fighting some kind illness since I got very sick as soon as I got back to the hotel, making the weekend a bit less fun, but still a good race overall.

By this point in the year we had decided to commit to running the Twin Cities Marathon in October. I know that I had said I would never run another marathon, but my wife wanted to give it a shot. Enough time had passed since my miserable experience previously, so I felt like I could give it another try. I opted for a different training program this year than before. I chose a 3-day per week plan that was designed to get in all the miles for a marathon training plan, but keep you doing other activities on other days of the week, to help avoid injury. Cross training has always been a great benefit to running, and I feel like the plan worked out great for me this year. I got a lot of biking in, some swimming, and some general weight training. I could have been more committed to the non-running workouts, but overall I felt like I made progress over the previous attempt.

Throughout the summer we picked up a few other races. We did our traditional Red, White and Boom half-marathon relay on July 4th. The Lola's 10 mile was a wild excursion that included a rain delay at the start. There were a couple shorter races in the summer as well, and we rounded out the season with the Minnesota Half Marathon in the sweltering head of August. That race was a pain in the butt, and way too hot. Lisa hated the course, but I didn't mind it too much. We'll see if we ever attempt that one again.

Once Fall hit we focused on the Marathon, with only a small local half-marathon that I did one weekend. Marathon weekend hit and everything went mostly according to plan for me. Until mile 20 that is, when cramping in my leg made it impossible to run. So I ended up not making my goal time of sub-5 hours (5:13 finish time), but I wasn't disappointed. The first part of the race was amazing, and I put down my best 20 mile time ever. By the time I had to start walking I was feeling accomplished and happy with my performance, so I didn't dwell on the fact that I didn't quite make my goal this time. Additionally, I walked away from this race feeling like I wanted to do another marathon, which is a night and day difference from my first experience a few years ago.

Because we wanted to look at doing some trail running next year, we decided to take the weekend after the Marathon to head up to the Superior Hiking Trail to walk the course of the Spring Superior 25k race. We managed to walk the course in just over 6 hours, and I enjoyed it, but it was more than Lisa expected, and she felt that she found her limit for what she wanted to attempt. So next year I'll probably be the only one focusing on trails.

We finished out the year with the Monster Dash Half Marathon, which follows one of my favorite courses in Saint Paul, and has an overall 400ft decline in elevation over the length of the course. I had a decent run, and enjoyed the experience. It was a nice way for me to wind down my running season for the year (apart from a quick Turkey Trot 5k on Thanksgiving).

I've started putting together the training plan and race plan for next year, and so far I have a few big races on the docket. I'm going to attempt 2-3 trail races including Zumbro 17 and Superior Spring 25k. We're also going to attempt Grandma's Marathon in June. It's one of the most publicized races around this area, so it seemed like a good choice for a big race this year. We've also signed up for the Looney Challenge on Twin Cities Marathon weekend. We'll be running a 5k and 10k back-to-back on Saturday, and then the 10 mile course on Sunday. I'm looking forward to it, and think it will be a really fun time.

So that's my year in review for running. I'm sure I could have gone on more about various aspects of training and gear, but I'll save that for another post sometime.

Final 2014 stats:
Total runs: 175
Total miles run: 903
Total time on feet: 156:11:44
Total elevation: 14,580
Pairs of shoes: 3

Twin Cities Marathon report

Earlier this year my wife declared that she might want to try a marathon in 2014. Having already done a marathon in the past, and having not really enjoyed the experience, I was hesitant, but decided to sign up, with her, for the Twin Cities Marathon.

My previous marathon experience was miserable. I hated the training, I had to suffer through an injury, and by the time race day came I just didn't care anymore, and I didn't want to even be there. So needless to say my end result was less than desired, with a total time on course of 5 hours 20 minutes.

This year though was a complete dichotomy of my previous experience. I found a great 3-day-per-week training program that helped keep me injury free throughout the season. It also helped keep me from becoming sick of running, and losing my passion for it. It also probably helped that my wife was also doing the training program, and our long runs usually involved us going to a large park together to run. In addition to remaining injury free, I actually still enjoyed my long training runs, all the way to the day of the race, which was a huge bonus.

Therefore, when I hit the start line this year I was feeling great. I decided to chase the 4:30 pacer, ignore my watch, and run to 'feel' as opposed to technology. I ended up keeping the pacer in sight all the way until mile 17, and for many miles I was the one being chased with the pacer a good quarter of a mile behind me. I worried a bit that I was going too fast, but since I was still over a 10 minute mile I don't think it affected me that much. My body was telling me that I was doing OK.

I started to get a bit of a headache around mile 10, and even though it was annoying I don't think it played a large part in my race. My biggest issue was around my right calf muscle. During the previous week I had been feeling some twinges in my left calf, so I spent a lot of time working on loosening up that muscle. However, in my foolishness, I ignored my right calf. That was my downfall as I started experiencing more twinges (this time on the right side) around mile 17-18, and then full on cramps around 20. I tried to work them out, but they just kept getting worse, and from mile 22-26, I was forced to walk almost exclusively. Any type of a running pace started the process of completely seizing up my right calf.

I was able to muster a weird run with my right ankle locked in a 90 degree position for the last quarter mile or so, to cross the finish line, but apart from that it was a much slower day than I expected. My final time was 5:13, which was a full 7 minutes faster than my previous effort, but it did exceed my desired goal by 13 minutes.

Despite this fact, I have to say that I felt really good about today. Sometimes things like cramps happen, and there's not much you can do about them. By the time I had to completely walk at mile 22,  I decided that I was going to enjoy a lovely day of walking down Summit Ave., enjoying all the festivities and people cheering for us racers. Even though I had to accept that sub-5 hours was out of my grasp, I still found the mental wherewithal to enjoy what I could do.

Additionally, I was VERY pleased in my race up to that point. I was feeling incredibly comfortable for the first 20 miles, and my time for those 20 was the fastest time I had ever put up. So, I was incredibly satisfied with my performance on that section. If the cramping wouldn't have happened, I probably could have pulled off a 4:40-4:45 time, and shattered my old PR. Although that didn't happen I have no regrets or ill thoughts of today.

Based on today, I see no reason why I won't run more marathons in the future. It's obvious that I can do them, and perform the way I want. This experience at the Twin Cities Marathon showed me how cool and fun marathons CAN be, and helped erase the horrible taste of my previous marathon from my mind. I felt at peace with the run today, with the crowds, the course and everything about the experience, and that's probably the best "runner's high" I could ask for.

Games and more games

One of the hobbies that I love to spend time doing is playing games. I love most types of games, from video games on a computer or console, to tabletop gaming, role-playing, and card-type games. Because my wife and friends are also into games, this has led to a large uptick in time spent playing recently. So I thought I'd take a few moments and jot down some thoughts on some of my favorite games right now.

Role playing games

These are, of course, the big dogs in the field, with a long history going back to Dungeons and Dragons. As a kid, I only briefly played D&D, and ended up giving into the hype about occultism and gave the game up. I did however play a lot of other RPGs such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Robotech. Both games based off of the Palladium system.

Recently a good friend of mine and I started playing the Star Wars RPG, Edge of the Empire. It's a Fantasy Flight game, set in the Star Wars world, specifically focusing on the outer rim territories and life outside of the plush existence of imperial citizens.  It's a fun system, however the need for unique dice is both a hindrance and a detriment. There is a great deal of interpretation as to what the dice rolls mean, which can be great for a creative GM, however it also means that there is often a small bit of ambiguity after every roll. Yes, you may have hit your target, but did you drop your gun in the process because you also rolled some other consequences? Overall though, we've had a good time with it, and I've even written a small adventure that we played through with a moderate degree of success.

Coming full circle however, the newest release of D&D, 5e just got released, and there's a part of me that wants to pick it back up again and see if it's reclaimed its glory days. I'm over my childhood fears of being overrun by evil, so I think this might have to be a purchase sometime soon. At least now they've put the basic rules online for all to see, and the starter set has everything you need to get going for only $20. That's cheap enough to try it out and get deep enough into it to know if it'll be worth keeping around and investing in the larger books.

Tabletop games

No discussion of games can go far without talking about the amazing number of tabletop games that are out there. My wife and I have spent a lot of time down at Fantasy Flight Game Center trying out various games, and I've come up with a few favorites. We both love some of the simplistic farm/city type games like Alhambra, and we're starting to really enjoy SmallWorld. Agricola is another one that we've tried once, and after figuring it out, we really started to enjoy ourselves. We've also experimented with some big-box games like Arkham Horror, but these games often that take a long time to play, so we have to be careful when we decide to grab those off the shelf. 

One of our personal favorites to play with family and friends is Lords of Las Vegas. This is an amazing game that combines aspects of Monopoly with Settlers of Catan, all with Las Vegas style. One of the most intense gaming sessions I've had in recent memory was at a gathering of my wife's family. The epic-ness of the casino's that were being fought over, brought on literal shouts of joy, as well as genuine pangs of anguish when that one, wrong, card turned over and changed the entire landscape. Leaving a clear winner a mystery until the end is the mark of a great game.

I can't forget to leave out miniature games from tabletop games, though perhaps they even deserve their own category. Two of my favorite ones right now are Zombicide, which creates a real sense of dread as you duck in and out of decaying buildings, trying desperately to take out that walker-style zombie without making too much noise. But the one miniature game that has been getting a majority of my attention is X-Wing miniatures. My buddy got me into this, and I'm totally hooked. The collector inside me wants to keep building my armada of ships, but even with a limited squad you can have a great deal of fun. The game play is highly tactile and visual, and by the end of a session your brain can be quite tired. We've had some epic battles and can't wait to see some of the new models coming out later this year.

Card games

I was a fan of Magic: The Gathering, back shortly after it debuted. I even owned some of the original printings of the first expansion set. As I decided I was a family man, and a grown up, I stupidly sold most of my cards many years ago, but I still love a good competitive card game. Thankfully, I've found a couple to play with my youngest son, such as the (now defunct) Warcraft Card Game, as well as the typical Pokemon. I haven't yet delved back into M:tG, but that's mainly because I don't have any friends to play against. 

However, when my wife and I visit the game center, we've started playing some of Fantasy Flight's Living Card Games. These are different from the typical CCG (Collectible Card Games) for a couple different reasons. First, they do not come out with random booster packs the way that CCGs do. They publish decks of cards that are a fixed number, and variety, of cards that are all identical from pack to pack. So you can continue to build your decks with new cards, but there is no more of the random treasure hunting, hoping for that one special card, buying dozens of booster packs to try and get it.

The other really unique aspect of FF's LCGs are that they depart from the typical death match style of play. In M:tG you and your opponent each have a deck, and the object is to kill the other player first. In LCG's the objectives are totally different, and it makes for some really unique play. In the Call of Cthulu Card Game you're each playing a deck that is trying to capture a set number of story-cards to be the winner. In the Android: Netrunner game the hacker player is on offense while the corporation being hacked into is on defense, making for completely different play style on both sides of the table. The Lord of the Rings game focuses on cooperative play to achieve and objective, and can even be modified for more than two players. This unique type of game play makes the catalog of LCGs (there are more than the 3 I've mentioned here) a lot more compelling and fun to play casually than the traditional CCG.

Before ending the card game section though, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention deck-building games like Dominion and the favorite of my wife and I, the DC Comics card game. These games provide a unique way to play, that can be incredibly fast paced and can leave your opponent in the dark as to who is really winning, until the very end.

So that's a quick overview of a few of the games I've been playing lately. It's been great to have this hobby in my life again, and I love being able to share it with the people in my life that I love.

Open Letter to Minnesota Liquor Store Owners

This is an open letter to all liquor store owners who stand in opposition of a full repeal of Sunday sales of alcohol in Minnesota. I’m writing this letter to set various facts straight, and to hopefully change some minds. I would ask that liquor store owners who are reading this keep an open-mind and understand that no one wants to see them fail. Change is never easy, but if we’re open to considering the facts, and imagining a different future, then we need to talk about upending the status quo. Success benefits us all - consumers and business owners alike.

First, there is the argument that if the Sunday sales ban is repealed, liquor stores will “need” to open on Sundays. Obviously this is false, as no one would ever mandate what hours a store owner must keep for their own business. The response given, is that a liquor store would need to open on Sunday in order to remain competitive, and not lose out on business. Yet, at the same time, owners have stated that there would not be enough business on Sunday to justify the operational expenses. So which one is it? If there isn't enough business to cover operational expenses on a Sunday, then there’s no “need” to open.

Every retail and hospitality business has had to deal with the question, “What hours do I keep?” They do analysis of the market and determine the most profitable times to open their doors. If opening early, or staying open late doesn't pay for itself, then a business does not keep those hours. Tens of thousands of businesses in Minnesota, across every industry, have made decisions about the best hours to open their doors, with a 7 day schedule in mind. Businesses should have the freedom to make that decision on its own merit, based on consumer demand, not on an antiquated law.

Second, the argument is made that opening on Sundays simply spreads out 6 days worth of sales into a 7th day. Studies have shown that this is not accurate. When other states, such as Colorado, have repealed their Sundays sales law, they found an increase of up to 5-7% in liquor taxes collected. This means that there is actually an untapped market on Sundays. Unlike some products, liquor can often be a spur-of-the-moment purchase. People often make leisure plans within the same day, and if they have an option, and desire, to make liquor a part of those plans, they will often exercise that option. I know for a fact that, personally, I have been invited to a same-day BBQ, or other gathering, on a Sunday evening and realized I don’t have a bottle of wine to bring, and have no way to acquire one. From a business perspective, this is lost sales. I’m probably not going to purchase that bottle of wine on Monday.

Additionally, there is no reason that a liquor store owner cannot adjust their entire weekly schedule to accommodate a 7-day business. There is nothing stopping a store owner from adjusting their weekly hours to maintain the same number of total ‘open hours’ in a given week, spread over one extra day. Or limiting Sunday hours to a few peak afternoon hours to accommodate the bulk of the impulse purchasing that may occur.

Finally, there is the fact that Minnesota is now one of only 12 states that does not allow Sunday sales, meaning that in the U.S., 38 states allow for sales on Sunday. Minnesota is surrounded by states that allow Sunday sales, a fact that directly impacts any liquor store owner within 45 minutes of a border. It also affects our hospitality industry, as brewpubs and taprooms can only sell on-premises on Sundays, meaning that visitors from in and out of town cannot purchase growlers to bring home; and that translates to more lost sales.

On a nation-wide level it also affects our reputation. I've heard from one colleague in particular, who at one point lived in Minnesota, say that he would never move back to our state, partly because of the Sunday sales law. He reasoned, that if our laws are so antiquated for a commodity like liquor sales, how much more would this be found true in other areas, further reducing the incentive to starting a business or a new life here in Minnesota.

Therefore, I ask liquor store owners around Minnesota to reconsider their opposition to Sunday sales - realizing that running a 7-day business is not alien territory, that there are many options for how to handle these additional hours. I also ask the store owners to think of the consumer demand, understanding the potential for lost revenue to both themselves, and the state tax coffers. Finally I ask that you consider the reputation of our state, long known as a progressive, forward-thinking beacon of the Midwest.  

River Bank Run trip 2014

As someone who loves running, something that is fun to do is travel to a race. When Lisa and I were deciding on our race calendar for the year we decided to do to the River Bank Run 25k in Grand Rapids, MI. We chose this race for a couple of reasons. Primarily though it was because our good friends John and Jackie live near Grand Rapids, and I've traveled out there to run this race in the past. It's was also a solid challenge of a race, as it's a couple miles longer than a half marathon.

We headed out on Thursday afternoon, after lunch, with a goal to make it just outside Chicago. We made reservations in Carol Stream so that we could meet a couple of friends on Friday morning for breakfast. The drive was mostly uneventful, except for the massive road construction on I-90. It was a major headache and by Thursday night I was suggesting that maybe we could spring for the ferry from Muskegon to Milwaukee for our trip back to avoid all of that mess.

Friday morning we met Rich and Beth for breakfast and had a great time chatting. We then headed out for a few more hours of driving to Grand Rapids. Because of the time change it was mid-afternoon before we arrived at our hotel. We walked over the packet pickup and I showed Lisa around the start and finish area, and where we would all meet up after the race. Then we headed out to John and Jackie's house for a great chicken and rice dinner and to hang out for an evening. It was a great time to sit and relax and chat (no beer though because of the race ;-) ). We had an awesome time catching up and before we knew it, it was getting much too late.

As usually happens the night before a race we don't sleep tremendously well, so we were up and about rather early. Since I was going into this race with a specific set of goals I was pretty anxious to get moving. We were only a couple blocks from the start line so we headed downstairs close to the gun time and met up with John and Jackie to get to the staging area. The race kicked off and for almost the entire time it went amazingly smooth for me. Around mile 12 things started to fall apart on my pace. I had been managing mostly 9:00-9:30 min/miles, but towards the end I was pushing hard to manage 9:50s. However, I managed to finish the race with a time of 2:28:59. I made my goal of beating two and a half hours, and I blew away my 2011 time by over 8 minutes. Lisa crossed the finish with a time of 3:10:48, which met one of her goals, and was an amazing accomplishment for the longest run she's ever attempted.

However, my celebration was mostly short-lived. After making it back to the hotel and showering off, things started not feeling right. I tried to walk it off a bit, but the nausea started to overcome me and I had to back out of lunch. At some point in the afternoon the diarrhea and vomiting started, and the day became a complete wash-out for me. I spent all of Saturday curled up in bed trying to recover from whatever it was that hit me. At this point I'm thinking it was a combination of overexertion, heat exhaustion and perhaps a small stomach virus that was able to take hold because of overexerting myself. Lisa managed to get out for parts of the day and enjoy herself, which I was happy about. But for the most part my day consisted of lots of sleep and cable TV.

Sunday I woke up feeling a bit better, but still had no appetite. At this point we were very happy that we had opted for the ferry to get us part of the way home. It cost a bit more than we had planned on spending on the trip, but the idea of making it to Milwaukee after relaxing on 2.5 hour boat ride was very appealing. The ferry ride was actually quite amazing. The boat speeds across the lake at 34mph, which is fast enough to blast you with wind if you try to stay on the upper deck at full speed. We spent most of the trip relaxing in the cabin reading and enjoying the smooth ride. I could see us budgeting for this luxury in future trips.

Because I wasn't in a beer mood we skipped our planned stop at Capital Brewing and just headed straight home. The only real stop we made was to pick up some New Glarus beer to bring home, since we can't get that in Minnesota. Oh... and I bought it on a Sunday, at a gas station. Thanks for doing it right Wisconsin.

We made it home around 5:30pm and got settled back in. I'm still not 100% today, but being home in my own bed certainly felt nice last night. Despite the fact that the post-race illness stunk, this was still an awesome trip. I love hanging out with these groups of friends, and wish that distance wasn't such a burden to getting together more often. I also made my race goal, and hopefully whatever knocked me out after this race was a one time affair, and I can get back to training for the summer. On the upside I don't have a race this long until the Marathon in October, so the summer should go pretty good.

Las Vegas trip Wrap-up

Couple days late on this, but seems like I haven't stopped moving since we touched down at the airport. Needless to say our flight back landed safely, and I managed to finish reading my book on the plane. Our final day in Vegas was a travel day, almost entirely. Lisa managed a short run before her parents drove us to the airport. However, with a 3 hour flight, and losing two hours to time zone changes, it ended up being a long day. To top it off we went right form the airport to dinner with a good friend who is in town for the week, so we didn't settle in at home till after dark.

So now that I've had a couple days to decompress, I can start to think about some of the various things that I saw in Vegas. One of the first things that struck me was how much the gambling culture is so pervasive. There are gambling machines everywhere, and I mean everywhere. From the moment we landed I saw slot machines in the airport terminal and signs for gambling in just about every establishment around the city. Gaming was pretty much the main form of entertainment around the city, which didn't do much for someone who's not a big gambler. Having grown-up in a State that only legalized some forms of gambling in my lifetime it was wild to see it being so engrained. One can't help but wonder what the addiction rate is like around Vegas, and how large the treatment industry is in comparison.

Many people who talk about Vegas also comment heavily on it's 'Sin City' reputation, and specifically the availability of legal sex workers along with scantily clad women dancing on bars. To be honest I didn't really find myself very shocked by any of this while I was there. On The Strip there are constantly people handing out pamphlets for what I assume are brothels, and there are billboards around town advertising escort services, but I really never saw much in the way of scandalous behavior out in the open. I occasionally saw a woman dancing on a bar in a skimpy outfit, but frankly they were wearing far more clothing than the teenagers at the local gym swimming pool. I think the most provocative thing I saw was a brief glimpse of a woman walking around with her top body painted (therefore wearing no top).

As for other forms of entertainment, I managed to get to both The Strip and to Freemont Street. By far I found Freemont Street to be the more fun and engaging place. The Strip felt very manufactured, and everything of interest was tucked away inside the massive buildings that lined the street. It felt like a busy Manhattan street at rush hour with everyone trying to simply get around the city. The Strip didn't feel like an 'experience', just a main street where you could find everything. However, on Freemont Street everything was out in the open, and the entire street felt like a festival or a fair. It didn't feel fake or contrived either, it was genuine, authentic partying and decadence. There were people selling food, casinos that opened right on to the street, neon signs everywhere and music stages all along the street, playing different types of music. Within a few short blocks we got to experience beer, food, gaming, music, dancing and a light show on the roof that covers most of the avenue. If I only had a single day in Vegas, and really wanted to feel like I had visited 'authentic Vegas' I would hit Freemont Street again.

There was certainly more to Vegas though than the bright lights of the city. Perhaps my favorite part of the trip was getting to experience the desert environment, which is different from anything else I've been to in my life. I managed a decently long run, surrounded by nothing but rocks and sand and little scrubby plants. On one day of the trip we headed through Lake Mead Recreational Area and got to see amazing landscapes of mountains and hills, as well as the large Lake Mead itself. We also got to visit Hoover Dam, which as amazing and huge as it is, pales in comparison to the landscape in which it is embedded. The colors of the terrain were very distinct from what I see around home, and it gave me a sense of being in a movie where everything is generated by computers and camera trickery.

Perhaps one of the largest differences that I noticed is in how the city looks from a distance. The place in which we were staying was outside of town a bit, and so we had a breath-taking view of the city in the distance. Amazingly you could see everything. The Strip was clearly visible from 20 miles away, as was everything in-between.

Once I returned home to Minnesota, it struck me what the difference was. There were no trees. The reason that I could see the entire layout of the city so clearly, and from such distance, was that there were no trees to block my view. In Minnesota if you climb a tall hill and try to look out over the expanse of the two downtowns, you will see the skyscrapers reaching upwards, but they're rising out of a canopy. Even if you could find a hill as high as the ones that we were driving up in Vegas, you'd never be able to see any real detail of the Twin Cities, because of our dense urban forest.

Realizing this as we returned home made me understand just how different these ecosystems really are. Then, recalling all of the water reclamation issues that Vegas has to deal with, in order to keep functioning, while I'm driving next to multitudes of lakes and rivers in Minnesota, shows an incredible aspect to the human spirit. In the span of a few hours I traveled between two completely distinct ecosystems. Both of these ecosystems support human life, and in fact human beings thrive in either environment. In Minnesota we've had to build our cities to withstand the power of water when it overwhelms and floods. In Vegas they've had to build their cities to conserve and protect the preciousness of every drop. In Minnesota we must survive harsh winters that force us to construct shelters from cold that would kill us. In Vegas a cool morning is a welcome relief from the heat of the day.

Two very distinct places, only a few thousand miles apart. But humanity adapts. Even over the course of a few days I learned to adapt to the surroundings, not even noticing that groups of trees were no where to be found. Then returning home I adapted again to the reality of a cooler, more northerly sun. Somehow, we find a way to survive, and even strive to travel, so that we can see other places, and other environments. We seek to see how humanity has learned to adapt and persevere all around the world.

I guess that's one of the lessons I learned by taking a gamble and visiting Las Vegas.

Las Vegas trip Day 2

Today was a day of relaxation away from the strip. It started out with a small run up a 300 foot incline and back down, followed by a nice quiet breakfast with just Lisa and I. Once her parents got back from church we headed out to our big adventure for the day, Lake Mead and Hoover Dam.

One of the things that is amazing about this area of America is that you can often find yourself in the middle of nowhere within just a couple of minutes of leaving the suburbs. We turned the opposite direction from Vegas and within 30 seconds we were over a hill and in a vast expanse of mountainous desert. We headed down the road into the Lake Mead recreational area and towards the marina where we had a paddleboat cruise scheduled for us. 

The cruise was a VERY relaxing time on a beautiful afternoon, despite a slight bit of pink-skin from the sun. The narration on the boat explained the history of the lake, and history of Hoover Dam. The cruise went around a portion of the lake and then headed toward the top of Hoover Dam. Seeing the dam from the top was cool, since after the cruise we were planning to walk the top of the dam. After returning to shore we headed down some winding roads to the historic site of Hoover Dam.

Hoover Dam is a project that has fascinated me for a long time. I've seen a couple documentaries on how it was built, including the construction of the diversion channels that allowed them to build the structure. Seeing it in person was amazing, as it is much higher than it seems from pictures. It was truly vertigo inducing and I couldn't even stand to look over the side for very long. We walked along the top of the dam to the Arizona side and back. It was truly one of the highlights of the trip for me. 

After the dam we hit a small casino on the way back, before heading to Freemont Street for the evening. Freemont Street is an interesting experience. It's as busy and crazy as the strip, but it's much more akin to a festival or fair than the strip is. On the strip you need to go into the various places to get most of the entertainment. On Freemont Street, there are stages and street performers everywhere, and even the bartenders get into the act with juggling routines during the light and music show that plays every hour. Most of the casinos are focused on being 'on the street' more than drawing people into a fascade.

After getting some dinner we split up and Lisa and I headed down to a beer garden so I could sample some more brews that I can't get at home. Then we met up with her parents again and sampled some of the shows at the various stages. One in particular has a woman doing the acrobatic act with two sashes hanging from the rafters as they twisted and turned themselves up and down. It was quite impressive to watch.

Now we're settling in for our final night here in Vegas. Tomorrow is a day of travel, especially since we lose two hours going back to central time. Hopefully I'll have some time tomorrow night to digest a bit about the whole Vegas culture and reflect a bit here on the blog. 

Las Vegas trip Day 1.5

Meant to put together this entry last night, but was frankly just a bit too tired. That's because yesterday afternoon and evening was our 'day on the strip'. We headed down to Las Vegas blvd a bit after noon and parked our car at the end of the strip where the show we were seeing was. We then walked down to where we had plans to meet up with some other family that live around here and have a nice lunch at a steak frites place.

Of course we had to toss a few bucks in a couple slot machines, which we promptly lost. I'm not a huge gambler, but if I know I'll be at a casino I'll save out a few bucks to putz around with. Between Lisa and I we often can make it last a bit, but not yesterday. I think we finished off our allotment in about 15-20 minutes. Oh well.

The lunch was very good, a beautiful blue cheese steak with crispy frites. By this point though, Lisa had pretty much lost her voice from our illness, so it turned into this funny moment where her relatives are asking her how life is going and she's looking at me to answer. At certain points complicated hand gestures were involved, but I think I managed to convey all the right information!

Afer lunch we headed back down the strip with the goal of hitting a place called M&M World. It's a 4 story store dedicated to... M&Ms (duh). We caught the cheesy 3-D movie that they show to the kids, and did some shopping for some souviners. Personally I was astonished by the WALL of M&Ms. Absolutely huge and included flavors I've never had before. 

On the beer front I did manage to find some craft brew around this town. On our way down to the M&M store I saw a little storefront for Sin City Brewing Company, so I stopped in real quick and got a glass of beer to go (no open container law here...). Then while waiting for our show that evening I found a place in the Monte Carlo that had 100 taps. They also did flights, so I did a flight of local brews that included a really tasty American Brown ale by Tanaya Creek. The cool part is that none of these are beers I can get locally so it's a nice treat out here.

We ended our evening with a Blue Man Group show. I had only seen them in YouTube videos so this was a fun treat. The show was bright and loud and fun. They had some of their traditional music played on percussion pieces made out of pipes. There was a fair amount of comedy, and some really cool light effects. Perhaps the funnest part, was a song at the end where they got everyone in the audience to stand up and shake their butt while the song listed off dozens of euphamisms for your 'butt', such as "The place where all burritos go" and "The reporter at large". Ended up being a good time, and oh, Lisa got hit with Jello. 

We considered hitting one more pub before bed, but decided we were done for the night so we came back to the room and relaxed with some HGTV before calling it a night. The plan today is to hit some other sites, such as Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. Then it's back to a Minnesota spring tomorrow.

Las Vegas trip Day 1

Our flight was un-eventful, but it did remind me that I'm not a fan of flying. I love traveling, hanging out at airports, and getting places quickly, but I hate actually being in the air. Strangly, I love landing, with the slow, quiet glide into the airport. Funnily enough, Lisa hates landing.

After landing we proceeded to meet up with Lisa's parents and head out for some food. One thing that I've noticed is how much a two hour time difference feels weird. It's not like when I went to China and everything was just totally reversed, but it's enough of a difference that it feels odd. 

Our first stop was a small casino on the way back to Henderson, NV. We got some food and played a few games before realizing we were getting quite exhausted, and that on MN time we were looking at midnight. So we headed back to our room and collapsed into bed. 

This morning we started out the day getting up slowly. This was good because the first thing on our agenda was a run. Because we were sick this week we're low on miles so there's no way we could skip running this weekend, with a race coming up next Saturday. We headed out and quickly realized that all the hills we drove down last night were not in our imagination. It's a solid climb up to get out of here. I managed 7 miles back and forth, however the first half was incredibly slow and included a total of almost 600 feet of climb. Many of the hills are super steep as well, so even on the run back I couldn't just go all-out, I had to control my run and slow it down so I didn't just fall into a barrel roll down the hill.

On the upside, this is my first visit to the desert, and the chance to run in scenery that was completely foreign to me is amazing. I was surrounded by a type of environment that I've never run in before and it was fascinating. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't see more wildlife, but considering that many of the creatures I could have encountered might have been slightly danerous I guess I'll be happy. Overall, the run was slow and a bit of a slog once the hot sun started to push the temps up, but given that I just left 8 inches of snow behind I won't complain.

In fact, as I'm writing this I'm relaxing on our balcony, enjoying a beautiful day. It's a bit of a break in what will be a somewhat busy evening visitng The Strip. I'll post about that experience later tonight, or tomorrow. 

Las Vegas trip Day 0

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted on the old blog, but now I have something interesting to talk about. Tonight we leave for a trip to Las Vegas to visit my wife's parents who live out there most of the year.

So far the trip has started with a bang, and our flight doesn't even leave for 8 hours. Yesterday both Lisa and I came down sick. Lisa got tested positive for strep throat, and although I didn't test positive, I insisted they give me a prescription to bring with for the trip. Then last night it REALLY hit. I haven't had a night of feeling that sick in a long, long time. I was seriously starting to plan how I'd just get Lisa to the airport alone and stay back in Minnesota for the weekend.

By this morning things have healed up quite a bit, and I'm back on track to make the plane flight. As Lisa was stating, the worst case is that I end up needing to recuperate more in Vegas... next to the pool... in the sun...

Which brings up the other interesting aspect of this trip. We got a good 7-9 inches of snow last night around here. Today has been an absolute mess on the roads, and so we're going to have to plan to get to the airport pretty early. So far our flight is listed as only delayed 15 30 minutes, and hopefully it will stay that way.

If all goes as planned my next blog entry will be from Nevada where the high will be in the mid 70s all weekend long.

The streak so far

So as of January 1st I started a running streak, meaning I would run a mile every single day for as long as I could. So far I've been almost perfect in my attempt. I had one day where I had some serious bronchial issues, spent 2 hours at the doctors trying to get a prescription for a steroid so I could breathe. That evening the steroid kicked in and I managed what was probably close to a mile of moving around the house, up and down the stairs, moving furniture. So in the truest sense I have missed one day in my streak so far. However, every other day has been accomplished. 

Two things that are interesting to see about this streak:

1. My pace is naturally getting faster. The other day I did 3 miles at just over 9 minute miles. That's faster than I've been in quite a while.

2. My monthly milage is higher than it has been in a long time. Even though most of the days I'm only running one mile, the cumulative total is getting very high. In fast, I'm only 8 miles shy of beating my highest month of running in 2013. I'm still nowhere near 2012 monthly totals, but it's a good start to the year. With only 6 days left in the month I'll need to do 2+ miles a couple days, but I think I have 2013 beat easily. 

So far I've been injury free, and mostly ache and pain free. The only issue is that sometimes my feet are tired, but considering I also use a standing desk at work, that probably shouldn't surprise me too much. If I need to sit at work a bit more that won't be the end of the world. 

So here's to keeping the streak alive another month!

Leaving big red.... for pink

I've been with many cell phone companies since I first joined the mobile revolution. Some random company with a 15 minute a month brick phone, Ariel (the pre-cursor to T-Mobile), AT&T (which became Cingular and then AT&T again), T-Mobile, and Sprint (under the guide of Qwest). Since 2008 I've been a customer of Verizon Wireless. Last night that changed. This past week T-Mobile announced a deal where they will buy you out of your current cell phone contract (Early Termination Fee) if you switch to them. So I started doing some comparisons.

The really unique thing about T-Mobile is that the cost of your phone is a different part of your bill than the cost of your plan. So you can see right up front what you're really paying for. Most cell phone plans subsidize your phone over the course of a 2 year contract, but you never see that cost broken out, and it doesn't matter what type of phone you buy. Because T-Mobile is up front in the pricing of their phones you can see just how much that iPhone will cost, and can choose something lower priced if you want. Plus, as soon as you've paid off the cost of the phone, you're done paying for it, and your monthly bill goes down. You could certainly upgrade to the latest phone model, but you don't have to, thereby reducing the cost of your monthly bill. It's a type of pricing that is more similar to how the rest of the world does it, or so we're led to believe.

The other part about T-Mobile that enticed me over was that data is not shared, but it's also not capped. So for members of my family who keep their phones on wi-fi almost all the time, I can go with a lower cost data plan, and if one month they happen to go over the 500MB limit, they simply get throttled down to 2G speeds until the billing cycle resets. Sure it's not a ton of fun to go to dial-up speeds, but the phone still works, and you don't get hit with overage charges.

So last night we spent an hour and a half at the T-Mobile store getting everything switched over. My only concern of course is the network coverage, but so far it doesn't seem to be much different than what I was getting with Verizon. At least in my general neighborhood. Once we do a bit of traveling around the state I'm sure we'll find some pockets of dead air, but I'm hopeful it won't be anything too detrimental.