Bob's Austin Mararthon Run - Sunday, February 14, 2016

Today was not a typical Valentine's Day. We were up at 4:30 a.m. I drove us to Austin so Bob could run the Austin Marathon. At 5:00 a.m. we left San Antonio for the 1-1/2 hour drive north. Thankfully, there was little traffic.

Humidity in the form of fog settled over the freeway from time to time, but didn't limit highway visibility. However, the fog floated around the lights creating an eerie feel in the early morning hours.

Bob was at the start line at 6:30 a.m., and was on the course at 7:01 a.m. He expected to take the full allotted seven hours to finish the 26.2 miles. I was worried about him the week before the race because his atrial fibrillation (a. fib.) was acting up and he wasn't feeling well.

The morning of the race, I asked him how he was feeling. He said he felt nervous, but couldn't tell if it was from the excitement about the race or if it was his a. fib.

We were both a bit worried that the weather would be hot and humid (80 degrees), but that was not the case. Starting temperature was 57 degrees and humid, but a little later the wind picked up and dried him out. The day stayed cloudy until almost 2:00 p.m. As he was coming down the road for the last mile or so, the sun came out. I don't think the temperature got much over 70.

After I dropped Bob off early in the morning, I headed to IHOP for breakfast since I hadn't eaten yet and was pretty hungry. Bob had eaten a bowl of oatmeal in the car while I drove.

With the whole day ahead of me, I decided to head to Mount Bonnell. I had a general idea of where it was, but I didn't know the exact freeway exit. As I was heading north on I-35 to Hwy 183, a gorgeous sunrise was happening. It was so pretty I didn't want to miss it. I pulled off onto the shoulder of Hwy. 183 and snapped a couple of photos. I was a little too late to catch the sun when it was bright red as it first rose over the horizon.

Sunrise over east Austin

From Hwy. 183, I headed south on MoPac and soon realized many of the exits in the area of Mt. Bonnell were closed due to the marathon. When I finally found an exit (I think it was Cesar Chavez) that was open, I took it. Well, wouldn't you know it, it was the marathon route and only one lane was open. Thankfully, I was early enough and the runners were just starting to round the bend onto the road. I kept driving on the road. Then I started seeing signs "Road Closed Ahead." Uh-oh. I was fortunate to make it through before the runners.

Side roads were barricaded and I wasn't sure what to do. I stopped to ask locals sitting alongside the road in lawn chairs how to get to Mt. Bonnell. They gave me good directions and I found my way to Covert Park at the top of Mt. Bonnell.

This is my stair-stepper exercise this morning!

View of Lake Austin from Covert Park

Mt. Bonnell stone

The flower in the photo below is the Bracted Twistflower. (Sorry for the poor quality, the photo was under glass and had a lot of glare.) According to the informational sign, "The bracted twistflower is a rare annual plant that is native to the Edwards Plateau (the Texas Hill Country). When in full bloom, bracted twistflower is impressively beautiful with vibrantly colored lavender-purple flowers. The plants are normally 1-3 feet tall but can reach a height of five feet under optimal conditions ... Bracted twistflower grows in a variety of habitats in juniper-oak woodlands on rocky limestone slopes and on terraces between such slopes, often above permanent flowing water."

Bracted Twistflower

View from a neighborhood atop Mt. Bonnell

When I finished driving through the beautiful homes atop Mt. Bonnell, I headed down (away from the marathon route).

The road down to Lake Austin from Mount Bonnell.

Along Lake Austin are some amazing homes. I didn't stop to take photos of them.

I worked my way over to MoPac and took it south not realizing it didn't hook up to I-35. When MoPac stopped at a traffic light on Slaughter, I took Slaughter east to I-35. I ended up at the exit just south of Austin's Lone Star Carefree RV Resort, one of Travelers World's sister parks in Texas. Having never seen the park, I stopped in for a tour.

At  the front desk I met John and Debra who, coincidentally, were headed to Travelers World for three nights as soon as they got off work. It's a small world. Anyway, John was nice enough to drive me around the park in the golf cart and I was able to see another Carefree property.

From there, I drove north one exit and stopped in at H-E-B (local Texas grocery store chain) to buy some snacks. I wanted to spend my day at McKinney Falls State Park reading and hanging out in nature.

When I got to the park, the Visitor Center where I was hoping to spend some time, was closed. In fact most of the main part of the park was closed due to damage from floods earlier in the year. The Upper Falls and most of the trails were closed as well. Lower Falls was open and the campground was open. I didn't go to Lower Falls as I figured it would be crowded.

Instead I headed to a quiet parking lot near the dining hall. I read my "Entertainment Weekly" magazine and ate some Valentine sugar cookies. As I was reading, I heard a tap, tap, tap and looked up to see a male cardinal attacking the rear-view mirror on my car. Apparently the bird in the mirror was invading his territory! My nature moments today included Mr. Cardinal looking in my windows and putting on a defensive display trying to chase himself away in my rear-view mirror! It was quite comical.

Must get that bird!

A moment of relative quiet

More attacks

Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.
How about objects ON the mirror?

He's looking in my front windshield.
Looks like the mirror got the better of him.

As I was reading and watching the cardinal come back to fight the mirror, I also kept an eye on where Bob was in the marathon. You see marathon runners tie a chip on their shoelace and as they run, their chip is tracked as they cross different checkpoints. I looked up his bib number online and was able to track where he was on the course. Bob was doing very well!

In the morning he hadn't been sure if he would do the half or full marathon, but when I checked around 10:30 a.m., he was at 13.1 miles heading toward 18 miles and his pace had been pretty steady at 15.11-minute miles. There was an estimated finish time online. Pretty cool. That made it easy for me to know approximately when he'd cross the finish line.

I napped for a little while in the car, watched the cardinal and read some more. When it was 1-1/2 hours before Bob was due to finish, I stopped at H-E-B again to buy a turkey sandwich for lunch, and headed north on I-35 into downtown Austin. Once I found a place to park, I headed to the finish line, then started walking along the course until I found Bob. He was just coming out of the University of Texas.

Eve and Bob in front of the University of TX
Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium

Bob introduced me to Eve. He had spent the last 13 miles walking with her.

Eve and Bob

Bob and Eve crossing the finish line together

He looks pretty happy to be finished!

Congratulations, Bob, you did a great job on the marathon today!

We headed home, but made one stop at Camping World. For Valentine's Day Bob gave me a gift card to Camping World. I had fun shopping.

At home, we had leftovers (from our Valentine's Dinner at Olive Garden last night) while we watched "60 Minutes."

Travel Bug out.

Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Tomorrow - Sat., Nov. 16

San Antonio is having their annual Rock 'n' Roll Marathon tomorrow. 26,000 runners are participating. Bob will be running the Half Marathon. If you are not familiar with marathons, you may not have heard of Rock 'n' Roll Marathons which are held in various locations throughout the country at different times of the year. Bob has done Rock 'n' Roll Marathons in San Diego, Phoenix and now, the half in San Antonio. He says about 30 cities now host Rock 'n' Roll Marathons. Throughout the course, bands perform rock 'n' roll music to entertain the runners.

He will be up early to drive to the AT&T center where there is parking, and will be bused back to downtown to the start point. The route goes through downtown, along the San Antonio River, past the missions and back into downtown. The temperature is supposed to be 88 tomorrow, so all his years of doing marathons in Hawaii will pay off as far as running in heat are concerned.

Havoc will be wreaked on traffic throughout downtown and the south side of town. Tourists who want to go to the Riverwalk, the Alamo, and other sites in downtown will not be able to go. Sightseeing tours in downtown San Antonio are canceled for tomorrow, city buses are on limited routes. In other words, go somewhere else.

For the past three days in the RV park office, we've had to let people know about the road closures. Our RV park is right in the middle of the route. Our guests will only have one way in and one way out of the park.

While I was working today, Bob did laundry and vacuumed. I sure appreciated that! Thank you, honey.

This evening Traveler's World RV Park hosted a Welcome Back Social for the returning Winter Texans. Everyone was invited. The park provided finger foods - chicken wings, meatballs, croissant sandwiches, fruit, cheese, crackers, veggies trays, mini cream puffs, mini cheesecake bites - and wine, beer, rum punch, iced tea, and coffee. In addition to socializing, our park manager played DJ and spun some tunes for dancing. Many country western songs were played, but we also did the Chicken Dance. A number of ladies took over the floor for line dancing. We spent two hours socializing. And, drat, I forgot my camera!

Tomorrow while Bob runs, I'm heading back to Mitchell Lake Audubon for another Volksmarch. We'll see what kinds of birds are about. I won't forget my camera, I promise.

Have a good Sunday.

Travel Bug out.

Marathon...Nevermind N -- Tues., Apr. 16

In the A-to-Z Blogging Challenge my N words are: Nevermind N.

I am going to skip N and go back to M for marathon. Yesterday afternoon, two bombs exploded by the finish line at the Boston Marathon. Three people died and over 175 were injured. At this point no ones knows who did this or why. 

This deeply affected runners around the world. I know. I'm married to one.

Bob finishing Hilo, Hawaii Marathon, March 22, 2009

Bob has run marathons for the past seven years. He started out with the help of Team in Training who taught him the basics of running. At age 50 Bob completed his first marathon (Honolulu) -- the same age that his dad ran his first marathon -- and has since completed over 30 marathons. Bob's father passed away in April 2001. Running the Honolulu Marathon was a tribute to his dad.

Bob just crossed the finish line, Honolulu Marathon, December 2006.
Look at that smile!

Bob's first marathon complete. Here he is, totally happy in
the recovery tent. Great sense of accomplishment!

Maui Oceanfront Marathon, January 25, 2009

Bob: Finisher, Kona Marathon, June 2009

When we lived on Oahu, Bob joined Runner's HI. Every Tuesday evening he ran with the group to stay in shape. Bob and his friend Mike also ran together on the weekends. Wonderful friendships were formed. Runner's HI welcomed us into their running group ohana (family).

Bob, Johnny Landeza (ran Boston 4-15-13), Mike Passmore -
finishers of North Shore Oahu Marathon, May 2011.

Fifty seven runners from Hawaii ran the Boston Marathon. Thankfully, all of them are safe.

Runner's HI ohana in 2008.

In response to the egregious attack in Boston, Bob is gung ho to sign up for more marathons. Most marathoners feel the same way. They will not let this incident keep them from running marathons. My friend, Danielle, in Washington state ran the Boston marathon last year. She did not run it this year and wasn't planning to run it next year due to injuries. However, because of the bombings, she has "decided to try and qualify again in 2014, and run for those who no longer can."

Fierce independence characterizes marathoners. They like the "high" that comes from their personal efforts on the course. Running 26 miles is not easy. Deep commitment and strength is needed to train for and complete a marathon.

Kauai Marathon finisher, September 5, 2010.

I hate to run as I prefer walking, but I respect runners and their quest for a personal best.

Bob and I are appalled by the cowardice of the perpetrator of the bombings! If they find who did this I think their punishment should be to run 100 marathons, at the point of a gun, if necessary. Maybe it would change their life. (Or maybe not, who knows?)

Because Bob is the runner, I'm asking him to write his thoughts. What follows is Bob's take.

It doesn't matter if it's a marathon finish, the Super Bowl or a Little League game, as a culture, we love to compete, participate and be spectators. Regardless of the actions some will take, this spirit to pursue our happiness and well being will not be put down.

When people who run 30 or more miles per week for months to prepare for a marathon are faced with adversity they use it as motivation. I predict the number of people running marathons over the next year will increase. That is how we are wired, as individuals and as a society.

When you do a marathon, you learn to run through your fear ("Can I do  this? Will I get hurt? I might come in last. Am I good enough?"). The reward is the sense of accomplishment at the finish line.

As a society, I believe we will outlast the fear of terrorism and realize the thrill of victory as we continue to live our lives to the fullest.

I am motivated to train harder and run another marathon in the next few months.

Travel Bug and Bob out.

Consistency and H2S Gas -- Fri., June 1

Cotulla, Texas:

Lissa Coffey's Coffey Talk gives me things to think about. I subscribe to her blog and receive Wisdom News emails with thoughts for the day. Here's today's thought (used with Lissa's permission):

Consistency

"Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are the dead."

-Aldous Huxley

It is our nature to grow and to change. We evolve. We learn. Sometimes we shake things up with our new views and opinions - but that just promotes more growth. Sometimes we have to prune the dead branches from a tree in order for the new buds to have room to grow and for the tree to be healthy and thrive. We can prune away our outdated thinking, and leave room for expansion.

-Lissa Coffey

Whenever I ponder a subject, within a few days more information on that subject comes to me in various forms. It could be a quote, a website, a radio talk show, internet article, or conversation with a friend.

For example, over the past two months, I have been thinking about becoming a vegetarian and running marathons--two things I said I'd NEVER do. (Never say never, right?) I've been very consistent in my thinking about those two subjects. Things change, I change, others change.

While I am not yet ready to go completely vegetarian, I admit our diet needs to be healthier with more fresh fruits & vegetables and more fish. We have started eating quinoa (pronounced KEEN' wah) which both of us love and it's a good source of protein in grain form. We now use quinoa in place of whole wheat spaghetti when we make spaghetti. But I digress.

My point is, change is occurring in my thinking. In order to lose weight and be more healthy, change must occur in my diet and exercise. I've heard the saying, "Change or die." In the case of diet, this is literally true--especially with the increase in obesity, heart disease, diabetes, stroke--in our society. I do not wish to die yet. (I know, I know, there are some ways to die we can't change: accidents, plane crashes, suicide bombers, yadda, yadda. BUT if I can make a difference, by golly, I'm going to.)

Marathon running: I'm not ready to take up running, but I LOVE to walk, hike, dance and bike ride. It's hard for me to understand people who run marathons or do ultra-marathons. I'm working on understanding it. (Actually I've been working on it for a while since Bob has been running marathons for five years.) Good for them. It's not for everyone.

We humans are works in progress. Go with the flow more. Keep an open mind. Have long discussions with those you love. Keep learning, reading, thinking--whatever is is you do that will help you grow and change. I do and I hope it's changing me into a healthier, more open person.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Update on gate guarding: Yesterday I talked about hydrogen sulfide gas (H2S). Deadly after two breaths. 

 We started gate guarding one month ago, had very little training (the people here before us showed us how to fill out the logs), and no safety training at all. Imagine my surprise a couple of weeks ago when my friend Kit and I got to talking about H2S gas.

I said, "What is that?"

She said it's a deadly gas that's released from the wells on some sites. Kit & Jerry have been gate guarding for years. We had been told by our LOMA maintenance guy that if we smelled rotten eggs we immediately should go inside our RV and stay there. Wrong information! Kit said if there's an alarm, you should get out immediately in the opposite direction of where the wind sock is pointed. (All well sites actively drilling, coil tubing, etc., should have wind socks or long ribbons to show which way the wind is blowing.) [An aside: H2S gas is heavier than air, so it hugs the ground. If you are 50' away from the well and there is an escape of gas, if you were to strike a match and it ignited the H2S gas, the flame could travel back along the gas to the source and cause an explosion.]

Today, I had lunch with a new friend, Kathy, another LOMA gate guard. She and her husband have been gate guarding for two months. I asked her if they had training/safety training and they did not. Then I asked if she knew about H2S gas. She had never heard of it.

So, in the interest of full disclosure about the hazards of gate guarding, in case your company has never informed you or if you're thinking of working as an oil field gate guard, I offer you the information on H2S gas. Here's the link again from yesterday's blog hydrogen sulfide gas. Our oil field inner gate has a big warning sign with green, yellow, and red flag designations.

Sign at entrance to the Pad.

What makes this so relevant to us is the following: This morning the Safety Supervisor from Pad B knocked on the door of our 5er and told us they had a release of H2S gas at the well. They changed the flag from green to yellow. He told Bob the gas only made it 50' from the well and we weren't currently in any danger. The workers closest to the leak had to put on masks. We are only 500' from the well. If the flags go to red, we have to evacuate immediately. Scary!!!!!

Here is the information direct from the Safety Supervisor...if there is a leak/alarm/red flag to evacuate, look at the wind sock, go AWAY from the well perpendicular to the way the wind is blowing. That way you quickly leave the most dangerous area. Me, I'm going to run whichever way all the workers on the pad are running. They have safety meetings about this subject and MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets), something LOMA never provided for us.

I don't know if other gate guarding companies omit this essential information. I am going to open a topic in MyOldRV.com Forums under the Forum: "Oil Field Gate Guard Q & A," Topic: "H2S--Hydrogen sulfide gas" to find out if other gate guard workers have been instructed about this deadly gas.

Consider this my public service announcement for gate guarders and gate guard wannabes. I think you need to understand your risks.

The other thing that happened this morning while I was sleeping (I don't know how I missed it), Bob said there was a big boom and the ground shook. The Safety Supervisor from earlier told Bob it wasn't Pad B, then the Safety Supervisor drove down to Pad A. It wasn't Pad A either. Not on this property. Makes me wonder where it did happen and what it was. I hope everyone around it is all right!

Flame pipe burns off H2S gas. (Some gas can still escape and be deadly, though.)

The Safety Supervisor told me this evening that no workers with beards are allowed on the Pad. Reason: If there is a deadly release of gas, the oxygen mask would not get a tight seal over a beard.

This job sounds more dangerous every day. My eyes are wide open (bugged out, really).

Bug-eyed Travel Bug out.