Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Running....good for you????

Let the video play and don't let the threat of politics scare you away. This is a story that I think we have already figured out. Just ask Marvin!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The Reckless Redneck

What do you get when you cross some good old country REDNECKS........with some really fast runners?

Well this Friday, you will get to find out!! TATUR, always looking for new and inventive ideas for races, is presenting a one mile DOWNHILL race. This mile dash starts at the top of Elwood at 61st Street, and screamzzz down Elwood, turns into the new Turkey Mountain parking lot, and then streaks down the new paved bike trail. This descent is less than the descent at say....Pikes Peak or Mount Everest, but for around these parts, it is quite a steep downhiller.

Why the redneck theme?? Well, why not? This IS Oklahoma! Anyone wearing some sorta redneck garb gets a $3.00 discount on their entree fee. For a lot of my friends, all that means is they might wanna not put on that Sunday-go-to-meetin shirt and come on in their regular goin-out-ta-eat shirt. Some of my friends just need to flash a toothy grin and that'll be proof enough that they are rednecks. (A tip: Nascar hats work for costume accessories, and might add to your aerodynamics, besides making Junior proud.)

Rumor has it that a couple of rich doctors in the big city have donated a bunch of their soda pop money for a good old grand prize for the fastest girl runner and dude runner....something like a whole big oversized Jim Bean bottle full of money.

Finally, because this is a real fast course, and some of you-uns will be running faster than you ever dreamt possible, please be careful and don't fall, don't trip anybody, don't step on anyone's pig or chickens, and don't end up like this guy!

birthdays, running, ouchies

Since there are 350 runners in our group, and most have birthdays, it would be nearly impossible to mention them all. But from time to time, a birthday comes up that screams for a mention.Multiple Marathunner Bobby had a birthday that is a mere 52 weeks short of the big FIVE O. Last Friday night, a few of us ventured into the Blue Dome district to Caz's for a little celebratory eating.
In the pic above, Bobby ponders, "what to eat?"

On one shoulder, the angel says, "Get the salad.... you need to watch your weight... and NOT the BIG salad like you got in the post below!!"

On the other shoulder, the devil says "Dude! Get the chicken fried steak! You know you want it! Come on! It's your birthday!"
Bobby compromised and got the meatloaf.

OMG!! What is going on? Roman and Susan cannot believe their eyes.Oh GAG! TZ is not eating chicken nuggets. Those are Great BALLS of Fire...aka calf fries. Or, it could just be the shock of seeing Coach Kathy in a dress!It was good eating, and fun.

Just hours later, the Saturday morning crew was up and ready for a little run.Mulling around before the run, one runner overshadows Glowstick with an OSU orange beacon. (Michael, be careful....you might be Challenging someone for the title.)

Ready to run? I think NOT.

Cassie in cruise mode. (Happy birthday, Cassie!)

Waterhole #1.

What early morning runners get to see and all the sleepy-heads in the world miss.

After the run, we hung around, rehydrated, talked about how cool it was, talked about how cool I was (No, not really!), and planned the rest of the day. A group of TATURS were going to Arkansas to do a trail race, I heard of some golf plans, some lake plans, some lawn mowing plans.
Lovebirds Charlie and Robin were probably doing wedding planning stuff.

Robin had a first this day.

She had a boo boo on her knee from a fall on her run.






Not to be outdone, TATUR Dave shows off a nice blister on his foot. He ended up running his last 3 miles barefoot because this ouchie hurt so bad.

And in another race in another state at a time later in the day, Jason outdoes Tatur Dave's blister by throwing in some blood. More on this race in the Zombie blog.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Fun run and the "Eating Club"

I suppose it was business as usual Thursday night at the running store between the restaurants on Peoria. I was late....arriving just as most of the runners were finishing their miles, and found a rare vacant parking space near the store. Yes, a convenient space without an orange cone blocking it. Life is good!

I did get to meet a few new runners, and was happy to take pictures....that's what I do! :-) Ruth introduced me to her friend Dana who was a good sport and let me take her pic only if I promised to not post it. (Did someone forget to tell her I have a bad problem of lying?)

Next, I met Becky. I took three pictures of her and it seemed that the brightness of he sun was messing up the shots, but they actually all turned out good. Twas a learning experience playing with different filters on my camera. Great to have you with us, Becky and Dana!

Bobby came strolling in after 5 miles I think. I was shooting the breeze with him when Sandra announced that she and her guest/student Alyson were going out for 3 miles. I had not ran, and jumped on the prospect of getting a few miles in after all. We then conned Bobby to go out for another run, and away we went! Alyson is from Arizona, tall, red haired, single but has a boyfriend, and is as spirited as her professor Sandra. We had a great time running an easy three.

Caught Yal trucking back after his 6 miles. Looking good, brother!

Since the officiaal "Eating Club" frequently has meetings after the mid-week runs, and since we were hungry, and since despite being hungry, we wanted to eat healthy (what fun is that?), we went to Jason's Deli for salads. Bobby ate extra extra healthy. Hmmm....could Bobby conceivably make a happy plate? Only time would tell.

Sandra, Alyson, Bobby, TZ, and Mrs TZ aka Dana, not the Dana pictured above, held a semi-productive meeting of the "Eating Club". If you felt your ears burning sometime during the hours between 8:00 and 9:00 pm, we were probably talking about you. (It was good....except that stuff about Rock Star Ed.) (And that stuff about ME....that was bad too.) (Hence the "semi" in my description of the said meeting.) So, at her first run and eat-fest with our gang, Alyson got to witness the best and worst of times. The best...has to be the running. The worst, the roast session from Dana and Sandra on who else but poor old TZ. It was stuff that cannot be repeated on a blog that is dedicated to being rated PG. (Funny? Well, it was to them.) But, revenge is an ugly thing. Sandra knows that. She did her best to dodge the skillful and sneaky techniques from the paparazzi, so I will be forced to post only what I was able to capture.Go ahead....hide your face.You've been zombie-fied!!

And finally....did Bobby eat the whole big salad?

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Poker Run, and some back-tracking

After playing cards all night long and refining my poker face, I thought my chances of coming up with a winning hand was good. However, there was a matter of being on time that I botched up, so I got to see the card whizzes finish up their game.
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Congratulations to Amanda!! She collected 7 cards like everyone else, but 4 of her cards just happened to be aces. Mom and Dad, keep her away from the casino....she could be dangerous!

After the run, after the cards, Terrie is all smiles. Not sure what her hand was, or what prize she won. I just know Elton John called and wants his glasses back.

Dr. Z is set up and open for business. The latest patient, Mike Stelly (pictured below) proves to be quite the challenge. Let me work on him!Just kidding Mike. I would want you to shower before I manipulated your spine.

Steve and Sloan ran, played cards, and pushed a stroller. Talk about multi-tasking!

The best prize there was free for the taking! One of our runners, Ken Saveth, ran all night one mile for every year of his life (yes, that is 50 miles) and brought a huge birthday cake to share. (Save a piece for T Z!)Coach Kathy is in the early stages of cake withdrawal. This cake had some black icing which turned lips, tongues, and teeth a purplish black. Obviously, she had not yet succumbed to the lure of the cake at the time of this photo.





Finally, I'll back up a few days. Francis, fresh off a win in the Biggest loser competition was awarded the bunny slippers a week or so ago. This past Thursday, he passed them on to Simone.... something about being a pain?? I guess she deserves the slippers for that. :-)
From the looks of it, the bunnies will have some tails to tell this Thursday!!!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

A few things


Mid summer, and we have enjoyed 3 straight days of slightly cooler weather in which to RUN!

In July, any day that is does not make 90 is just AWESOME.

But, more seasonable weather is on the way, or so the darn weather runner guy says.



Monday night, after a fast run with Bobby's Bunch, a few of us who have been hanging around RunnersWorld for a few years had the pleasure of eating dinner with a couple who were once the body and soul of our group.
Mike and Diana Snyder used to be regulars in our Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday routine.A couple years back, Mike joined the army at the age of 41. He thoroughly schooled all the 18 and 19 year olds in boot camp, and now does all kinds of top secret stuff that he says he would have to kill me if he told me what it was. Mike and Diana moved away to North Carolina, and now are in the process of moving to St Petersburg, Florida, and will have a spare bedroom in their house near the beach!! But DARN...we miss them!! The Snyders were back in town for the 4th to visit grand-babies and such, and we were thrilled to have dinner with them!! Yes, I said grand-babies, and yes, Diana and Mike have a baby on the way!! Rebecca Michelle is due in September.Mike displays one of his acquired skills from Special Forces...baby tossing.

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This Saturday, TATUR is doing another Poker Run. You all are running anyway, right? And everyone enjoys a good card game. How about one where darn near every hand wins something. Of course, best hand gets the best prize, second best gets second pick of the prizes, and so on. Once, I got a nice tech shirt with a lowly pair of 5s! Last year, I walked away with some lemon lime GU for a hand that was one card short of a straight with a jack high. (T Z <~~~bad poker player!)



Here's the deal (A pun, maybe?) A $5.00 ante gets you a card. Run a mile, get another card. Run another, get another. After 5 miles, you will have 6 cards, and you will get a 7th when you finish. Best 5 cards make your final hand. Turn them in, and after all the players are through, the prizes will start flowing.

Now, one very important thing. This is an honorable game, and the game is Poker, and not GO FISH. Anyone caught exchanging cards will have to clip Brian's toe nails.