Running in Wichita Falls

So I traveled to Wichita Falls TX to hang out with my brother while he rides in the Hotter n Hell bike race. I'm not a bike rider so I initially registered for the half marathon on Sunday.  After reconsidering the steep drops and climbs on the bicycle course we were going to be running on I decided to not run it and focus on getting back to Little Rock in time to pick up Frisco.

So I did however manage to get in two really decent runs in Wichita Falls while I was there.  The first day, Friday morning I went out and found a really quaint subdivision behind the hotel.  I ran down the main frontage road to 82 until I met with a road that took me back into the neighborhoods.  The homes were newish, about late 90's all brick with enough variation in the architecture to not make them look cookie cutter.  There were sculptured bushes and manicured lawns, the streets were wide and flat which made for good running.  I worked myself into the south eastern corner of the neighborhood and I noticed one house had a two foot white cross made out of wood stuck in the ground in the mulch.  I was like "hmmm, that's strange..." .  I continued running and saw another white cross in another lawn.  My though was..." Well at least they are not on fire"...I continued to run and noticed that EVERY house on this street had white crosses stuck in the ground in front of the homes.

Now I don't know about you, but when I see this I think of 1) The KKK - cross burning, segregation, white hooded figures terrorizing their neighbors who happen to be a different color or religion from them.  and 2) Nazi Germany.  Christian/white dominance and discrimination.    When I saw streets lined with white crosses a streak of fear ran through me as if they were trying to intimidate.  It felt freak'n scary!  I felt like I was being told that only Christians live here and every body else better get the hell out or at least pretend to be Christian by sticking a cross outside your home, cause if you ain't got a cross in front of your home folks are gonna talk.

Discrimination comes in many forms.  While these folks with the crosses never probably out-right though of their crosses as coming across as hateful or discriminatory,  to a Hindu or Muslim family perhaps looking to purchase a home in that area, it is a clear and loud statement.  Christians Live Here...be warned...

I am not of any faith and I felt threatened, imagine how somebody feels who is of a different faith, one that is not of the cross bearers...

Perhaps they did know it was scary to outsiders, maybe there was a reason for the crosses and they wanted to make a subtle....ha...not so subtle statement.

From my limited knowledge of history, the Nazi movement began very subtly also.

What do you think?  I certainly did not run that way again  I got the heck out and did not go back.

Ugh! Earbud Hell!!!

Ok, The Yur buds failed me this morning. 

One issue right now is that the R and L have worn off them and It's hard to tell which goes in which ear.  And ever since the left yur bud blue thingie fell off, I cant get it back on properly to stay in my ear.  So this morning I went out for my normal two rivers run and it started to rain on me.  The left yurbud, not having a good seal immediately separated from my ear and began to loosen.  By the time I was three miles in, it was falling completely out of my ear.  I got so annoyed by it I finally had to take it out and tuck it into my shirt and go single eared. 

I was so angry, I mean for what I payed for them they should perform better.  So I'm on the hunt for something new...

Back to Earbuds...Repost

Update!  Re posted this because you may not see it if I update on the old post...

Still using the Yurbuds.  It appears that if the blue cover comes off and you have to put it back on, you have to pay attention to the rotation of the blue thing on the bud.  If the blue thing is not lined up properly, the stem of the earbud will not be positioned correctly on the outside of your ear and that little thing at the base of your ear can push the earbud out.  So ...if your having this problem experiment with the rotation of the blue thing on the bud....it helped me....

Where were the deer?

Ok, so I went out on my usual early morning run at Two Rivers Park this morning and there was not a deer to be found.  WTF?  Don't they know that their job at 6am is to provide ambiance for my morning run?  I feel so let down by the wildlife community today....

Oh well.  One white tailed bunny did show up for the party and bounced around on the west loop.

I felt good this morning, my 6 miles went really easily, although I did not experience the 7:40 phenomenon.
 I ran into Karen Hayes!  She was banged up from a fall she took on a recent 50 mile training run.  It happened at mile 44 of her run so she was almost finished.  Otherwise she said the run went great.  I knew it would.... :)

I have no new music to report.  I'll look at more on Friday.

Well, nothing to worry about

This mornings run turned out to be better than expected.   The twinges in my knee did not come back.  I started with some friends and we ran 2.25 miles then did quarters for 2.25 miles.  Then we ran until we hit 6 miles.  I felt great, enjoyed the run and had no issues.

Things are looking good for fall races... still not talking much about it though.  Don't want to jinx myself....

A bit of worry...

So in an earlier post I noted I was recovering from a knee injury.  Well during my last long run I got some touches of the pain back.  I'm a little worried.  At the end of the run I was not in any pain but it occurred, just slightly, during the run.  It may not have been the same pain.  I figure there are a few reasons for this:

1. My camelback is too heavy and causing my posture to be bad while its full
2.  My shoes were old ( I just got a new pair).
3.  I cut back on my anti-inflammatory meds...they were giving my stomach issues....
4.  I'm hyper sensitive to ANY pain in my knee right now be it related to the injury or not.
5.  My knee knows I registered for the Do Wacka Do and its protesting

I'm taking today off, taking my full regimen of meds and going for an easy run in the morning.   I kinda wish I were running alone in the morning because of this, I don't want to let on that anything is wrong with my knee and I don't want to try to run too fast or too anything,.....

I just don't want to feel any more pain...

New products to try!

I have to tell you about a new product I tried on my long run this past weekend.  It is a G series product called Gatorade 01 Prime Cinnamon Raisin Flax

Here is the link to the product:Raisin yum

They were small, yummy and perfectly digestible.  I was not dealing with extreme heat when I used these, but they seemed to work well and digest easily.  The only problem was packaging.  After you open it, you are left with a tiny plastic tray you must either carry with you or locate a trash can for.  I don't like that. Seems like they could do better on a product indented to be used on trails and hikes.  Oh well.  A win on flavor and digestibility though.  Give them a try.