the ACE!

Well after 15 years of throwing the ole Innova Dics' around it finally came time for my first ACE! 

Wednesday, better known as HumpDay, was pretty sweet; hit the boat (aka water whip) for a nice cleaning and then headed out to Elon Park to meet Chad for a quick evening round of disc golf on the Eager Beaver course.  The round started out great hoovering around even par-to-1-under then we met up with some random guy named Brian who had never played the course. 

We headed got to hole #10 and our new friend we met mid-course pulled the classic and pulled out some "meds" and asked if it would be ok to partake, we answered, "hey man its a free country and we are throwing discs in the woods, we can't stop ya"......

.....then came the tee shot at Hole #12 (218 feet from teh back tees), Chad had won the hole before (but was still 3 shots back from me) so he had honors......then the B.O.B. was up........

I pulled out the ole mid-range/putter the Skeeter First-Run and tried to throw the normal right to left glide.....we watched it turn around the left tree perfectly then start the sidewinder wrap back to the right a bit and then CHING!  hit the chains in the dang middle!  First hole-in-one EVER!

Chad and I went nuts jumping around and high-fiving like we just invented that, all while our friend said, "dude, that deserves a hit"  (of his "meds" of course)...........not into that type of celebration Mr. Brian, but go ahead I guess! 

So I finished the day with a decent -1 under and a Hole-in-One........yeah I'll take it!  Got back to the lot and added my name to the "Hole-in-One" boards......

Then as in classic "Hole-in-One" fashion, the person who gets the Hi1 buys the rest of the folks he's playing with beers (more of a golf course rule, but should pertain to disc golf too).  So Chad and I headed over to Wings-n-Rings and enjoyed some cold CodeBlues!

Boston Marathon 2011: Boston with Pride!

I am writing a mile-by-mile look into the Boston Marathon adventure a couple weeks back!  It was one of the greatest days of my life to accomplish #1 on my bucket list and fulfill a lifelong dream, all while helping to make a difference in kids lives through Team CYCLE Kids!  

This is a visual look at the journey!  Thanks again to all those who supported me along the way!  Cheers!

Boston Marathon and the Family in the Boston Globe!

Boston Marathon 2011 in the books folks!  Most of you know that I joined TEAM CYCLE Kids this year to run in the 115th running of the Boston Marathon......#1 event on my Bucket List!  Check out the Team CYCLE Kids BLOG for a quick write-up and pictures!

Well I haven't had time to sit down and really do a full fledged write-up of the Boston Marathon as it will be a long one!  The experience was the ultimate dream.  The time wasn't what I was shooting for and the late mile hills really tore up my legs after the long downhill pull on the calves and such....but late in the race I decided to simply back it off and take it all in!   UNREAL folks....the greatest event I have ever and will ever do I am sure.

Another really cool thing was seeing the Team CYCLE Kids folks and my family (Ape, Bethy, Dad, and Betsy) at the 25-26 mile mark @ Kenmore Square near the famous Citgo Sign and Fenway Park!  Check out the write-up the family got in the "Boston Globe: Marathon Coverage Section"!

Race 1: the Shamrock 4 Miler

After having not run a competitive race in probably the better part of a year, it was time to toe the line for a nice relaxed pace, get your mind right 4 Miler in honor of St. P's Day!

It was one of those morning though, where you got a ton of other stuff to do and you just aren't feeling real peppy from the get-go.  Got up around 6am and grabbed some wheat toast and some watered down Gatorade and headed over to park the car and pick up the timing chip.  After a slight easy easy warm-up it was gun-time.

One thing that has always bugged me is the folks who think they are truly competitive, I know where I stand....middle of the pack no further towards the front.  I love the folks who are still caught on their younger days and try to get up front..........including walk/runners, people who just plain don't look they are out there to actually go for a goal time, and those with kids or kids in strollers.....don't get me wrong I am glad you are out there and proud of you.  The more folks in the running community the better, as it is a great sport with great dividends to pay health-wise and all.  Yet, please give those of us who are hobby runners, those of us who train daily for somewhat quick goal times, the first 10 rows.

Anyways, the first miles was brutal, got stuck weaving in-out and got real frustrated, yet remembered in my head that this was simply a race to practice pace control trying to hit 7:30's or so the entire way.  Thus at the end I saw it as a 50/50; I was frustrated I didn't clock it better, but happy I practiced what I have been preaching and stayed on pace overall.

After all was said and done, I grabbed a quick water and said a quick hi to an ole CCS Cross Country teammate; Daniel Eggers (who killed it, kid is crazy fast) and then headed home to prep the house for the party that evening!

Time:  30:27
Distance:  4.04 miles
Pace:  7:32 avg
the Route

Thanks to all those at Run For Your Life who put on these great events and host the best "summer series" of races around!  Now off to train for Boston and then back for some R4YL Series races!

The "Summer Series" races have started here in the Queen City!  Thrown each year by the good folks at Run For Your Life they are always a ton of fun and have great attendance from the running community!

This years race Series Calendar looks like the following:

March 19:  Shamrock 4 Miler (Stonecrest Shopping Center)
April 30:  CPCC Skyline 5k (CPCC Main Campus)
May 13:  Right Moves for Youth Twilight 5k (Uptown Charlotte)
May 21:  Great Harvest Bread Co. 5k (Run For Your Life - Piper Glen)
June 4:  King Tiger 5k @ University City (Run For Your Life - University)
June 18:  Summer Breeze 5k (Freedom Park)
July 16:  Run For Your Life - Run For the Cause 4 Miler (Run For Your Life - Dilworth)
August 6:  BluePoints Panthers 5k (Bank of American Stadium)
August 27: Greek Festival 5k (Greek Orthodox Cathedral)
September 17:  Hit the Brixx 10k & 5k (Brixx Uptown)
October 8:  LungStrong 15k & 5k(Jetton Village in Cornelius, NC)

Along the way you accumulate points for finishing time, placement, age division, etc.  Ready to toe-the line....keep your eyes peeled for race updates and "the Route" links and breakdowns!

the New Whip....a Coors Light on 20's!

Well many of you know that I have been lobbying for a Ford F250 Extended Cab King Ranch edition for a sometime now.  All that changed this weekend when I saw what could (and should) be my next ride!  This bad boy is so "fresh and so clean, clean" that my boy BH had to snap the pic and send it over.  

 

Now I am in the planning stage; 

 

(1) what make is this bad boy?, 

(2) where can I get one affordable to outfit?, 

(3) which westcoast shop should I have this P.I.M.P. done at?

The Boss will surely have to custom up one of these Coors Light's on Rims!

A Day in the Life of da Boss....2010 Rewind!

Well friends it's that time....each year I put together a "Year in Rewind" video and this is the final piece for 2010. It was a great "bounce back" year as I call it after a couple tough ones. 2010 was full of great family times, awesome celebrations (weddings, birthdays, kids, etc) so I hope you enjoy and hope it brings a smile to each of you and reminds you of some great memories from this past year!



Finally, CHEERS and I hope 2011 so far has been awesome!

footnote:  I did have some tech problems in 2010 and lost a lot of photos so I did the best I could with what I could gather.....hope you enjoy it!

Head Over to the Run for the Kids BLOG!

Hey folks!

I will be keeping up this BLOG more often in the New Year, but I do have another one devoted to my Boston Marathon adventures with Team CYCLE Kids: Run for the Kids!............check it out and become a FAN ( or a follower)!

Gin Mill Charity Night!

Well last night we had the big Gin Mill Fundraiser Night benefiting the great folks of Team CYCLE Kids, Inc. Our friends at the Gin Mill were as awesome as always, we set up early afternoon then hit off the event at 7pm and enjoyed some live music from our friends Chad York, Matt Gourlay, and Phil......the boys of "the Smoking Co"! We hit up some great raffles and did some major fundraising with the tip jars!

After unloading all the raffle prizes and packing over 150+ into the Gin Mill for the big bash! We thanked everyone and got DJ J-Five up for the late night dance party and continued to have some late night fun and pull in some more funds!

A final count on monies raised during the Gin Mill Event will come later this week!

Thanks to all those who came out and enjoyed some great live music, friendship, and supporting a great cause! I greatly appreciate each of you who joined us and thanks for being so generous in helping me reach my fundraising goals!

Also a huge thank you to the folks at the Gin Mill and to Chad, Matt, and Phil for rocking it all night long!