payton's first 5K

payton has run a number of miles alongside me & kristin, but never before has he officially run a race. this morning that all changed & he joined me & my buddy mitchell for his first official run - the 3rd annual got guts 5K. in true payton form, he we a real animal!

he was the show of the party & in fact (not making this up) at the end of the race he gave an interview on camera (one of those small flip camcorders) to an older gentlemen that had never seen a ridgeback before & was really interested in the breed.

anyhow, it was a fun morning. kristin, carol, & kasey cheered the three of us on. the race continued to help in bringing awareness to celiac disease, introduced us to some awesome local businesses that cater to the gluten-free community, & even better mitchell & i received some real positive feedback about moon tower brewing - soon to be the first gluten-free beer brewing company in austin!

a true bears fan

this year's football season is rolling to an end. unfortunately the season for the bears has already come to an early close. like a true bears fan i must keep my spirits high & hope that next year will be different. one fan, my boy payton, is showing his true colors & keeping all of us bear fans excited for what the future may hold.

you should have seen him tear up that green bay packers koozie!

payton turned 1 year old

it's been an awesome first year with payton. we became proud parent in december of last year so we've only had him for 8 months. he's been a treat & has become a very special member of our family. so special that we've booted one cat (poor bevo) & will soon be booting another (cubbie).

payton is a pure bred rhodesian ridgeback & he is such a good pup. not only is he good with people, he's also super cool around other dogs. like most kids (pups), he'd play all day if we let him. just this past week his buddy royal (he's a vizsla) stayed with us & the two of them were at it non-stop. i wish i had as much energy as the two of them have. no matter how much caffeine i pump into me i still can't get as wired as the two them were.

now that payton is a year old (birthday - august 5th) we can start bumping up his run mileage. so far, we've limited him to 3 & 4 miles run. the vet recommends we hold back another few months before increasing it too much. we hope to have him running 5 - 6 miles before end of year & next year kristin wants to take him with her for a half marathon.

we are really looking forward to year number 2 with payton & we may even get him a younger brother or sister. i said we *may* get him a brother or sister kristin - we haven't decided anything yet :)

payton makes a new friend

payton, our 11 month old rhodesian ridgeback, is still growing. i weighed him about 2 weeks ago & he weighed 82 pounds. his dad was just over 100 pounds & his mom was 85+ so we are expecting him to put on another 15+ pounds at least. of course with all the walking, running, playing at the dog park, & eating super healthy organic dog food that kristin insists on it's a wonder that he weighs as much as he does. payton is nothing but muscle; i'm actually quite jealous of how lean he is. he makes me want to go to the gym more.

as kristin's marathon training requires her to put in more miles i've been doing more & more dog walking/running than previously. the walks around the neighborhood are quite peaceful & relaxing. it's actually a nice way to wind down after work & it clues me into what's going on in our little neighborhood.

when we aren't able to hit the trail for a run & i'm short on time for a walk payton gets to hang with his friends at the dog park just two blocks from our house. payton is quite the pain when around other dogs too. he's actually great with the other dogs; it's us that he chooses to ignore. i've been spending extra time to ensure he starts coming when we call him.

usually payton dominates the park. he's definitely got the most energy, he's usually the biggest dog out there, & with the ridge on his back he just stands out in a way that catches the attention of all the other owners. this past friday, payton finally met his match.

there was a one year old great dane at the park & he was just massive. he wasn't just big, he was very lean, had a great shiny coat, & was just so masculine looking. he was very friendly with payton & the two were playing for a good 30 minutes non-stop. however, the great dane was just so much bigger & stronger than payton that he would roll payton every time the two tangled. while it looked aggressive at times the two were definitely just having fun. of course later that night we noticed a few new scratches & bruises on our pup. i suppose he's got to learn that playing rough with the wrong dog will leave him with some bumps & bruises.

easter 2008 with payton

a number of our friends & family members have been asking about payton. how's he doing with the cats, how big is he now, how far can he run, etc. given that he'll be 8 months old on august 5th (just two weeks away) & kristin took this great picture of him this easter morning (minus the girlie flower on his collar) i thought it a good time to post an update about him.

each day with payton just gets better. kristin is so amazing with him - those dog whisperer DVDs really helped :) payton is now weighing 70+ pounds & can easily run 4 miles. the vet recommends we keep him under 4 miles until he's a year old so while he got the stength we'll have to hold him back for 4 months more. payton & the cats (bevo & cubbie) while not best friends for sure, they do get along better than before. bevo stands up to him every now & then & cubbie just runs around the house like a soldier running for his life & as long as payton never gets a view of him all is good.

payton has some new friends now too. a couple of weeks ago kristin set him up for a play date with cisco (a yellow lab) down the street & he & cisco enjoyed a 1/2 day running around in cisco's back yard. cisco's owner said that the two of them playing looked like a mix between a bad porn video & a wrestling match. payton has yet to be "fixed" & is all to happy to be a bit to friendly with anything with four legs. payton also plays with charlie (another yellow lab in the neighborhood) at the dog park at the end of the street. just yesterday payton met royal who will soon be one of his best friends. royal (a vizsla) belongs to our friends greg & katie who will be hosting payton at their house for the weekend while kristin & i are in san diego. to ensure payton & royal get along well we introduced the two dogs at bull creek yesterday. royal showed payton the ropes & taught him a thing or two about bull creek & swimming. actually dad had to help with the swimming - it took a little push but once in the water payton swam like a champ :)

so payton is doing well. i think we enjoy him more than he enjoys us, although he's quickly becoming a momma's boy. he still greets dad at the door when i come home, but he's definitely more loving towards his momma.

first quarry swim of 2008

today (easter 2008) is just the day for firsts... brunch came second, i had to work up an appetite before i could truly enjoy casa :)

both kristin & i met our friend danielle at the quarry at pure austin. danielle & i are racing together next weekend at ironman oceanside & this was her first open water swim of the year. if you've been paying attention to my blog you already know that i've enjoyed a few open water swims at barton springs this year.

i actually think that the water at the quarry is colder than barton springs right now - it felt like 30 degrees when i jumped in. that's me in the water screaming like a girl & payton getting a bit hyper on the pier in reaction to me jumping in & screaming. kristin said that when i started to swim off he ran to the edge of the pier & almost jumped in after me - lucky for the both of us, & payton for that matter, that he didn't go through with jumping in.

minus the freezing temperatures & the fact that some of the buoys had gone off path & one seemed to have disappeared completely it was a great swim workout. both danielle & i completed two laps (1500 meters - just shy of 1 mile) right at 30 minutes. i'm definitely finding myself more comfortable in the water & i am getting used to breathing on every other stroke. i do notice that when i breathe on my right side that i pull way left so i'll have to be careful about that & get that bad habit under control soon.

i feel like i had a really good training/recovery weekend following a very long one last weekend. i rode just over 50 miles yesterday via a modified version of the dam loop which included a number of trips up & down 360. then prior to meeting up at the quarry this morning i got an 11 mile run in down at the lake.

when arriving to casa following this morning's run/swim the "family style" serve yourself approach was a welcomed site to my tummy!

choke chains for shoppers

kristin & i finally viewed the infamous cesar millan (the dog whisperer) in action today. by this evening we had applied many of the techniques that cesar suggests in his program. we both admit everything we’ve tried thus far has been quite effective. it’s pretty simple & that’s the beauty of it – show the animal who is control, remain calm, don’t reinforce bad behavior, & most importantly use that choke chain :)

speaking of choke chains; kristin & i could have used some constraint this evening when visiting costco for the first time in over a year. we started to shop at costco when the first one opened in austin over 5 years ago. our once weekly visit for 3 years straight almost always resulted in a bill greater than a $100 bucks. given the size/quantity a purchase resulted in it really is tough to get out of there for less than a $100 bucks.

when our membership expired over a year ago we decided it wasn’t worth renewing. while we rarely let anything we purchased there go to waste we simply decided that shopping there was almost always hectic, we purchased way too many things that weren’t grocery related & that we often didn’t need, & in an effort to not let things go to waste we would sometimes find ourselves consuming more of something just to get rid of it or prevent it to going to waste.

so why did we go back to costco today? for 2 items: paper towels & toilet paper. while we can obviously purchase & do purchase these items at central market & whole foods they are priced sky high in comparison to costco. so i borrowed a co-workers costco card before leaving the office on friday & this evening we made the journey. when we arrived we should have skipped even grabbing a basket/cart. to note, the costco basket/cart can haul more than most full-size trucks. it’s designed to hold more than any of us actually need to purchase.

as soon as we walked through those giant front doors (both the entrance & exit are garage size openings – they actually close like garage doors) the “deals” attacked us. after an hour of shopping we left with a full basket/cart & the goods inside consumed every inch of space in the 4runner. luckily we did get out with our paper towels & toilet paper - $200+ dollars worth :)

in all honesty we weren’t that bad. we bought a lot of fish & chicken, fruits, olive oil, oatmeal, protein shakes, & tortillas so our normal grocery shopping bill should be way less for the next few weeks. we also needed a new dog bed for payton as he’s just went over the 70 pound mark! the *only* thing that we splurged on was a new shirt & pair of jeans for me & kristin bought a couple of tank tops for her.

the moral of the story: as long as cesar millan isn’t brought in to do something about it consumerism will remain alive & well in the USA.

perfect outdoor weather

saturday, february 23, 2008 - austin, texas

what a wonderful day in austin, texas. if you live here & you own a bike, a dog, or a pair of running shoes shame on you if you didn’t get outside & enjoy it. weather like this is what we all dream of. both kristin & i made the most of it. kristin took payton for a run & worked in the front yard for a bit & i swam at barton springs this morning & then rode the mansfield dam loop with ed. when ed hit bee caves it was evident that we weren’t the only ones enjoying the weather – there were as many bikers on the road as there were cars! by the time we made our way back & were heading south on 360 you would have thought that everyone in austin owned a road bike – it really was awesome!

6am: 57°F, feels like56°F
9am: 62°F, feels like62°F
12pm: 73°F, feels like73°F
3pm: 78°F, feels like77°F

after returning to barton springs & packing up the car & heading home i slowed down when driving over town lake just to take a glimpse at all the runners, dog walkers, & folks out flying kites. austin is by far one of the greatest outdoors cities in the united states & by far the best in texas!

if you missed an outdoor adventure today, don’t make the same mistake again tomorrow!

our little man is growing up

i weighed payton late saturday night. when we got him exactly one month ago from this past saturday he weighed 47 pounds. not a bad size for a 5-month old pup. as of saturday night’s weigh in he weighed 58 pounds. in the last month he's put on 11 pounds. that’s not bad for a pup that is also running a solid 6 – 9 miles a week & walking at least 5 – 7 a week.

according to the dog experts he's coming out of kiddy stage & graduating into adolescence. months 6 – 18 are supposed to be some of the best. he should still have that puppy energy, yet he *should* really begin to calm down & not have everything involve so much trial & error. what kristin & i are both looking forward too is taking him to the many awesome dog parks in town. our vet recommended we wait until he’s had his final distemper shot & then we can let him loose.

dogs & dinner

this past saturday eryn & alex invited us over for dinner. eryn suggested we bring payton so we did! from the get go the dogs were chasing one another. well actually, payton was chasing saci (acronym for the school that eryn & alex attended in florence) the entire night. well not exactly all night, alex locked saci away in her crate just prior to sitting down for dinner - poor dog locked away on her home turf while payton was left to roam freely!

minus the dog frenzy we had a great time & the food was amazing - i took multiple pics! i've never seen a salad with so many fruitful colors. we started with some homemade soup that was sprinkled with roasted pine nuts & complimented with bruchetta (made with a soft pumpernickel bread). in between soup & salad we had a variety of olives. then the salad came & it too was awesome - so many colors folks! have you ever had blackberries in a salad? if you haven't you must try it. then to the main course - salmon! & finally a medley of frozen fruits whipped into a homemade sherbert & coffee made with a real french press.

lucky for me, eryn made a lot of everything & given the training i was in for the next day & what i had experienced that morning i wasn't shy with eating two bowls of soup, 3 pieces of bruchetta, 2 plates of salad, & 2 1/2 pieces of salmon!

when payton finally calmed down alex let saci out of her crate. we ended up watching 'knocked up' - kristin & i hadn't seen it before. we started with 'superbad', but kristin wasn't enjoying the humor all that much.

to sum up the night: the food was amazing & when you let dogs crash your party you shouldn't expect to have long deep conversations & resorting to a movie can be a good fall back plan :)

about last night

while "about last night" is also the name of one my favorite 80s movies (stars demi moore, rob lowe, james belushi) i'm referring to how we rang in 2008. for 4 years now (excluding last year when we were in prague) kristin & i have made dinner reservations for two at 10pm at flemings. i think it was after our first new years together that we both decided that waking up late in the afternoon with a severe hangover is not how we wanted to start our new year off.

we would enjoy a nice dinner together, celebrate at midnight with a champagne toast at the restaurant, & then off to the house for bed. i think the first couple of years we did this we actually went to a party after we rang in the new year which would for the most part just result in the very thing we were attempting to avoid (waking up late with a hangover). so by year 3 we had perfected having a nice dinner, a champagne toast, & then home for bed.

this year we modified things just ever so slighty... we switched up the venue from flemings to vin bistro (www.vinbistro.com). it's a cool little restaurant next to kerbey lane that prides themselves on the wine & food pairings. kristin recommended vin after a night out with the girls there some months ago. we also invited another couple out with us - eryn & alex. we've known them for just over a year (i work with eryn - she's a graphic designer). they are very cool & interesting company & more importantly fun to hang out. they are actually getting married in april of 2008 in florence (where they met while studying abroad in college). anyhow, the company was great. eryn & alex met us at our place to visit with the new pup. i think eryn got a real kick out of payton - especially his ridge.

as for vin, it wasn't horrible & it wasn't great either. the decor at vin was nice & comforting. right out of the gates they warned us that they had run out of their fillets. eryn, alex, & i were all thinking fillets tonight too. eryn & kristin ordered wine & i went with a tito's & soda (wanted something other than wine tonight). kristin's wine actually tasted like a match stick so after she asked the waiter for a wine card & they didn't have one he offered to bring her a glass of something else. she went with a safe riesling (same thing eryn ordered) & all was well.

without the fillet the menu consisted of the usual sea foods: tuna, sea bass, halibut, & lobster. they were sporting a new years menu so chicken, lamb, salmon weren't on the menu last night. kristin, eryn, & alex all went for the sea bass. i was so close to getting the lobster when i caved for the tuna because it came with soba noodles (i swear the dish was made just for me). the sea bass was pretty nice. kristin & eryn didn't like the maple syrup that accompanied it. while alex finished his quickly i don't think he was a huge fan - just very hungry. i thought for sure that the tuna & soba were going to rock, however, the tuna wasn't that great a piece of meat & it didn't cut up very well & worse off it has some sort of bbq sauce like thing on it - oh well, at least it was healthy :) i forgot to mention the appetizer - the crab cakes were fantastic! lightly seared & almost nothing but crab.

the night was full of fun conversation. discussing '08 plans & goals. talking about our pets & other low key stuff such as movies, etc. we had some pretty good laughs throughout the night. we toasted at midnight with a glass of champagne & then eryn & alex came back to our house to see payton one last time & hear some more of thelonious monk's great jazz.

& that was our new year's celebration. 2008, i welcome you with open arms!

renaming bevo to stan

poor bevo... no way, poor bevo's parents that have to clean up after him. since bevo was introduced to payton this morning he has puked 10 times. cubby, our other kitten, hasn't puked once in his life. while cubby isn't a fan of payton either right now; he hasn't turned into a puke machine.

bevo has a tendency to puke now & again. maybe once a month or once a quarter. the point is that he pukes, but NOT 10 times in a single day. this same thing happened a few years ago with our first dog. bevo would just get near payton I & would puke. today, he's puked 10 times. normally one puking episode results in 3 separate puke spots. by end of day he was basically puking stomach acids only; there wasn't any food left in his BIG belly.

we are both hoping for a better day tomorrow.

i got addicted to south park for about a month earlier this year which is how i came up with the south park reference. kearney, one of my employees, turned me onto www.southparkzone.com. i knew of south park, but had never seen an actual episode. in the span of that month i watched every season that was posted.

my man payton

kristin & i got a new pup late last night. we named him payton, after walter payton (http://www.payton34.com/). kristin is such a sport being a packer fan & all. she really understands how much payton meant to me growing up as a kid & how much i enjoy naming our dog payton.

anyway, it's been a busy 24 hours with payton. he's almost 5 months old & he is already pushing 40+ pounds. he's a rhodesian ridgeback & when fully grown will weigh between 85 & 95 pounds. the breed is amazing to read about. they were breed in south africa in the late 1800s to kill lions - the were referred to as the african lion dog or simba inja. kristin has been eyeing the breed for sometime. greg & katie, some friends of ours, have a vizsla that we are very fond of & we wanted something like the vizsla, just a little more stout/squared. we saw a rhodesian one day down at the trail & from that moment that is the breed we wanted. i grew up always wanting a great dane - i'm sure most boys did. anyway, the ridge marking on their backs is like no other is & he is sure to stand out amongst a crowd of other dogs.

(AKC blurb about the ridgeback: the ridgeback represents a strong, muscular and active dog, symmetrical and balanced in outline. a mature ridgeback is a handsome, upstanding and athletic dog, capable of great endurance with a fair (good) amount of speed. of even, dignified temperament, the ridgeback is devoted and affectionate to his master, reserved with strangers. the peculiarity of this breed is the ridge on the back. the ridge must be regarded as the characteristic feature of the breed. )

we lucked out with him big time! he's a pure breed & he is so well tempered. the original owner had him fully house & crate trained. the original owner, andy, (a cool dude from england) then ran into problems with his landlord & now needed to find him a new home. we met andy & his family last night at a starbucks in bastrop (everything takes place at a starbucks these days it seems like) & after about an hour of talking with the family - us questioning them & them questioning us - we decided we wanted him. they provided us his crate, his bed, a few toys, a food dish, etc. for almost nothing. i even asked them if they wanted more cash because i couldn't believe what we were getting for the price. (i suppose what goes around does come around because kristin & i did try the dog thing almost three years ago when we lived in round rock & 3 months into owning this pup we ended up finding it a new home & with it came all of it's toys, food, crate, bones, etc. for free.) they are a really cool family & the mother (gilly) works at the starbucks we met at & i'm definitely going to pay her a visit next time i bike at the lost pines.

the ride home was interesting to say the least. try having a 40+ pound pup on your lap for 30 miles :). when payton walked into the house last night he was amazing. we took him off his leash & besides him smelling everything in sight he didn't bother with anything. no trying to jump on the furniture, no picking anything up off the coffee table, etc. he slept like a baby too & needed it because he's been on the go since we all got up at 5:30 this morning.

kristin popped up out of bed first (i'm on vacation right now & relaxing on my ironman training until the new year) & had her coffee. she took him for a 30 minute walk in the neighborhood & then brought him home for breakfast. both prior to & after breakfast he took care of himself outside. i then took him down to the lake at about 8:30 & he got in a good 3-mile jog at a 9-minute mile pace. not bad for a first timer in my opinion. i've heard that they can run up to 35 miles; if he can maintain 20 miles i'll be more than happy. of course i'll have to keep his mileage low as he is just a pup & still growing.

when we got home from the lake he went right to his bed & passed out. it was awesome. around noon i put him in his crate & i went to the gym for a spin class. when i got home, kristin had just come home for lunch. again, payton went to the bathroom outside with no problems.

around 2:30 i walked him a block to bark n' purr & we cruised the store. man, chics really do dig guys with babies or pups. even with the mountain man beard i'm sporting i got hit on by three chics. i picked payton up a raw hide & some healthy treats & then headed back home. i promised kristin i wouldn't open the treats until she got home & so far i've been good on my promise.

around 4:30 i walked him down the street to a local dog park. we ran together in the open field; i felt like a kid for a few minutes. then a friend (adrianne) that i hadn't seen in probably 2 years came walking in with her two pit bull mixes. payton was fond of the female & he & the male (simon) played pretty rough for a good 30 minutes. we then walked back to the house & after his evening meal of organic puppy food that we got him at central market he walked straight to his bed & is currently passed out again.

i think we are going to have a very good time with him & we'll have many great stories to share. tomorrow morning we take him to the vet for his first check up - this is when we'll really find out if he's worth what we think he's worth :)