Happy 9th B-Day Z!

Well, another year has passed. Very hard to believe, but it has. And as the leaves start to fall...my little bastard dog, Z, turns another year. Hard to believe this little shit is 9! I know! 9!

So, to keep tradition, I got him his birthday taco. Funny, the past few years he started to slow up with the tacos. I was worried he would have to possibly stop doing the birthday taco ceremony. However, like a masters champ, he came out to reclaim his taco eating title. He set a new record...under 5 minutes! Including hot sauce! I was in awe!

I have not videoed it since I created this video, so this is from a few years, but it never gets old.

In all seriousness, the little guy and me and have been through a lot together. He has been there in some great times and in some not so great times, too. Looking forward to another fun year with him!

Happy Birthday little buddy!

Cedar Point Hallowscream

Well, we couldn't have picked a better day. Of course it was pretty much a weather hail-mary being the very last day of the season and all. With it raining the night before, we were worried about how it was going to be. It ended up being a great day. Lin, Jeff, Jenn and I had a blast riding all the coasters. It was pretty cool with Jeff there. He hadn't been to the park in like 10 years. I think I heard him say the last time was when the Magnum was new. Late 90s I think.

So we road all the good ones. All along Jenn swore she wasn't going to ride the Top Thrill Dragster. There was no way I was going to let her leave the park and not ride the best ride there (in my opinion.)

So we got there with just about 30 minutes left for the park being open. She kept saying she was going to walk through at the last minute. As we got closer, she got quieter. Next thing you know, we are on deck. Man, the lines go fast in the fall!

Side story...it was very disturbing that we were in line behind this girl. No big deal, except for the fact she looked like she was 8 months pregnant. She was HUGE! And in line for a roller coaster! Well after a bit we noticed that she had a teddy bear in her sweatshirt due to the rules of the park not allowing things in line for the ride. Whew!

Ok, back to Jenn. We are in the ride now and on deck. If you have never been on this ride...well you just have to see it to understand. Long story short (too late) we shooting off and up, and down! It was great. Jenn on the other hand was not impressed.

We had a blast this year. Can't wait to go again next year!

Indians Game

Ok, so I got to go to my very first Cleveland Indians game. Granted it was also Game 3 of the playoffs. The game was awesome! Indians won! It was pretty cool being a guest of the EMC corporation. We had great seats just off the third baseline. Which ended up being just close enough to Manny for him to hear all the things Cleveland was shouting about him.



After the game I got to head up to the scoreboard box where Jeff was working. Pretty cool seeing everything that makes the scoreboard and replay work.

It was really cool to finally see where he worked. He always talked about it, but it is hard to fully picture the place until you are there.

After the game, it was downtown which was blowing up. It was great to see sports fans in Cleveland excited and celebrating a victory. Then it was home to bed and a very long day at work the next day.

Climbing at Kendall Cliffs

Saturday afternoon we met up with our friends and we climbing at Kendall Cliffs. Kendall Cliffs is an indoor climbing gym located at Appalachian Outfitters in Peninsula, Ohio. Tiffany had been trying to get this coordinated. Between vacations and business trips, it was tough to get everyone together. But she finally did it! Way to go Tiff!

Now, I have lived just around the corner from this place for a few years now and have always wanted to go climbing. So, when Tiff asked I was like sure!!! And we had a blast. Of course no one could feel their forearms once we were done but it was really cool. Everyone did really well and seemed to have a great time.

We started on easier walls and worked our way to tougher walls. Keeping track, I am pretty sure I would fallen of a cliff and perished about 3 times. I better stick to running. We did decide this was a great workout and are going to try to go more often.


Once done, we decided to climb some pumpkin ales at the Winking Lizard while catching some college football and the Indians game. Lifting the glasses was a bit tough, but we hung in there. They served the ales with brown sugar on the rim which I have never seen. But to be honest, it was really good! Too, good. After a few of them, the Tom-inator made a rare appearance.

Towpath 1/2 Marathon..another PR!!!

With Akron just a week earlier, I wasn’t sure how today was going to pan out. I knew I could have ran the Buckeye half faster, but wasn't sure if I had recovered yet. I also know I needed about a 1:37 or 1:38 for me to able to hit a sub 3:30 at OBX. The weather was going to be a bit warmer than expected. It wasn’t going to be perfect like the weather we had in Akron.

This year, they were trying something new. The marathon and half marathon was starting simultaneously in two different locations. We headed down to the start area and were shocked to see how many people were there just for the half. And it seemed that all those people were in line for the port-o-johns. The line was a mile long. I noticed tons of people running into the woods. I jumped in there and there were tons of girls swatting. Never seen that before.

Meanwhile, back at the start line, I ran in Aaron, Sean, Vince, and Mailman Mike. Mike is a mailman. That is why we call him Mailman Mike. Him and Vince were soaking wet. I come to find out later they ran from the finish area at Boston Store to there. About 3 miles or so to there. We all talked for a bit and then headed to the start line.

The race started and off we went from Brandywine Ski Resort and down the hill towards the road. I tried to get out fast to beat the crowd. It was about then I forgot to start my watch. I hit mile 1 at about a 7:10 pace. Set my watch and cruised on.

We hit the area the marathoners started at about mile 2. There were bottles and shirts laying everywhere. The course took us to the Boston Store which was about mile 3. Still doing low 7s and feeling good, however, it was starting to get warm already. At the Boston store I guess I ran past my sister. I did see or hear her. Then I passed Kim who ran Akron with me last week. We turned on to the Towpath and headed towards Red Lock.

At Red Lock they gels and Gatorade waiting. There was also a park ranger informing us that the course is really up hill. Thanks. I needed that. It was about then we all settled in our pace. A few miles down the towpath I passed Vince on his way back. He was in second place and about 2 minutes behind the leader. I pushed on to Station Bridge which had a bunch of spectators again. It was nice to see them. Not a lot of fans along this course and I was far enough towards the front there wasn’t anyone really around.

I hit the turn around and began to head back. I maintained my pace about mid 7s now and waited. At mile 11 we hit Red Lock again. Grabbed a gel and move on through. By now I was feeling really good again and pushed it in. I could see some folks up ahead and decided to try and catch them. I was happy that I managed to keep the cramps away so I was really able to push mile 11 and 12. I managed to catch about 4 or 5 people.


I hit Boston Store at the finish area. Waved to my sister who yelled great pace! Crossed the line at 1:38:09 (7:30 average pace) which was another PR just a week after Akron. 4th place in my age group out of 47, 43rd overall out of 697. By far the best race of the year.

It was great that day to have my Brother-in-law Jeff back in action from his deployment in the middle east. We are all glad he is back safe and sound. Although it was a rough day for the marathoners heat wise. I was pretty happy to cheer them on from the Beer Garden getting a massage!

Next up…OBX Marathon!!!!