I Can't Wait to Fish Again

They certainly have fishing in Texas, but it is done completely different to how it is done up north. You really need a boat down here and the type of fish are different. There are no trout to speak of and if a person managed to catch something down here I would be afraid to eat it because of the pollution in the water. Anyway, fishing is big down here, I just haven't participated. Today I was listening to an AM talk radio guy and he was talking about fishing and said something I totally agree with. He said, "Fishing is cool. I mean, it has to be cool right? After all, Jesus hung out with a bunch of fishermen."
It made me think about Ernie and this...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFTjeaDlxDI

It is Hot

And only sposed to get hotter. I am ready to get out of Texas so that I can actually sleep at night without the fear of drowning in the humidity and my own sweat. Running has been going well lately and I am anxious to run in clean air for a change. I decided that you don't need to hear all the boring details about my runs so I am only putting up my workouts. Yesterday was just an easy 5 miles, but tonight I did a tempo run. Drew was at the park so I ran three miles with him at a descending pace and when he left I did two more fast, but relaxed. The splits were 6:51, 6:27, 6:19, 5:42, and 5:42 for 31:03 total. The hip was not as bad as it has been and I am hoping that it will clear up over the next couple of weeks. I think that being forced to not run, while we pack and move, might help it out a bit. Only 14 days from now and we will prolly be around San Antonio looking for a place to stay the night before heading north. I got my office pretty much squared away today. Shredded all of the grades and student info that I needed to and all of my non-essential things are in boxes ready to haul out.

I really feel sorry for the department that I am leaving behind, but am very glad I will not be a part of it any longer. The administration is destroying it and it is going to be a rough year for them. One of my colleagues took a job across campus and that changed the entire dynamics of the department. I was on the hiring committee to replace him and I think we got a really strong professor in, but they do not have any experience teaching and I don't think that the administration is going to shepherd them in very well. The last talk I heard was that they were going to give this person, who has never taught before, 5-6 preps. When I came I had 3 and felt overwhelmed and I had experience. Now with me leaving they have had to scramble to find another instructor, but the hiring committee was forced by administration to take on someone who is qualified to teach microbiology. That is great, but I taught Anatomy and Physiology. For those of you who have not had these courses, lets just say they are not the same. The guy that administration forced on the department is NOT qualified and will make things very rough till he either leaves or is forced to quit. Yesterday, your uncle (your uncle is the term of endearment which the department has chosen for our boss, because he is not my uncle, he must be yours) came to my office and was asking me if I had any notes or anything that I could make copies of for the new hire. I looked at him and said, I don't use notes when I lecture, I have a background in this area so I just know the material and talk about it. "You don't have anything we can give this guy to help him out?" I said, he can sit in on my class for the rest of this summer. Your uncle thought that I should bail them out. I know I am leaving close to the start of the semester, but it really isn't my fault you chose to hire a microbiologist to teach A&P. Especially when I know for a fact that there were at least two other applicants with a background in A&P (They originally had me on the hiring committee and then took me off after I made some comments about your uncle's favorite applicant, which he didn't like).

Glad I won't be here next year, wish my house would sell.

Pictures

The picture battle between my wife and I was sorta short lived. She deleted my photo of her so I deleted her header photo and put my picture there. That made her mad because she couldn't fix it. I took pity on her, because she is sick, and fixed it. Sorry if you missed the picture I tried to put up.

Log

Not sure on the time for the run tonight. It was raining like mad so I went up to the track and ran five miles in the puddles. I forgot the watch so no idea on splits.

32.25

So I wanted to make a post tonight about my run. But, yesterday I was looking through some old photos and I found one that I just had to post. The run was a good one. It was cooler tonight because there had been some rain off and on today, but it was terribly humid. So, if you stopped moving things got unbearably hot. I ran 5 miles with slits of 6:58, 6:43, 6:27, 6:19, and 5:56. Hip was giving me a bit of trouble, but not as bad as the other day.

Here is the picture. Jill, do you remember when?

SORRY PEEPS, IT'S REALLY NOT BLOG WORTHY!
<3 Jill

Log

Tonight was the first of many runs on my way back into shape. I ran 5 miles out at Northway park. It was relatively nice weather for Texas. My splits were 7:02, 6:44, 6:35, 6:23, and 5:54. On the third mile my hip really started to bother me and it is still sore sitting here while I write this. I think it might be the weather, but I don't know. Hopefully it won't turn into something too serious.

Running

So my running has been sorta sub-par lately. I have tried to make a come back at least once a year for the past three years. I have had mixed results getting my 5k time back down around 16 minutes. Not what it was in college, but decent none the less. In the past it was all about motivation. I was left drained from college competition and the fight with West Nile. Recently the ambitions have been returning and the joy of running has been starting to come back. I think there is a long way to go still, but it is getting better. Ultimately, the heat and the work schedule has kept me from achieving what I really wanted here in Texas. I see changes on the horizon though and am excited to get after it once more. I have a plan in place and am starting today to pick up the intensity again. The desire to run a 14:xx in the 5k is a major focus for me, but what has really set things off is this, third paragraph. A little background on that record which I used to hold. When I set that record I was in insane shape. I went on to break the school record in the 10k later that year at elevation. I never thought it would be broken. Two Olympic trials runners couldn't do it and Joe Schultz, who holds every record at Chadron from 1500-10000m, couldn't do it. He did break my 10k record, but he did not run it at altitude, which makes a huge difference. Anyway, the kid who broke the Colter Run record is a person who I would have said is mediocre at best. He was a decent high school runner, but would have only been a walk on at any college program. Obviously he has improved, but I cannot sit back and let him have a record that I thought was untouchable for some years to come. I am going to work my tail off over the next year and then go back to Chadron to set things right. I will not have as heavy of a teaching load in Cheyenne, so I will have more time to devote to running and the elevation will help me improve faster. I am going to put the next record so far out of reach that it will last decades.

Where Does Time Go?

Holy cow it has been a long time since I made a post. I have been swamped with things and simply have not had time to get on here. I am teaching a ton of classes right now for summer school. The money is nice, but it is leaving little time for anything else. On top of all this, I have taken a new job at a different school, so I am trying to get things in order for that. The job is in Wyoming which is like 5 million miles away from Texas so we are definitely going to need to move. I don't think that a commute would work for this one. The house is for sale if you know anyone that is interested. We have had some interest in it, but only a couple of promising prospects. I really hope that it sells before we leave as it would sure make life more enjoyable once we get to Wyoming. Because of this opportunity I have recently been thinking about our situation. Normally I am of the mind that you make life what it is and because of this I have always enjoyed Texas. But, recently I have been closely examining the situation here and have come to the realization that I HATE Texas. August 12th can't come soon enough. I have met a few people here that I will truly miss, but the overall experience here has been atrocious and I cannot wait to get out. I hate everything about this place. I hate the way people drive. I hate peoples attitudes. I hate the heat, the hurricanes, the culture, and the politics. The church is still true down here, but man are the members strange. I hate my boss. I hate my office. I hate the facilities that I have had to tolerate. I hate the ignorance and the sense of entitlement that nearly everyone has here. If you ever have the chance to visit Texas, you should pass it up.