Is there a safe, well-lit place to run in Kingwood after dark?

TXU Energy Turkey Trot 10K

Location/Route: Uptown Park/Tanglewood
Distance: 10K
Time: 1:04:07
Mile 1: 10:24*
Mile 2: 10:24*
Mile 3: 10:32*
Mile 4: 10:32*
Mile 5: 10:32*
Mile 6: 9:50
Last .2: 1:45
(* = average)
Avg Pace: 10:19
Avg Heart Rate: 178
Max Heart Rate: 209

Race Report:

(more…)

Saw Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang up in the Woodlands this weekend instead of Walk the Line. It’s a quirky, random movie with Robert Downey Jr and Val Kilmer. Good brain candy, which is what I needed at the time.

Sarah & Cassie: My fellow RENT fans!! I’ll Cover You gets me every time. Opens Wednesday!!

Bob: Thanks for the icon edit. And sorry I missed your comment until after Saturday’s run. Yes, I’m running the Houstonian 30k. Speaking of….has anyone gotten their race packets in the mail yet?

Upcoming Races/big training runs:

November 24 - Uptown Turkey Trot 10K

December 10 - Run the Woodlands 5K

December 11 - Houstonian 30K

December 14 - Houston Strider’s Christmas Lights Run

December 17 or 24th: A 21 mile training run with HoustonFit (17th) or 22 miles with the Striders (24th). I think the run with the Striders would be more fun, but I have a feeling I’d be more motivated to run on the 17th than the morning of Christmas eve. I’ll have to make a decision in the next few weeks, I guess.

December 24 - January 14: Tapering

January 15: MARATHON DAY

Back in March, I was excited about an exhibit of one of my favorite artists that was making its way from the Brooklyn Museum of Art to Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts - and as of yesterday, it’s finally here.

Jean-Michel Basquiat was a Brooklyn-based artist of Puerto Rican/Haitian descent, who made some of what I consider the most beautifully raw and fierce paintings. It’s a beautiful mix of paint, collages, poetry and graffitti. His work reaches inside me somehow. I’ll look at one of his paintings and recognize something in it - not a shape or a word or picture specifically - but instead, a certain emotion or perspective….something…and I’ll think, “I didn’t know someone else felt that too.” Yeah, it’s strange to experience a sense of validation from some paintings, but it’s one of the reasons I love his work. It’s like deep down, we speak the same language. Sounds cheesy, I know. I don’t know if what I’m seeing in Basquiat’s work is what he intended to communicate, but I love what I’m able to take away from it.

The Brooklyn Museum of Art put together a website on Jean-Michel Basquiat’s life and work. It’s aimed at teenagers, but is still a good retrospective on his work.

The only other artist that I’ve felt this way about is Jean Cocteau. When I was in Montreal two years ago, the Mus�e des beaux-arts de Montr�al had an amazing Jean Cocteau exhibit. I had never even heard of Jean Cocteau, but the exhibit blew me away.

Basquiat is currently on view through February 12, 2006 at the Caroline Wiess Law Building at MFAH. There’s a series of lectures on his work in the next several weeks, and (inexplicably) a Starbucks Music Night titled, “The Beats of Basquiat.”

Yay for MFAH.

[fyi - I haven’t been posting my weekly training runs because there’s not much to report other than “I got the gym at 9:00pm. Ran on the treadmill for 45 minutes. Went home.” If anything, I would add, “I really wish I could get out of work early enough to run at Memorial again.”)

Location/Route: River Oaks/Rose Garden Run
Distance: 10 miles
Time: 1:55:05
Average Pace: 11:30

(more…)

Cameras: Finally, I caved in and ordered a digital camera: the Canon A610. Had two stackable coupons from Dell and ended up saving $75. Yay. Now I can start doing the really important things digital cameras were meant for - taking pictures of my cats.

Muggles: Saw the newest Harry Pottah tonight. We went to the Angelika, figuring the other theaters would either be sold out or packed with kids. Well, the Angelika was definitely packed….with adults. It was great. There’s nothing like seeing 40+ year olds in business suits sprinting down a theater hallway to grab seats for a children’s movie. I love the Angelika. The movie was fun - Ron is so cute and Harry is looking more and more like Frodo. MB invited a friend who’s run 7 marathons (cool!), so we chatted about local races/running in general.

Turkey Trots: Running the Uptown Turkey Trot 10K on Thursday morning. My first time to trot!

Tomorrow morning: 10 miles with HoustonFit.

Current happy things:

• Project Runway: Season 2. December 7th on Bravo. The DVR is ready and waiting.
• Honey Nut Cheerios.
• My meeting in Dallas tomorrow got cancelled. Yay!
• Cold front = good running weather.
• Going to see Harry Pottah and the Goblet of Fire on Friday with some muggle friends.
• Leaving the office before 8pm.