Category: Recollection

Heat Treat Complete

Seems like just yesterday I was being treated to an ambulance ride to our favorite Emergency Room.   If you recall, there was an “incident” after one of my long runs that left me a ummm let’s go with less than fresh (link here).  Since that episode I’ve slowly been working my way back to running form.  From a residuals perspective it was pretty clear that the heat stroke took at least 30 seconds off my pace and as warned more susceptible to the heat.  Essentially the body would start to panic as soon as it felt the temp going up and just start sweating profusely – pretty much premature panic.  Each training run I tried to get more conditioned to the weather and gradually increased the mileage eventually topping out at 9 miles, 2 miles short of the incident mileage.  The reason for the continued push to get back in running form was primarily due to the fact the Bix 7 was just around the corner.  No rest for the wicked and the Bix hills are nothing to take lightly.  Well, race day was last Saturday and as you can tell from the fact this post exists, I survived the first real test since the escort to the hospital.

The Bix 7 isn’t usually a medal event, but thanks to it being the 40th anniversary of the race they broke out the medals.  This was a nice addition to the 3oth and 35th anniversary medals already hanging on my walls.  More importantly, the cool medal was enough to motivate my friend Sung to run the race with me.  He has recently started to run as part of his new health kick which has provided some amazing results.  If you recall he went up with us to complete the Bix@6 training run a few weeks back.  The success of that effort coupled with the opportunity to get a trophy for the wall was enough to convince him to sign up for the real thing.  In addition to Sung, another friend, Ryan, was also signed up to experience the mega-party.  The recruiting effort is going well, Rhonda and Ron were also there to participate in their second year (hope they got their pins) – once you experience the Bix you definitely want to set plans for attending the next year – one of the funnest races in the area for sure.  We were unable to meet up with Rhonda and Ron before the race but (from L to R) Ryan, Sung and I were able to take the traditional pre-race shot together.

Hit the jump to read how everything turned out

Continue reading Heat Treat Complete

It’s a Sweep

So it’s mid Summer which is a very important time around here at LifeIntrigued. Sure, it’s the heart of running season but there is another race of sorts that is just as important to me and one in which the results can have a lasting (as in a year’s worth) of impact. Unlike running where the competition is between me and my less than amused inner voice, this particular race is between myself and my wife. Yes, we are talking about the highly competitive photography contest we affectionately refer to as the UB Battle. If you recall last year was hard fought with the victory going to yours truly (link here).  I guess for clarity it really meant the umbrella handle was firmly in Linda’s hands.  With the new year, a whole new batch of photographs had to investigated and the candidates painstakingly poured over.  If you really want to add some stress in your life try taking your “babies” and deciding which ones are worthy of public viewing.  In the past I’ve often relied on Linda to be my final critic once the set was whittled down to a manageable number.  Knowing how much she hated losing last year (and how painful it was to hold the umbrella for me all year) I wasn’t sure how objective that process was going to be.  To offset any bias there, I also employed my brother and his wife to help make the final choices.  The final responsibility (and all blame) still lies with me but having a third and fourth set of eyes is extremely helpful in this nerve racking process.

Now, in the past there has been some wiggle room in determining the UB.  Maybe the rules were slightly vague in a particular area or the scoring may have been open for a different interpretation.  Hell, there were even outside conditions such as expert critics making comments that clearly played into a people’s choice vote.  The good news is this year there is no question who the winner is and therefore who the UB is.  Quite frankly it was a clean sweep on all fronts but we’ll go ahead and throw a small lifeline out just to lessen the blow.

So we’ll start with the HOI Fair results.  Each of us selected our best efforts and put them out there to be judged.  This year I went with two color 8×10’s, 4 color 11×14’s and one BW 11×14.  Linda went with 1 color 8×10, 4 color 11×14’s, 1 BW 11×14 and two entries for the special pet portrait category they had this year.  When we went to check the results I was somewhat stunned that I had earned two Honorable Mentions – one in the 11×14 color category and on in the 8×10 – Yeah!!!

So you might have noticed there is actually a third picture in the frame – a BW selection that was submitted by Linda.  Turns out that later in the evening Linda got a call indicating they had disqualified a BW winner (no explanation as to why) and that her picture was the next one in the ranking order so they awarded her an Honorable Mention as well.  A big congratulations to Linda for her first ribbon in the large pond – well done!  That gave us three HMs for the HOI fair – the most we’ve ever taken and the most for both of us individually.  We are slowly breaking the code for that venue.

Hit the link to see all the images entered and more importantly .. the result so of the county fair!

Continue reading It’s a Sweep

Easy Pleasy

Heat StrokeOn July 3rd Linda, myself and two of my friends headed up for a Bix practice run.  If you happen to be new to the blog in the last year then you may not know that the Bix7 is my premier run of the race season.  This is the race that started it all so many years ago and definitely the most enjoyable of the lot.  As in the past, I like to get a practice run in just to set expectations.  The two big hills in that race are nothing to be taken lightly – always good to know ahead of time how much of a struggle it is going to be.  For this particular race, there was another reason for self validation…. but will get to that in a bit.  This year Sung made the trek up there with us.  He has been getting himself in shape and has lost an impressive amount of weight from a healthy diet and getting back into running.  This was his second Bix training run and had intentions of going a little further than his previous 4 to 5 mile.  His current 10K training program had put him around 6 miles but that was flat outings.  The plan was to stick with him to help him negotiate however far he felt like going with a side benefit of forcing myself to take it easy.  In the end, Sung made it over both hills and completed the course giving him two PRs in the process – the longest distance yet (7.3 miles – way ahead of his 10K program) and at an average pace of 11:07 which again was his fastest yet.  I find it always helps when someone is talking to you the whole time so chatted him up the entire distance.  On my front, that pace puts me 2 to 3 minutes over my standard pace so that part of the plan came out perfect as well.  Nice and easy, got to enjoy running with a good friend and the fact that I completed it without issue pleased me GREATLY!!

Now find out the cause for caution by hitting the jump to read about a scary experience

Continue reading Easy Pleasy

Perfect – PeRfect

Good news, it’s dog show weekend which usually means two things – a) I’ll be sitting around on my butt most of the time because that is the true essence of this hobby they call Dog Agility even though the name does imply a lot of motion.. that is generally for like 1 to 2 minutes at a time for the trainer.. and then you go back to sitting.  For the drag along Sherpa (me) .. that translates to basically just sitting – and b) more than enough time to get some posts out to put this month in the books.  Last I looked I was down only two so that should be pretty easy to tackle.  A staple blog entry for June is always the Steamboat Race and this year is no different.  Once again I toed the line for Illinois’ Toughest 15K.  One more medal to add to the growing collection of distance accomplishments

For the record, I cannot stand the logo for this race.  Hard to put my finger on exactly what the issue is but pretty sure it centers around having to wear a naked guy (except for shoes) with crappy running form.  Spent months and months eliminating heel striking and yet the race swag is a walking advertisement for it.  In the past the biggest complaint has always been the medals.  Steamboat still uses the hard chips in the shoe which is now pretty annoying seeing as most of the big races use the bib RF tags.  Pre-2014 the medal was a literally a hunk of metal you slipped the hard chip in for display purposes.  Either they knew nobody liked these chips and were just trying to trick people into keeping them to deplete their supplies or they wanted to keep reminding the participants of how awful that timing method is.  Luckily for 2014 they went to a standard medal – small, but better than in the past.  The back side actually has a remembrance to the race coordinator’s father who passed away this year.

Linda went with a more artsy pre-race picture.  Guessing so she had something nice to display on her desk if I didn’t make it! (took her like 20 minutes to get it right hehehe)

Prep time was over, it was time to make this Toughest 15K my bi… umm teach this Toughest 15K who was boss.  They changed the starting point this year – moving it a block over and to be honest taking out a small hill that was at the original starting point (does that still make this the toughest?).  As a result, Linda wasn’t exactly sure where to set up her photography perch.  It also meant I did not know where she was forcing me to scan the sidelines for her.  Not a big issue since I tend to goof around at the start anyway – it’s 9.3 miles people, no need to get all worked up at the start unless you happen to be in the rare air with the elites.  Soon I spotted her (before she saw me) and started my traditional wave.  Saw she was wedged in by other people and noticed she almost hit a lady in front of her when she swung the big glass around to snap some shots.  Only later did I learn that lady moved over and jumped in front of her as soon as the race started causing Linda to add some choice comments on Facebook afterwards.

Hit the jump to see how the race went!

Continue reading Perfect – PeRfect

Book Recollection: Nature Photography

Seems surprising I’ve actually had time to get through an item on my “to-read” list.  Been a little hectic around here as of late with the National Dog show last month in Denver and the upcoming Steamboat race, I’ve either been on the road traveling or on the road running.  Note sure where I picked up this latest Book Recollection but think it was a Christmas gift from Linda or one of my brothers.  If there is one topic that has garnered a lot of my research time it is definitely photography references.  This specific book (Nature Photography) by Chris Weston promised to provide Insider Secrets from the World’s top Digital Photography Professionals.  Maybe it is due to the amount of reading and personal investigation into this subject, but let’s assume the referenced professionals were holding their good stuff back – cuts down on the competition.  There were a number of tips described in the book, but most of those were pretty basic – know your camera, know your subject, exposure and creating depth.  If these are all new concepts to you, definitely grab this book.  Chris does a good job of simplifying the topic and writes in a clear easy to read manner.  In fact, so easy to ready I blasted through this book in about 2 days while Linda was driving.  If you have a pretty good grasp of those topics you still might get some enjoyment of the picture collection used throughout the book.  All in all pretty nice shots with the exception of two things.  First off, let’s collectively as photography enthusiasts stop trying to justify $#@%@$%@$% fully blurred pictures as intentional art.  NOBODY is going to hang a blurred image on their wall no matter how much you try to convince them you did it intentionally to give the viewer a sense of motion – BS – admit it, you f’d up (that was a clever photography pun by the way) and go and try it again.  The other issue is the paper choice in the book.  This is one of those tradeoffs between the cost of the book and the quality of the images.  I can understand making the conscious decision to go with the former, but keep in mind this has a definite impact when you are trying to compare the differences in two images – the cheaper paper will dilute the ink causing both images to look about the same regardless of how crisp or vibrant one looked over the other in the digital darkroom – take for example the antelope butts on page 65.  Say what you want, but both shots look similar printed on paper.  Oh, for the record, pg 207 mentions a zebra example but there are NO zebras in it.. a bear… but NO zebras.

I did appreciate the discussion on hyperfocal length presented in a manner I could finally understand although I did read it like 10 times before it started to sink in.  Chris confirmed that the worst thing you can do is underexpose, accurately reflects photography as the art of omission and of course chose to reference Joel Sartore (my favorite photographer) in his book.  Note, next time recommend using more of his pictures – think there was only like one or two paragraphs about Joel’s preparation for a shoot (he also gave me Joel’s website – the clever http://www.joelsartore.com/).   Not much else to say other than I liked the practice assignments compiled at the end book and the author’s favorite glass is the Nikon 200-400 f4 VR – great minds think alike.

Hit the jump to see some of the takeaways (or in this case more in the classification of reminders)

Continue reading Book Recollection: Nature Photography

Peoria Heights Half Marathon Conquered

Not sure if this is common with other runners or not, but I have a tendency to remember with quite clarity specific races.  This generally pertains to the ones that maybe ended in a personal hardship, celebrated a specific anniversary or was a personal victory of some sorts.  Yesterday’s race was actually a combination of reasons that I’ll always remember.  If you have been reading the blog for the last couple of weeks I’ve hinted that I was running a half marathon – specifically the Peoria Heights Half Marathon.  The goal this year was to get more halfs in and that meant starting earlier in the race season.  Typically the half target is early September.  This year the target was May, but found out two weeks ago that the Heights race was on (was given indications last year it was off due to the sponsor moving out of that city).  Went ahead and signed up figuring I could use it as an easy training run and wouldn’t have to bring my own fluids.  I was already at 12 miles having kept the training up through the Winter months – one more mile (point one) shouldn’t be that hard

Well, I can say with great pride the medal is now mine.

From a swag perspective, this one featured one of the nicest medals I have received and definitely the best shirt.   Kudos to the River City Race Management Team (Shazam Racing) for putting on another great race.  If you recall, they also ran the Screaming Pumpkin Race (link here)  which also had awesome medals.  We were unable to locate an ambulance, which is a little troublesome on its own, but we decided to take the traditional post race picture on a nearby wall – the best part being I was able to SIT.

Hit the jump to read all about what it took to claim this medal!

Continue reading Peoria Heights Half Marathon Conquered

Book Recollection: Deadly Instinct

I bet you thought the next post would be Part 2 of the Mute Swan post.  I felt bad having to go back to the bird topic so quick after the barrage from Project Chekov so trying to ease you back onto the feathered features.  Instead figured it was about time to throw out another Book Recollection.  Today’s recollection comes to us thanks to Melissa Farris who compiled a product she called Deadly Instinct.  I can’t remember what made me aware of this book, but my guess would be one of the wildlife photographers I follow on Google+ brought it too my attention.  No need for a lot of convincing past the cover which had the National Geographic seal along with a Lion bringing down a Wildebeest – I’m in.   Big thanks to Linda who ended up getting me this book for Christmas.  Technically, coming in at only 180 pages, it is really more of a photography book than a reading book.  There was a setup at the beginning of each chapter that set the tone for the set of images.  Once that page or two was consumed, it was on to a nice collection of shots… umm let me correct that.  There were some FANTASTIC shots, a lot of cool wildlife shots and then some I simply put in the TOTAL CRAP category.  I’m sorry, but I like my pictures to be in focus and the attempt to show speed by throwing the shutter speed way low resulting in a blur you wouldn’t even know what it was unless they told you is not worth my time – trust me, there were more of these shots than I would have expected alongside the other quality shots.  I wouldn’t let the bad shots deter you from enjoying all the good shots, but note to author – there were plenty of better shots you could have used of the Gorillas. The best part of the book was it had a number of pictures from my favorite photographer – Joel Sartore.  If you recall I featured one of his books previously called Rare (link here).  I had a feeling some of his work would be included based on the National Geographic stamp on the cover.  Pretty used to his style these days and can usually pick out his work without seeing the credits first.  Was surprised to learn he started on his naturalist journey after seeing the harsh conditions of the Galveston coast.  Always cool to learn more about the background of photographer’s you spend a lot of time following.

I should probably mention something before people run off to purchase this book to see the “purdy” pictures.  The pictures are not all “pretty” in the hang on your wall and let your visitors gawk over mode.  The truth is the intent of the book is to show how lethal, dangerous and aggressive wild animal behavior is.  If you are weak of stomach or god forbid a PETA member save your money and go watch the Muppets Movie instead.  This book is full of violent, bloody wildlife on wildlife encounters.  Oh, and a lot snakes so Linda has been warned to never open the book herself – about 5 pages in there is a particular awesome picture of a Vine Snake that even made me hesitate when I turned to that page.  Also very appreciative of the heavy paper stock she used which helps maintain the quality of the pictures.  Kudos to the photographers that provided all the outstanding shots to this book.  It always inspires me when I see the work of photographers that are clearly on top of their field.  A pretty short recollection but the book only took me two nights of light reading before hitting the hay.

Hit the jump to see my takeaways.

Continue reading Book Recollection: Deadly Instinct

2013 Is In The Books

The end of 2013 is now upon us bringing with it the chance to reflect on this year of blogging.  LifeIntrigued will turn 7 at the beginning of the year – truly hard for me to believe this has been a 6 year effort so far.  It is interesting to see how this blog has transitioned over the years.  In the beginning it was really a vehicle for my ramblings and musings on the many encounters and observations that result in everyday interactions in a society.  There are still posts scattered on this topic throughout the year, but over the last few years I have been leveraging the blog more and more as a mechanism to promote my photography interests.  Not only does it allow me look back and see how my own abilities are maturing in this field, but I enjoy putting my products out there for my viewers to enjoy and critique.  There is no better way to improve than having a third party weigh in on your efforts.. and trying to win over all of Linda’s fans out there.    This is the third year in a row I have met my goal of at least 6 posts per month.  Trust me, this isn’t getting any easier as the years go by and in truth, this year seemed like a little bit more work than the last two – considering all the near misses I had and a number of last minute posts that had to be made while out on the road. I blame project Aaaauuunooold for a lot of that and running took an extra toll on my free time thanks to the decision to fix a number of problems with the mechanics.  Some of the extra work was self imposed trying to up the overall quality of the images used throughout the year, especially the ones related to photography.  It probably doesn’t show in the optimized images used in the posts, but I spent a LOT of time in the digital darkroom this year trying to find the best shots I could and working  those to their maximum potential.  This can take days to get through which is the common cause for the tight deadlines at the end of the month – it’s a special moment when I can hit that publish button and reveal to all my viewers what I’ve been spending my time on.  The good news is the “at least one image per post” goal received another check mark this year! (admittedly the custom artwork has taken a back seat to the camera this year and likely going forward).

On the project front I took on some pretty big ones this year and yes, one is going to be moving into its third year come January.  My promise to you is Project Auuuunnooold will be closed out this year even if it kills me to do it (translated.. if it doesn’t get done this year Linda is GOING TO KILL ME).  Book recollections was an underperformer this season but some of that can be attributed to alternative sources of material that I figured would not be interesting to you.  There is a lot of reading that goes on during the course of a year, but a lot of that is technical manuals or skill augmenting for work – next year looks to be one for the latter due to new work responsibilities which will have my nose buried in a complex third party system.  I have a number of books queued up for this year to give some balance to those technical books, but time will tell how that goes.  Birding is still a huge attraction for me and a hobby that gives me plenty of challenges and equal amount of happiness.  Those around me know I like a challenge and birding gives me all I can handle – traveling to different regions of the U.S., searching for new birds for my list in all kinds of terrain, doing my best to get a decent picture of them (many times in harsh conditions) and working them in the digital darkroom to a point they are worthy for your viewing.  You will continue to see a large amount of bird posts which should make any fellow birders happy – I’ll try my best to mix in other topics so as not to boar those that lack a similar affinity to the feathered ones.

In closing I would just like to once again extend my heartfelt appreciation for everyone that takes the time to read my little blog and every time I see someone taking the extra time to write a comment I smile a little bigger.  Thanks everyone for putting up with my meanderings and <cough> political opinions </cough>.  I think there’s at least another year left in me (granted with a few more tweaks coming your way), so here’s to next year!

And now, the completion of the final blog goal for the year – the year end summary.

Hit the jump to see the 2013 stats!

Continue reading 2013 Is In The Books

The Trail of Tears – The Haunted Trail 2013

Let me apologize up front for any lost sleep as a result of this post.  Feel free to bail now if you are prone to screaming or fainting at the sight of scary scenes because today’s topic is loaded with them.  Now, on the other hand, if you are a fan of Halloween as much as I am you will be quite happy!  We held our annual Halloween Party a couple of weeks back.  A staple for that event is the Haunted Trail that Paul R. and I create for the guests to enjoy .. if they dare.  Similar to last year’s trail (link here), the 2013 version was a definite labor.  On a previous post it was mentioned I ran the Screaming Pumpkin Marathon Relay (link here).  Taking two laps of that event puts me at the Half Marathon distance which closes out my race season for the year.  The details of that race can be obtained in that related post, but the key aspect of that race is that it ends at midnight which means we do not get back home until close to 1:30am.  The energy drain and the lack sleep w0uld be enough on its own, but the day after the race … or depending on how you look at it, the day the race ended, was the day of our party!  The week leading up to the day is spent making sure the house is ready to go, water is hauled to fill the well and the yard is ready for the bonfire.  This allows me to focus on building the Haunted Trail once the race is over.  To get everything done I need to start the process no later than 9am.  From 9 until 15 minutes before the party starts (5:30pm) I am pretty much on the go hauling the decorations into the woods, making sure all the danger areas are taped off, putting up the trail path lights and then crafting the trail experience.  This year Paul even came out earlier (1pm) to allow more time for setting up his decorations – pretty much tradition these days that we are finishing it off as the guests are starting to arrive.

Another tradition is each year we go bigger and bigger – last year we took the big step and added power to Paul’s side all the way down to the bridge.  Upping the game we added power to my side this year!   If this keeps up we just might have to start the day before (in the future we hope to pull if forward to get it away from the race and fit with our schedules better).  I took pictures of all the decorations along the trail both during the day and then tried to capture them again at night – used my camera phone so the pictures leave a lot to be desired .. although that might actually add to the spookiness.  Rather than overload this post with all the images, figured it would be better if I just highlighted the new elements of the trail.  Please visit the full gallery up on Smugmug to experience all the Haunted Trail has to offer (link here)  – note, they were placed in the reverse order as they appear on the Trail.   Additionally you can visit Paul’s website to see the pictures he was able to take (link here).

The pinnacle of the new decorations this year has to be the clown head.  Everyone knows by now I HATE CLOWNS.  My adage – the only good clown is a dead clown.  Turns out Halloween City must have taken this to heart because sure enough, they had a DEAD clown.  When Linda and came upon this while perusing the aisle, my eyes lit up.  There was no way we were going to pass up a decapitated clown with a meat hook through the skull.

Pretty creepy eh?  Not as terrifying as a real clown but still pretty creepy.  The next addition to the trail came from my parents.  They know of my affinity for this holiday and tend to pick up items they find that fit the bill.  Always appreciated their openness to my weird hobby.  The skull below actually glowed nicely in the night – oh, did I mention the Trail at night is nearly pitch black except for the decorations and small lights that outline the walking path?  The thick woods doesn’t let a lot of ambient light in which really enhances the experience.  You can actually see the stakes in the shot below – those have velcro on them that holds little LED nights.  I do not want anyone getting lost down there especially since it parallels a stream and this year the hedge apples were raining out of the trees – the path had to be rerouted from last year for the safety of the guests.

Hit the jump to see all the new decorations… unless you are scaaaarrrreeeedddd.

Continue reading The Trail of Tears – The Haunted Trail 2013

Missed It By That Much

Tomorrow is Halloween which makes tonight’s post a perfect fit.  Add to that the extra bonus of having the fourth phase of Project Auuuunoooold completed today taking a load of worry off leading to a relaxing night of watching the Cardinals… you have an ideal situation to get the last post of the month knocked out an entire day early (crowd goes wild, ticker tape flies, women tak…err better reel it in).  Just wanted to build up a little bit of excitement since this post actually has an element of disappointment to it.  Regulars to this site know that October usually brings the final running event of the year and this year was no different.  Last Friday the Screaming Pumpkin Marathon Relay took place and our team from last year – Zombies after Rhonda (link here) was in it to win it.  A quick summary for those that are not familiar with the particular nuances of this race.  It is a prediction race which means you have to determine the time it will take for each of your team’s four loops through the course.  That time is then subtracted from midnight to determine when you start the race.  Watches and other timing devices are not allowed while running and the first team finishing closest to midnight without going over is declared the winner.  Sounds simple right?  hope you responded with a resounding NO because that is the only acceptable answer to that question.

Most runners worry about their splits A LOT during a race…  and some like myself even fret about it during every training run.  There is one big advantage … we are usually wearing watches and/or other timing devices so if one split it slow or fast, you can immediately correct it on the next.  Without a watch you feel naked and vulnerable to bonks and over exertion.  Zombies after Rhonda is a three person team consisting of Rhonda, Ryan and Myself.  Thanks to the R’s, I get to close out my racing season with a half marathon to complete my now standard goal of two a year.  Did I mention it was a costume encouraged event?

Last year I went as a runner but Rhonda and Ryan went the extra mile and shamed me.  This year I “tried” to go in costume but had some difficulties at the start.  I did get my shirt made in time – I took the lead from Rhonda’s outfit “Zombies Don’t Like Fast Food” but added “Unless It’s Rhonda” to keep with our team’s theme.  Ryan showed up in a new costume this year – a head to toe skeleton which was just plain awesome!

This year we decided to start at 8:05pm based on the splits from Rhonda, Ryan and my plan to run a 56 minute loop followed by a 60 minute loop.  From the IVS Half Marathon Race earlier in the Season (link here), I knew there would be a drop off and based on the cold from last year assumed a about a 4 minute impact.  I added around a 3 minute pad due to the number of variables on the course (it is a tough hilly course and the actual surface is very choppy and potholed – difficult during light much less in the dead of night).

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR… just lost signal due to the rain on my satellite UNBELIEVABLE

Hit the jump to see how the race turns out

Continue reading Missed It By That Much