Thursday, August 27, 2009
Geaux Tigers!
Janie (Lori's cousin) just sent another adorable picture of my Godson Luke and I got all excited about the upcoming LSU football season. I took some liberties and doctored the picture a little bit (sorry Janie...and whatever professional photographer took the picture). Anyway, Luke and I say "GEAUX TIGERS!!!!"
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Lori finishes 3rd overall in Rocketchix!
Lori and I drove up to Woodworth, LA this past weekend where Lori participated in a duathlon at Indian Creek Recreation Area. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and I went for about a 7 mile trail run while Lori set up the tent and studied. We then drove into Alexandria to pick up some supper and headed back to the park. For the first time in months (maybe years) we were both ready to got to sleep by 10pm! The only problem was that it was still 86 degrees outside with a heat index in the 90's. Needless to say we were hot and sticky even though we were practically naked in that tent. We jockeyed for position near the little fan with and occasional "don't touch me!" thrown in. It was pretty miserable. It eventually cooled off enough so we were able to fall asleep...but we both woke up a lot during the night. Alarms went off at 6am on Sunday morning. The race was staged within walking distance from our tent so that made things very convenient. As we walked up to the TA, we heard the announcement that the swim portion of the triathlon was canceled and the race was now going to be a run-bike-run duathlon. Apparently, someone had drowned the night before in the lake after their boat sank and they had not yet found the body. Out of respect for the saerch and rescue operations, the race director decided to cancel the swim. Of course, the racers were dissappointed but obviously understanding.
The race was pretty exciting. There was a professional triathlete there so she obviously spanked the rest of the field, but lori was in a battle the entire race with about 6 others for a top 5 finish. In the end, Lori finshed 3rd overall and 1st in her age group. We were both pretty excited. Here's some pictures from the race:
After the race, we drove down to Chicot State Park near Ville Platte to do some kayaing and mountain biking. After the kayaking, the weather turned bad pretty quickly so decided to scratch the biking and start the 2 and half hour drive home. All in all, a great weekend.
The race was pretty exciting. There was a professional triathlete there so she obviously spanked the rest of the field, but lori was in a battle the entire race with about 6 others for a top 5 finish. In the end, Lori finshed 3rd overall and 1st in her age group. We were both pretty excited. Here's some pictures from the race:
After the race, we drove down to Chicot State Park near Ville Platte to do some kayaing and mountain biking. After the kayaking, the weather turned bad pretty quickly so decided to scratch the biking and start the 2 and half hour drive home. All in all, a great weekend.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Catch-Up Post #3 - All Shook Up Set Construction
ALL SHOOK UP Set Construction
July 26th, 2009
I spent most of my free time this summer spearheading the construction of the set for St. John Theatre's summer musical - ALL SHOOK UP! Last night was closing night of the show so I thought I would add some photos that show off the Darryl Clement designed set. Some of the highlights were:
July 26th, 2009
I spent most of my free time this summer spearheading the construction of the set for St. John Theatre's summer musical - ALL SHOOK UP! Last night was closing night of the show so I thought I would add some photos that show off the Darryl Clement designed set. Some of the highlights were:
- 2-story set
- light boxes, arch, and walls that change colors
- a 20' fireman's pole
- the orchestra (12 piece...I think) was on the second story of the set behind the records
Thanks to all my fellow volunteers who helped make Darryl's vision become a reality!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Catch-Up Post #2 - BRUAR
Baton Rouge Urban Adventure Race
July 25, 2009
My dad expressed some interest in trying out adventure racing at the end of last season and we all thought it was a great idea. So, we encouraged him to start training. After 6 months of training and hard work, he was ready to give it a go. I thought it was best he attempted an urban race first, which means I had to break my own vow. I was pretty confident, however, that there would be no sprinting involved. We need a third person...my sister. Well, that was the plan, but she was having some knee troubles in the week leading up to the race. So she decided to not race rather than risk further injury. In the end, it was the just the two of us...father and son...58 and 32...Team Meringue with a "Z".
That morning, my dad was obviously a little nervous because he wasn't talking nearly as much as usual. My mom (the nurse) was probably the most nervous. I assured her he would be fine because I knew he had trainined appropriately. The race started with a running section. We hung towards the back so all of the srinters could get out of our way. We arrived at CP1 where there were still a ton of teams confused over whether or not it was CP1 (mislabeled). We just punched it and headed to CP2 near the Quad. Shortly after punching CP2, Hefner Bunny Pie (eventual winners) came running by. We were amazed...could it be? Yes, we were ahead of HBP through 2 check points! We made it back to the TA and transitioned to the bikes. Surprisingly (to me), my dad was able to run the entire first leg of the race! His training was obviously paying off.
The 2nd leg of the race was a bike leg. We way would ride our bikes from LSU to dowtown Baton Rouge collecting CP's along the way. Once again, my dad was quite impressive...faster than I expected. In fact, I had to hold him back a little on the bikes because I knew there was still a lot of race left. We got all the CP's without any trouble and made it to the bike drop. Leg 3 was a run around downtown to the YMCA, USS Kidd, fountains, and Arsenal Museum. Here's a picture of us doing the mystery challenge at the YMCA. My dad ran most of this leg as well...wow!
Leg 4 was a bike back to LSU and the TA with a few more checkpoints along the way. My dad was equally as strong on this bike leg as the first. We then had to run (with intermittent walking...the heat was starting to take it's toll) to BR Beach to the canoe put-in. We ran into HBP along the way and they snapped this picture.
The canoe was also quite impressive on my dad's part (common theme). We collected the 3 CP's and even passed a couple of teams on the water. We ran back toward the TA on our way to CP18 where we were faced with a mystery challenge. We basically had to climb up, over, and through a huge spider web (working on getting pictures of this). Anyway, once again, and to the amazement of onlookers (sister, mom, HBP, etc.) my dad had no trouble with the web. We hustled back to the finish line. I was a little overcome with pride and gave my dad a big hug and told him how great he did. Man was I proud, and still am! He's already talking about his next race!
July 25, 2009
At the end of last season, I vowed to not participate in any more urban adventure races. I'm pretty miserable the entire time in the urban races because my teammates are faster than me on the run, so it takes everything I have just to keep up. I now know that if I have to race for that long with that amount of intensity, then I'm probably not having much fun. So, no more urban races for me, right. I kept my vow through exactly one race...Mobile Urban AR.
That morning, my dad was obviously a little nervous because he wasn't talking nearly as much as usual. My mom (the nurse) was probably the most nervous. I assured her he would be fine because I knew he had trainined appropriately. The race started with a running section. We hung towards the back so all of the srinters could get out of our way. We arrived at CP1 where there were still a ton of teams confused over whether or not it was CP1 (mislabeled). We just punched it and headed to CP2 near the Quad. Shortly after punching CP2, Hefner Bunny Pie (eventual winners) came running by. We were amazed...could it be? Yes, we were ahead of HBP through 2 check points! We made it back to the TA and transitioned to the bikes. Surprisingly (to me), my dad was able to run the entire first leg of the race! His training was obviously paying off.
The 2nd leg of the race was a bike leg. We way would ride our bikes from LSU to dowtown Baton Rouge collecting CP's along the way. Once again, my dad was quite impressive...faster than I expected. In fact, I had to hold him back a little on the bikes because I knew there was still a lot of race left. We got all the CP's without any trouble and made it to the bike drop. Leg 3 was a run around downtown to the YMCA, USS Kidd, fountains, and Arsenal Museum. Here's a picture of us doing the mystery challenge at the YMCA. My dad ran most of this leg as well...wow!
Leg 4 was a bike back to LSU and the TA with a few more checkpoints along the way. My dad was equally as strong on this bike leg as the first. We then had to run (with intermittent walking...the heat was starting to take it's toll) to BR Beach to the canoe put-in. We ran into HBP along the way and they snapped this picture.
The canoe was also quite impressive on my dad's part (common theme). We collected the 3 CP's and even passed a couple of teams on the water. We ran back toward the TA on our way to CP18 where we were faced with a mystery challenge. We basically had to climb up, over, and through a huge spider web (working on getting pictures of this). Anyway, once again, and to the amazement of onlookers (sister, mom, HBP, etc.) my dad had no trouble with the web. We hustled back to the finish line. I was a little overcome with pride and gave my dad a big hug and told him how great he did. Man was I proud, and still am! He's already talking about his next race!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Catch-Up Post #1 - Beach Volleyball Birthday!
I apologize to my readers for the infrequent blog posts lately but I haven't had enough "Free Time" to update kirksfreetime.blogspot.com. So, I'll be playing catch up over the next week or so.
Beach Volleyball Birthday!
July 15th, 2009
Today was my 32nd birthday...wow....hmmmmm....I'll leave it at that. Anyway, I had a pretty good day with plenty of B-day wishes. Thanks to all of you! The day capped off with a great evening of volleyball at Coconut Beach (we play every Wednesday night) with my teammates from PHAZZE 6. Lori surprised me (somewhat, she always does something like this on my Birthday to make me feel special...and a little embarrassed) with party hats and 2 trays of chocolate chip cookies from subway.
We all wore our party hats during the game and our referree even joined in on the festivities. Even though we lost our game that night, I couldn't have been happier because I got to spend another birthday with great friends. Thanks again!
Beach Volleyball Birthday!
July 15th, 2009
Today was my 32nd birthday...wow....hmmmmm....I'll leave it at that. Anyway, I had a pretty good day with plenty of B-day wishes. Thanks to all of you! The day capped off with a great evening of volleyball at Coconut Beach (we play every Wednesday night) with my teammates from PHAZZE 6. Lori surprised me (somewhat, she always does something like this on my Birthday to make me feel special...and a little embarrassed) with party hats and 2 trays of chocolate chip cookies from subway.
We all wore our party hats during the game and our referree even joined in on the festivities. Even though we lost our game that night, I couldn't have been happier because I got to spend another birthday with great friends. Thanks again!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
