Saturday Morning Run

I ran 12 miles on the paved trail in Orting this morning while Dad rode his bike.  The weather was beautiful and it was a great run.  I felt good the entire way which is a step up from the last couple of days where I felt terrible, but nonetheless got through it.  I forgot to stop my watch until I was half way home in the car and then it was about 1:35, so I guess it was probably around 1:25 or so.  About 7:20 pace or so.  If things go well with my running through the summer, I am planning on going down to Coos Bay this September and running the Prefontaine Memorial 10k.  I ran it way back in 1995 when I lived in Coos Bay.  I was 18 then, and I hope to greatly improve on my time because I hadn't been running much at the time because I had a wicked ankle sprain that I had to take 6 weeks off for.  I only managed a 38:00 10k time then, so if I'm in shape I hope to run around 34 minutes.  These track meets will be a good start to getting back in race shape.  I don't plan on setting any PR's at this years meets, but it will be fun to get on the track again.  Hopefully I'll get under 5 in the mile and around 10:30 or so for the 2 mile.  

I've got a short gig tonight up in Seattle at Pikes Place Market.  We are only playing for 40 minutes, which is 10 songs or so.  It should be fun.  It's almost not worth traveling all the way up there to just play that much, but oh well.  I guess some family will be coming so that will be fun.

Ramones Tribute

A little over a year ago I was trying to think of something really cool that I could do for Jason's birthday since usually it isn't much more than a call or something small. Well, I decided it would be cool to go to my recording studio and record a bunch of Ramones songs that we used to love (still do) and listen to while driving around in the Nova or Jason's parent's hot '91 Dodge Colt (We called ourselves the "roller skate bandits" because we looked like we were in a roller skate). Jason used to accidentally pop the clutch too hard and give too much gas leaving a stop light, and the front tires would squeal. I told him it sounded like a bicycle taking off too fast. Those were good times. Anyway, the songs I picked were some of my favorite Ramones songs and I recorded all parts (guitar, bass, drums, and vocals) myself. I was happy with the way it came out. I sent it to him and then decided to make a Myspace music account. I called it Ramones Tribute, and it is now the 1 year anniversary of posting it, and I've had over 29,000 listens in a year, so that isn't bad. Better than keeping it to myself I guess. Maybe some lost soul of a kid who was wallowing in the world of terrible modern rock music has stumbled upon it and discovered the Ramones. Anyway, here is the link if anyone cares to listen to some freaking awesome Ramones covers!!
http://www.myspace.com/ramonestributemike

Mid week

Just got back from a swim this morning.  I've still been swimming 3/4 of a mile on weekdays, and running 8 miles at night.  I go on a long run on Saturday mornings, usually 12-15 miles.  It feels good to get in shape.  I've got band practice tonight, so I will have to run sometime during the day so I can get up to Lynnwood by 7.  It usually takes between 1 hour and 1.5 hours to get there depending on traffic.  It looks like it will be another beautiful sunny day here in the Northwest.

And we're back!

I had a great time on my trip along the Oregon Coast with Derrinda. I drove the motorcycle down to Salem while Derrinda drove the van with the kids. Mom and Dad Cooper watched the boys for us for a few days and we took off on the bike early Friday morning and had a fun trip. For pictures of the trip, go to Derrinda's blog, she has some slide shows on there. The bike ran great and got over 50 mpg the majority of the way. We had good weather and saw and did lots of fun things. Now it's back to the grind here at BSS. I went through and replaced burned out lights today. I need to buy another box though, we ran out with one stretch of hallway left in upper D bldg. Dallas, Cody and Elijah were big helps doing the lights. Dallas carried the box of new lights, Cody carried the box with burned out lights, and Elijah opened doors for us and pushed the elevator button and things like that. We had fun working together. I need to step up my work out regimen, or at least up the intensity of my runs a bit. Track meets are coming up in just a few weeks. I've got a gig this Saturday at 5 o'clock at Pike Place market. It is a really short set. We are only playing about 10 songs. Hopefully the weather will work out for it. It is getting into that time of year where we play a handful of festival shows. Things are going good.

Happy Birthday Mom!!

My Mom is my hero.  Everything she has done her entire life has been for the benefit of others.  She always made sure us kids had everything we needed, even if it meant sacrificing everything else.  I remember growing up and when I started getting into running, Mom would make sure I had good running shoes to wear, even if it meant some other bill would go unpaid (me being a kid, I didn't understand how bills and money worked real well).  We always had what we needed, and especially when it came to having a Mom who was there for us.  I remember locking my keys in my car at MVHS one morning.  I was comforted in knowing that I could call home and Mom would be there to come and rescue me.  We didn't have another key for some reason, so Mom used her car breaking in skills to unlock the door.  I remember saying something about how I was impressed that she could break in so fast and she smiled and said "Well, I was born in New York you know."  I have never seen a mother care as much as my Mom.  She sacrifices everything to make sure Tammy is taken care of every day.  I don't think anybody can realize how much she truly does.  I am so thankful to have been blessed with such an amazing Mom.  I love you Mom!  Happy Birthday!!

A Beautiful day in the Northwest!

I met Dad and Aaron at the skate park in Orting at 6:30 this morning.  I ran to South Prairie and back.  15 miles.  The time was the same as last week (1:53:something), but I felt much worse today than last week.  Especially after I was done.  Even now I have been done running for 2 hours and I feel sick (fever, chills) but this happens to me sometimes after long runs.  I think it has to do with me being old skool and not drinking anything during the run then tanking up afterwards.  I'm confident I will feel better later, but for now, I can't really do much other than loaf around.

I went with Juliet, Aaron, Kingston, and Dad last night to look at a little 125 Yamaha dirt bike that Juliet was thinking about getting.  I got on it, started it, and took it for a little test drive.  It was a fun little bike and Juliet ended up making the purchase.  She got a great deal on it too.  It is practically brand new.  Everyone was saying that I looked like a circus clown on it though because I dwarfed it.  That was funny.  I know Juliet will have a blast on it though.  It sure looks like it is going to be another beautiful day today.  I wish Derrinda and I had taken off for our Motorcycle trip this weekend instead of next, because the weather is gorgeous this weekend, next weekend who knows?  

My Dad is 63!!

Happy 63rd Birthday to my Dad who I love very much! I have learned so many life lessons by watching him live his life. I have been with him when people's cars were broke down and it was bitter cold outside. Dad would always stop and see if there was any way he could help. I have been with him on intense workouts where we pushed each other to our bodies limits (mine anyway), and I am proud to say that we have even crossed the finish line together in first place at a road race. We defeated every runner in the field, including some runners from my Dad's Alma Mater BYU!! I went out too fast and Dad hung back a little. I finally made it to the front of the pack and started to pull away from all the runners except for this speedy little guy in his 50's who caught up to me and helped me through the pain (I was hurting from going out too fast) and on to victory! My Dad has been an inspiration to me and everyone I know. His dedication to caring for my sister Tammy after her automobile accident is unwavering. Happy Birthday Dad!! I know the screen is looking blurry to you at this point, but you are indeed my hero and I love you!! As a side note, Dallas was arguing with Cody this morning about how he could beat Grandpa Stone in a race. I have much experience in attempting this, so I had to correct Dallas and tell him that he should not underestimate the speed and competitiveness of Grandpa Stone!!

Happy Mother's Day

I just wanted to wish a happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful women in my life.  I love all of you!!

Blundering Buffoon

I had an interesting morning today. Yesterday I got the alternator and regulator changed out on the PC800. I've been driving it around a lot to see if the problem is now fixed. Time will tell, I've only driven about 30 miles on it so far. Anyway, I took it out and met Dad and Aaron at the skate park in Orting. Dad put his keys in the trunk of my motorcycle, and in a massive thoughtless blunder of a moment, I put my jacket in his truck and locked the door and shut it. The problem being that my key was in the jacket. So needless to say, I managed to lock my key in Dad's truck and his keys in my trunk. Luckily we were able to find the humor in it all. I ran up to South Prairie and back while Dad and Aaron rode bikes. It was a bit chilly when we started, but the sun was out and it gradually warmed up throughout the run. It is a beautiful day. So I ran 15 miles in 1:53:00, which is quite slow for me (7:30 pace). But I am paranoid about getting injured since I've had a couple of tweaks this week, so just being careful. I called Mom with about 4 miles left to run and asked her if she could find her keys to the truck and have Juliet drive them down to us. I feel bad for stressing Mom out because we had her searching the house high and low for her truck keys that she couldn't find. Juliet was able to bring some tools to us so that I could pull the top cover off my bike to gain access to the trunk release. Then we were good to go. An adventurous morning to say the least. I got back and Derrinda had made me breakfast (pancakes and sausage). It was delicious of course, and I feel bad for Derrinda because she has come down with a nasty cold the last few days. Now I'm sitting here at BSS trying to rent the place up, but it seems like Saturdays I just end up sitting here and making sure people have somewhere to use the bathroom. That's what has happened so far today. 3 people in, and all to use the restroom. Oh well, that's the life of a self storage manager.

It's Friday!!

I got up and drove the CBR over to Mom and Dad's to swim this morning. I enjoy getting up early like that, it gives me a feeling of self satisfaction and it's a great time to reflect and prepare for the day. Last night I ran 8 miles on the trail. My right achilles was bothering me a little bit. I came home and iced it, took some ibuprofen, and rubbed it down with some Sombra. Dad gave me some patches (I think they have aspirin in them or something) this morning and it is feeling better for now. It's hard to know for sure until I start running, so I guess I will know better tonight. I was planning on another long one tomorrow morning, maybe even 15, but I will have to see how it feels tonight. I may only be able to go 10-12. It is far better to take it easy and still be able to run then to overdo it and go out on injury for weeks or even months. It seems like that's always how I go out though!
In other news, I got the parts for my Honda PC800 today, so I will be putting that back together and seeing if the charging system is good to go (fingers are crossed).
I also had a fun ride coming back home. I know people worry about me getting killed on that CBR, but I am a very cautious rider. I do enjoy going very fast, but I consider myself a safe driver and I never go fast unless I can see all around me and am on a straight road. I was behind a dump truck trailer combo and there were also 2 other cars behind it. When we hit a long straight section, I looked, signaled, and passed. I noticed one of the cars was an older model VW GTI. I know about these cars because I looked at them when deciding what car to buy. I decided on the Mazda, but the GTI is also a turbocharged 4 cylinder, and the people who drive it think it is faster than it is. It is a quick car, but not as quick as the Speed3, WRX, or Evo. Anyway, I saw him pull out and pass the truck. I wasn't racing him by any means, but when he got too close behind me, I dusted him. I only had to go half throttle to completely obliterate him. And true to form, when we got into Orting, he went straight at the Eagles lounge and hit the gas hard while driving away from me. I don't know why everybody who I smoke does something like that every time, but I find it hilarious. I also saw a sweet red Corvette on the way out to swim. That car looked fast!

Weekly Update

A lot has happened since my last post.  Saturday morning I ran 13 miles on the trail while Dad rode his bike.  Later in the afternoon, I had planned a surprise birthday party for Derrinda (She is 30 now!!), so we drove out to Mom and Dad's house in Graham for the party.  Derrinda was shocked when she walked in the door and her parents, Desi, and 3 of her friends were there to surprise her.  She got showered with gifts and a lot of attention and it made for a fun day.  I'm glad that everyone was willing to help make her big day so special!!  Then on Monday it was her real birthday and Desi watched the kids for us so we could go out to celebrate our birthdays.  We went and played laser tag and played some games at the arcade, it was really fun.  After that we went out to eat at Red Robin.  We thought about seeing a movie, but it was already getting late, so we went home after that.  Then Tuesday was my birthday so we went out for another party at the Stone residence.  I got spoiled there.  I got a really cool shirt, an armored motorcycle jacket, armored gloves, and a 120GB Ipod.  I loaded every song from my collection that I wanted on there, and it amounted to a whopping 3GB, so I need to get some more music apparently.  I guess you can also put videos and pictures on there, so maybe I will do that.  Running has been going steady, but with all these birthday parties lately my diet hasn't been the greatest.  I've still been swimming every morning too which I really enjoy.  The motorcycle broke down on me again last week, Dad had to rescue me with the trailer again.  There is definitely a problem with the charging system, because I got a new battery and it was drained out after driving less than 30 miles.  I tore apart the bike and am waiting on a new stator (alternator), and regulator to get here.  I think after that I will be set (hopefully).

Dead batteries and legs!

This morning started out good.  I got up and dressed for the motorcycle ride out to Graham, let the dogs out for a minute, started up the bike, and off I drove.  Everything was going smoothly, but I noticed that my turn signals were not working when I turned right on Orville Rd.  Things were going fine until I turned right onto 224th and noticed my engine was starting to misfire a bit.  It gradually became bad enough that I thought the engine would die at any second.  I made it up the steepest part of the hill and then it sputtered and died on me.  It wouldn't restart.  It didn't even try to turn over.  So I put my helmet in the trunk and started the 2 miles that were left to Mom and Dad's house.  I ran most of the way, but walked a little bit because my motorcycle boots were really digging into my skin around my ankles.  It seemed like it took forever, but it must have only been about 20 minutes or so.  Dad was in the pool house and he came out and asked what happened.  I said "I got stranded".  To which Dad replied "something happened to Brandon?".  I said "No, I got stranded."  So that was a little funny.  At that point we pulled the pool cover over the pool and Dad got changed.  We moved the trailer around and hooked it up to Dad's truck.  I was parked on a hill, so Dad parked the trailer in the road down the hill from the bike and I got on it while Dad gave it a push and I drove it up the ramp into the trailer.  I don't know how close I was to falling off the ramp, but it must only be 1 foot wide and it was a bit scary getting into the trailer.  When I was in the trailer, I hit the brakes and slid enough to scare me into thinking I might tip it over, but I didn't.  All was well and we decided the best way to get it to the house was for Dad to pull the trailer with me straddling and balancing the bike while holding the front brake lever.  It worked really well and we decided it was a dead battery.  We charged up the battery while I swam in the pool for 3/4 of a mile.  After that, we took it off the charger and it started up.  Getting it out of the trailer was the next task.  This bike is not light.  It weighs almost 700 lbs.  Dad pulled the trailer off the road and down a grade so the trailer ramp would be level (somewhat) with the ground.  I straddled the bike while Dad pushed it out of the trailer and off the ramp onto the ground.  We were eventually successful and I drove it home.  It ran great the entire way interestingly enough.  I was expecting it to die on me at any moment.  Dad was a life saver.  Thanks Dad!  And thanks Derrinda for opening up the office and getting Dallas off to school all by yourself!  And thank you Honda Pacific Coast for the spontaneous extra 2 mile run this morning!