Running

I am sending this message out to all you runners. Some of you already know Trent Willmon, who is a country singer-songwriter living in Nashville. He is also a runner!

Well, right now he is in a contest being held by Country Weekly, where people can vote for the “sexiest man in Country Music”.

He’s a Heart graduate (for those of you in Klemmer) and also happens to be my stepson.

If you’re into country music, you may have heard Montgomery Gentry’s song “Back When I Knew It All”, which he co-wrote, and which was recently a #1 country hit. But whether or not you like country music, can you please vote for him?

Here is the link:

http://www.countryweekly.com/sexiest_man/vote/survey/494

Thanks for your support, and keep on running!

(BTW, you might enjoy his music — check out trentwillmon.com).

I can’t believe it’s been a month since I posted! And what a crazy month — I think I spent about 8 days at home all month (including weekends)! No wonder my running slipped.

We went to Aruba for 8 days, and I only succeeded in running twice. The wind was howling all the time, even more than usual for Aruba, I’m told. And the humidity was low — I’m not used to that!

You see, we were on the leeward side of a desert island, so even though we were in the Caribbean, it was dry. We took a Hobie 16 out for a spin one day and rapidly found out how out-of-shape I was! With the wind really cranking (and gusting, too) I found myself working muscles that I didn’t know I had. For a day or two after, I really felt my age.

We did all the usual things: got too much sun, ate too much, drank enough(!) and toured the island. We had thought about windsurfing (too windy), kiteboarding (too much work), scuba diving (too much effort). So, apart from the Hobie cat, all we did was snorkel.

We got back just in time to get to Trent’s Honky Tonk Tailgate Party in Katy, TX. Our flight had been delayed, so we went straight from the airport to the show, which is on his current tour. Met a lot of friends and family there, and spent the night in Houston before returning home.

(Since then, I just heard that he has a #1 hit! “Back When I Knew It All”, recorded by Montgomery Gentry, was co-written by Trent and just made #1. Great job, Trent!)

After 2 days at home, we left for Vegas, where we had booked a Wyndham Party Weekend to see Bette Midler. Great show, but Vegas is not my favorite place. I managed to get a couple of runs in before we left, but decided not to even try in Vegas.

It was great to get back to running when we got home (another flight delay — this has happened on our last four flights!) After an easy run to get back into it, I enjoyed a 100 minute run in the heat and humidity. It felt great at the time, but after I got back I realized that my clothes were as wet as if I’d been swimming in them!

Four glasses of Gatorade later, I felt refreshed. My hydration technique for those occasions is to drink a sports drink before I go, carry water with me, and drink more sports drinks when I get back. The theory is that after about 30 minutes my glycogen stores are depleted and I’m burning fat, so I choose not to consume anything that will interfere with the fat burning. It seems to work, because after all that overeating my weight is now back to where it was at the beginning of the month!

I wish I had some good pictures to show this time, but they’re all on Billie’s camera and she’s been too busy getting her latest book out to download them.

Until next time …

Alan

We made it back safely to Huntsville after an exciting two weeks in Phoenix, San Diego and Ventura. Billie got some great photos (I think) but they’re all still in her camera. The first weekend of Samurai Camp 14 with Klemmer was amazing. I came back with three goals (including a team goal) — all to be accomplished by April 18:

1. I have developed a website and newsletter service for beginning runners, and have 100 or more members who are receiving my regular newsletters by Friday 9:00am PST April 18th , 2008.
2. I have run 10 consecutive miles or more by Friday 9:00am PST April 18th , 2008.
3. Team Laser has selflessly committed 16 hours or more of community service per person, for a total of 96 hours or more by Friday April 18th, 2008 at 9:00am PST.

The current status for Goal 1 is that the web site is now up and running properly, so if you know anyone who might be interested, please encourage them to look at the site and (hopefully) enroll. I am making it free for the first fifty. If you or anyone you know, would be available to test it for me (by enrolling), that too would be helpful.

For the second goal, I ran 8 miles today, so am well on my way. I’m still v.e.r.y slow, but am working on my speed because I’m running the Capitol 10K in Austin on March 30.

I have not yet started on the third goal.

The following week with Klemmer, staffing Heart of the Samurai 24 was also amazing, but slightly marred by the fact that Billie and I both got allergies. We think it was caused by mold in the room: the weather was pretty damp most of the time. If/when we staff again, we’ll probably stay off site.

We saw Paul, Alisa, Kai and Judy for a brief visit last Monday and Tuesday and flew back to Houston Tuesday.

On Thursday we went to the World Championship Barbecue Cook Off at the Houston Rodeo to see Trent perform a great show. Billie stayed on in Houston at Rusty’s house to work on her Samurai Camp goals, while I’m working on mine in Huntsville. I’ll see her again Monday, when Trent’s label has a Houston Rodeo Kick-Off and CD Release Party. Then, in the evening Trent will be performing at the Hideout (formerly known as the Astrodome).

After that, maybe things will quiet down for a while so we can continue to work on our goals!

We’re off to the Rodeo!

The tickets went on sale today for Tim McGraw at the Rodeo on Monday, March 3. We’ve bought four — Rick is bringing a friend (not the one in the photo!). The main attraction for us is that Trent will be performing at the Hideout after Tim McGraw has been on the main stage.

Before then, we also intend to see Trent play at the World Championship Barbecue Cookoff at the rodeo on February 28. Might even get to taste some of that good Texas barbecue …

In other news, we intend to visit the set of Palo Pinto Gold next week, but have not yet fixed the day.

In case it looks like we’re getting bored, we are also in Samurai Camp with Klemmer and Associates. This is keeping us pretty busy already with homework assignments in advance of the first Sam Camp weekend February 15 in Phoenix. From Phoenix, we leave for San Diego where we will be staffing at Klemmer’s Heart of the Samurai, which Trent will be attending. From San Diego, we’ll drive up to Ventura to visit Paul and Alisa and then return on February 26 from LAX. We then have about eight weeks of Sam Camp at home before the second weekend in Phoenix in April.

We don’t believe in letting the grass grow under our rocking chairs yet.

http://kiosk.alanjenkin.com

If you want to call me click here:
https://me.vonage.com/billiejenkin