Run Tom, Run

To all my friends that e-mailed/called me after the Stros swept the Cards last week: Revenge Is Sweet!! The Cards may have dropped 3 at home last week, but we just took 3 in Houston this week. Hmmm.... I think I remember people asking me if the Cards would beat the Astros at all this year???? Hmmm.....

I'm definitely holding firm to my earlier prediction that Cardinals will at worst finish 2nd in the NL Central and take the Wild Card. Good times!

Kill Bill Part II has recently hit theaters and some friends went to see it last night. I can't really say that I was a fan of the first one and probably not all that anxious to see the second one as a result. Actually - I hated the first one. I know it was supposedly some great cinematic achievement and fantastic whatever... blah, blah, blah.. It was just a bit too violent for my taste. I don't think words can accurately describe just how violent the first one was. Anyway Wesley went to see Part II last night and informed me that it was actually very funny and not anywhere near as violent as the first one and suggested that I go see it. I'm not fully convinced yet though, but I'm giving it thought. The are just too many other movies out that I want to go see first. Such as: Eternal Sunshine, Ladykillers, and The Whole Ten Yards (I think there are others, but its been a while since I've been to a movie and I don't really know what's out right now)

So, apparently there are a lot of Brad Pitt fans among my blog readers as Tibet was the overwhelming winner of the blogpoll (thanks to KP for providing the blogpoll link - yet another stolen idea from her blog.. I'm shameless and I'm good with that). Costa Rica was in second place with a few votes for the remaining choices. While I appreciate the feedback, I think I'm leaning towards the Costa Rica option for now, but no worries - its still at least a year off so I'm sure that I'll change my mind a good 50 times between now and then!

Had another 5K on Sat morning. Tragically I forgot my watch which led me to think that I really had no hope of doing very well at this race. My body knows what and 8 min pace feels like, but not so much on a 6:40 pace, so I really rely on my watch to keep my pacing correct. So, with no watch I just decided to run it and see what happens. In doing so I decided that I would see how long I could stick with the lead pack out of the gate. This was quite the rush for me and is motivating me to try and step my running up a notch. I ran stride for stride in the lead pack of 6 guys for somewhere around the first half mile or so (maybe a little less). It wasn't long, but it was definitely good times. The pack began to spread after the first half mile and I dropped to 8th place overall. I held strong until the half-way mark when I got passed and dropped to 9th place. I tried to match pace with the guy who passed me, but it just wasn't in my legs. Here is where it got hard for me. I was running solo at this point. The lead pack was too far ahead of me and when I turned around I couldn't see anyone behind me. While not seeing anyone behind me was encouraging, it also meant that I had no way of gauging my pace - I was on my own with no watch. So - onward I pressed. When I made the turn into the final stretch I saw the time on the clock - still in the 20 min window!!! My previous PR (set 2 weeks ago) was 21:13 and I wanted to beat it!! I went into a kick and sprinted for the finish. 20:34!!! I managed to shave 39 seconds off my time! Another race this weekend (The Best DAM Race In Texas!) - just hoping to beat the 20:34, but not expecting to shave another 39 secs.