Amateur astronomer's heaven

Well my wife is victorious with her battle against h1n1, and I went back to work last week, I have been working in Chicago at Fermi Lab



it’s a huge facility operated by the Dept of energy., the campus is almost 7000 acres, it was acquired by the U.S. government in the 50s. They had to buy out about 50 farms and a little (at the time rural town) to create the complex. It’s now an oasis of forest and prairie land in the middle of Chicago’s suburban sprawl. It has a four mile long circular particle accelerator/collider and is where some of the top physicist in the world works. It also has bike trails running through out it. I was able to meet an Author of a book I’ve been reading “Dark Cosmos” and had him autograph my book (cool) and was able to talk with him about his work for 20 minutes (very cool). Anyway the building I’ve been working in closes at 5 pm so I’ve been able to get some runs in around the campus, specifically around the four mile long tevetron. When ever I run this loop I’m always thinking these guys are sending particles around the loop in nano seconds, almost at the speed of light and it’s taking me an hour just to do it twice.

I was able to get a cool picture of Jupiter over the Wilson Building

And I took some pictures of the accelerator loop while on my run.




Oh I almost forgot when you order your next new car don't forget to check off the box under choice of color or you might get the default paint job


I spotted this car at a rest stop in the middle of Wisconsin, Interesting form of self expression.

I was suppose to have been working I Chicago this week but my wife came down with Flu symptoms, 102 temp, achy, and sore throat she’s completely wiped out. Sickness drives me nuts, I don’t always do things meticulously but I do like to be in control, and when sickness strikes it really throws me off. After calling in to the flu hot line I’m told every case of flu is being lumped into H1N1 sense the seasonal flu is far from peaking, and my company just released last week a H1N1 protocol of if you are exposed to H1N1 you can not go to work until 48 hours after the person you are exposed from symptoms are completely gone. GREAT there goes my PTO for the rest of the year. I spent the day wiping down with alcohol pretty much the entire house. I am thankful that the weather this week is actually very nice, I’m trying to take full advantage of it before winter sets in.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed I don't start feeling a sore throat.

Today I was able to get in a 8 miler after dropping off William and Wes at their Grandparents I ran from their house (up on top of the hill in country club manor) down to the new trail around cascade lake that goes in toward town, I went down just past Kutzy and back, Kept them under 7:25s, felt good, it was a great afternoon to run.

Halloween was fun we took my cousin’s son Alex with us this year. William, Wes, Alex, and I made the rounds around my In-laws neighborhood. My in-laws were suprised how few trick or treaters there was this year. Last year they have over 150 (they keep track) this year 23 ??? Very strange. It has always bothered me how much candy the kids are able to hall in within 1 hour, but Trevor gave me a good Idea of trading the candy in for a present. It worked great (hook line and sinker) probably saved me $100 in dentist bills.




I also was able to finish my leaf raking finally. I have a pile at least 8 feet high, the kids have a lot of fun jumping in it.




I Was able to snap a picture of a deer in the back yard this week, eating the left over apples in our tree.



I missed the first off-season striders due to being out of power from the snowstorm. OK it is a poor excuse but after fretting all night if my little electric generator would keep up running my furnace, refrigerator, and freezer. I sleep right through my watch alarm. Better luck next time, I was able to build a snowman with the kids and get a 10 Miler in later (after the snow melted).

Today finds me working at the Kohler Company, huge place it’s one of those companies that have the town named after it, Kohler WI. If you’re ever in the Sheboygan area there is a great place to go for a run down by the lake, Kohler State Park. It has a couple miles of very flat beach you can run on and a planked trail that meanders through the sand dunes, and a nice quiet road with a bike trail shoulder. Sorry no pictures this time I have ordered a new camera that has a quicker shutter time than my last one a fugifilm A100, after holding down the button halfway to let it focus then pressing it fully it still took 2 to 3 seconds for it to take the image (totally frustrating). The reviews of my new one say it’s very quick, I’m keeping my fingers crossed. But I did find online a couple of thumbnails that I blew up (a little fuzzy but it will give you an Idea of what it’s like.)


By the time I checked into the hotel and changed into my gear it was 6:15 and already dark, I’m already missing summer. It made it hard to bike to the park; fortunately I had my head light and a reflective jacket. I was able to get in a 13 mile bike and 4 mile run.
Well that’s all for today, see you Saturday morning at Panara.

Well already I'm not keeping up with my blog. Hopefully I can make up for it with some good pictures from some Rochester runners I spotted while up at Whistle stop this year.

Trevor who I went up with (you can see the PR glimer in the eyes if you look close)


My dear friend Renee Saxman, trying to iron out the race number before the shutter flashes

and strong look at the finish

Steve DeBoer

Jean Murray

Shawn Stevens

Andy Hemenway

Rodger Heil

and Lynn looking strong


and yours truly

spare no expenses

Unfortunately for Trevor I'm a little on the thrifty side so here is what you get for $35 in ironwood MI


and yes this space heater is for heating the room.

shocked to say the least when we opened the curtains the morning of the race.


I'll put up with less than optimal accommodations and a little snow for the spectacular scenery of northern Wisconsin during leaf peeping season.







The one thing that was definitely the topic of the morning was how to dress. It was very much a departure from what we have been training in. Trevor and I stopped at Walmart and purchased some tops we could toss a couple miles into it. (That worked out well). I was not able to pull off a BQ, I ended up cramping after mile 17 (as usual) but after slowing down to almost a 9 min pace I was able to complete the race without walking any of it(I'm very happy with that. I crossed the finish line in3:30:21, 10 min off my BQ.

Trevor busted his PR by 12 min. 3:25
and Renee qualified for Boston, congrats to both of them

To say the least I was wiped out after the race.

after a little rest I was able to make my way to the beer tent to enjoy a beer, brat, chili and recount the trials and tribulations of the race with friends.



This was without a doubt a memorable weekend.

Here's a couple pictures from whistle stop 2008, note the look of pain at the finish. The weather could be just right for another try at a Boston Qualifing attempt, This race I ONLY NEED a 3h 20m 59s Ouch! I'm not sure I can but I won't go down without a battle. hopefully the pained look at the finish this year won't be worse.

The calm before the storm.

Well whistle stop is fast approaching and right now the weather forecast sounds interesting, 30 low and 40 high, wind from the west at 12 mph (very good). I've never performed in a marathon as well as the predictor tables show I should (otherwise I would have gone to Boston by now) everything under a half is within seconds of my PR times but when it comes to the marathon my times take a nose dive due to leg cramps. I've often wondered is it temperature induced but i have never had a cold marathon to test it in. Well this weekend it appears will break that trend. One thing with marathoning I've learned is you can throw most of my predictions out the window, so I guess time will tell. I'm still hoping for the best though.

At least is stopped raining today. after what seemed like all week of overcast and rain. today we were able to get out of the house for a bike ride. And I was able to get a quick piture of the moon through my telescope.

a couple first timer mistakes

Well I hope today is not a precursor to the future runs I'll be organizing. I woke up to early turned off the alarm so it wouldn't wake Heidi only to fall back to sleep and didn't wake up until 6:46, after frantically dressing and grabbing the water stop Gatorade I raced to the RAC 8 minutes past 7am. If that wasn't bad enough I couldn't for the life of me remember the street numbers while explaining the route to the group. looks like I need to get a little more organized.

Saturdays run 7 am RAC 10/3/09

Saturdays 10 miler

The first of hopefully many

This is just a test, only a test