In contrast to the past few weeks, this one has seemed to drag on FOREVER. But it will soon be a happy memory, being that today is Friday. It actually feels like I got the weekend started last night, since I covered two events that were both pretty fun. My favorite of the two, was the preview party for new Chrome store [above], which opens Saturday.

The weather is supposed to be awesome, this weekend. It should be ideal for our long runs on Saturday. In addition to running and visiting Piper, we have a few extra items of fun slated for the weekend. Tomorrow and Sunday is the Gatsby Festival at Governor’s Island. I’m hoping that we can make it down there for that. Also this weekend, is the second of only two MotoGP races that occur on American soil each year. The GP riders will be fighting it out at the brick yard. I have to admit though, with Rossi’s injury, and Stoner’s apparent ineptitude, It hasn’t been much fun to watch Lorenzo run away with the title this year. Just the same, it will be fun to watch Hayden and the other American riders go for broke on their home turf. I’m getting ahead of myself for a minute, but I am also very excited about Rossi’s new contract with Ducati. Sounds like a match made it heaven. Italy’s hero piloting Italy’s flagship.

I’m also excited because this is the last weekend in 2010 without college football. I’m sure that I have told this story before. But, here it is again. Once, several years ago, about this same time of year, I was feeling kind of bummed out because the summer was over. I was in college, living with my parents and dreading going back to class for fall semester. I was expressing my dismay to my mom one night and she told me “Jake, that is why God gave us college football. So we have something to look forward to.” Such a wise woman. Since I have never been a BYU or Notre Dame fan, I wasn’t used to hearing the words “God” and “Football” in the same sentence. But the way she contextualized it, I had to agree Ma B. Utah’s first game is next Thursday against Pitt. Getting ahead of myself again, I can’t wait to see how the U of U does next year as a member of the Pac10.

I hope that everyone has a fantastic weekend!

This is my favorite shot of the weekend. I hope that I can go again next year.

It was a beautiful day to be in New York, Saturday.  The weather was absolutely perfect. Reagan and I headed upstate early with some of our friends, to climb at this place that we discovered last year. It was Reagan’s first time climbing outside of a gym. She put on a very impressive display of natural ability.

It is kind of crazy how close we are to the tracks. There was kind of a lot of train traffic today, too. We were only on the wall for a few hours and in that span 3 trains came through. As loud as it was, it made for some cool shots. Hehe.

Additional photos over here.

Hi, this is two posts in a row with the word “running” in the title. This one, however, unlike the previous one, is actually about running. A couple of weeks ago, I was commenting on how much I would like to get back into a routine of running. I’m happy to report, that I have been doing pretty well (with the exception of a few days of monsoon). If you look at my track record, I have been pretty consistent since about the middle of March, even if it is just a quick 3 or 4 miles. I have been feeling better, too. Not so stiff, etc. Hopefully I will be able to continue the same way.

Our running club had its second club points race last Saturday (check out my hair, hahaha). Reagan was feeling sick, so she ended up sitting that race out. I had a pretty good race though. The weather was beautiful. It was actually a bit on the warm side. I was pretty happy with my time:

Last Name	First Name	Sex/ Age	Bib	Team	City	State	Overall Place	Gender Place	Age Place	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile
BREINHOLT	JACOB	M33	1053	NYRC	NEW YORK	NY	522	464	90	42:30	6:51

Other quick stats:

Distance: 6.2 Miles, 10.0 Kilometers
Date/Time: April 3, 2010, 10:00 am
Location: Central Park, NYC
Weather: 52 Deg. 80% Hum. Clear.
Total Finishers: Men – 4072  Women – 3722  Total – 7794

Hopefully, I can make some progress this year.

Here is my disclaimer: Reagan tells me that sometimes when I talk/write about running, it seems like I’m bragging. So, just to be clear, I would like to say:  Although, I like to get a little bit competitive, I realize I am a very average runner. If anything, the competitive aspect is only to keep it interesting (for me), and to measure personal progress.

Friday night, I was in Central Park shooting this race, when I passed by the croquet garden near Sheep’s Meadow. There was this dude out there playing all by himself. Just practicing his shot, I guess. Anyway, I stopped and talked to him for a while (after sneaking a few shots of him). It turns out that the Parks Dept. gives out permits to play croquet on the lawn there. Apparently there is also a New York City Croquet club. Needless to say, I was pretty stoked to learn about that. Monday nights, the club hosts the garden for public entry. From what the guy said, they give lessons and everything.

Oh yeah, I got a new lense this week. It is a 30mm f/1.4. I used it pretty much all evening. I love it.  One more shot of the croquet garden:

I borrowed this book from my friend at church on Sunday. It turns out that he had just barely received it back from another one of our friends who had just finished reading it. I guess none of that is really relevant, hahahaha. Anyway, I just started it on the train yesterday morning. Today, I’m only in chapter four and I’m totally hooked already. It isn’t particularly well written or anything, but it is super inspiring. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have any plans to run an ultra marathon, any time soon. But, the way that the author writes about the way he relates to running, is very motivating. It makes me want to quit my job and just pull a Forest Gump, or something. If you are into running, I think that it is safe to say you would probably dig this book.

On a completely unrelated note, today is Tuesday. Normally I would have posted a JKE question today. Last night as I sat down to write one, I wasn’t really feeling, any of the questions that are currently sitting in the inbox right now. I didn’t feel like posting any recycled material either. So, actually I’m taking down the JKE blog. I mean, maybe I will start doing JKE again at some point in the future. But for a once a week post, I feel like it doesn’t really merit it’s own separate url and page design. Plus Reagan is always making fun of me for having too many blogs. So, it will be one less thing to catch heat about.

When I first woke up today and saw the weather, I sort of panicked for a sec. All of these things were going through my head: ” I’m going skating, I’m going running, I’m going biking, I’m going to the park.” When I checked my phone, I had an email from the guys who run the Broadway Bomb, about a skateboard race in Central Park. I also had a note from my friend Jared about going golfing in the Bronx. It was a very tough decision. Ultimately, I decided that I should hold off on longboard racing until I have had a chance to get out and push around. I haven’t skated since last summer. Plus my friends Jared and Debi are super cool. I wish that Reagan could have come with us. But, being the popular girl that she is, her day was booked long before she got up and looked at her phone this morning.

I was a bit curious about what it was going to be like at the driving range. I mean, when I think of the Bronx, the first thing that naturally comes to mind is golfing (after gang shootouts, of course). It was actually a pretty nice course. Although, we didn’t actually end up playing the course this morning. Jared and I just hit some balls on the driving range, while Debi read magazines and took pictures of us (because we that good). But I think that we are going to try to make it back up there to play the course, now that we have seen what it is like, and that it is so easy to get to. The best part is that, right when we were getting toward the end of our session, the cart went out to gather the balls. This is fun on any driving range, because it is moving target practice. None of us were expecting what happened next. The driver parks off to the side, and gets out wearing a ball glove, smoking a cigarette and taunting all of the people hitting. Hahahahaha. It was the craziest thing ever. So there he was, running all over the range, like an outfielder on crack. I guess that is how they do it, at the muni-course in the Bronx. There is a shot of the guy below.

As if the driving range wasn’t enough fun for one day, we headed back down to the UWS for burgers, then spent the afternoon in Fort Tryon Park Hitting some Croquet. It was pretty packed, but we managed to find a spot of lawn large enough to set up. The lawn hadn’t been mowed for a while, so it was a little bit extra challenging. Thanks again, Jared and Debi for letting me be the third wheel.

On may 19th is the American Heart Association/NYRR Wall Street 5k. Come run it with us! Here is the NYRR Race Page. If you don’t feel like running it, but would still like to participate, there is also a walking section. If you will be working late that night, but would still like to donate to the AHA, here is the link for my team’s donation page.

[Photo via University of Utah Athletic Department]

Yes, March madness is afoot. My team (Univ. of Utah) doesn’t play until tomorrow night. So I guess that I don’t really have a good excuse to take off work. I’m pretty excited about it though. U of U had a pretty good season, winning the MWC. I wish that I would have been able to follow the action more closely this year. They are going into the tournament as a No. 5 seed and the first game is against Arizona. I haven’t done a bracket this year. I guess I’m in denial that March is already here. People who are way busier than I am (with stuff like solving financial crises, commanding, chiefing, etc..), have still found the time to fill out a bracket. You can check out President Obama’s bracket here.

Utah, arch rival, No. 8 seeded BYU started their first round this afternoon against Texas A&M. I wasn’t able to watch the actual game, but I followed the web cast. I know it is bad for the conference and everything. But for some reason, I just love to see the Cougars choke. Barack likes Utah and BYU in the first round, but that’s as far as they get, on his bracket. Unfortunately for El Presidente, BYU has already taken a dive. Way to go Cougs. Now you have let down our country, too. Hahahaha. Let’s hope that Obama is better at his political and economic predictions than he is at predicting college basketball tournaments.

[after philly half marathon 2008]

Tomorrow, Reagan and I will be running an 8k in central park. It is our first race of 2009, and only our 2nd or third that we are ever running together (weird, I know). I’m pretty excited about it. Some of our friends are going to be running it with us. Races in the park are always so pretty, even in the ugly seasons. Depspite my eagerness to get this season of races underway, I’m am a little bit nervous for tomorrow. I can tell that Reagan is too. Last night I was talking to her on the phone and she asked, “Jake, what if I come in last, on Saturday.” Well, I can already say that Reagan won’t come in last, tomorrow. But I definitely am on the same page when it comes to the sentiments that she was expressing. We didn’t really run much at all, over the winter. So far, this year,  even the days that it has been warmer, our workouts have been less than stellar. In one episode, we became separated after going less than 1 mile out, and both ended up going home mad. Hahahaha. Either way, I’m glad to be getting out and getting back after it, tomorrow.