K. Todd Storch

Ryan's First Scout Pack Meeting

Ryan and his Den had their first "Pack" meeting last night.  Talk about flooding me with childhood memories!

They gave out a bunch of awards to the older Scouts and set the stage for the major fundraiser of the year:  Popcorn sales.

Tons of prizes for the boys based on the number of products sold and in fact, Ryan has already set his goal of selling 150 (gulp!).  By the way, this is the top goal.  He is so goal oriented and hasn't stopped talking about who he can go "sell some popcorn to".

• Pic 1:  Ryan receives his first achievement "bead" for the Firestation tour
• Pic 2:  Ryan's Tiger Cub den (in blue) learn the Scout symbol from the older Webelos
• Pic 3:  Ryan's den learn the Scout motto from the Bear Scounts

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tags:  cub scouts

Weekend Update: September 25th

Another busy weekend!

Late Friday afternoon, all the kids got together at their "cousin's" house (the Sunshine's).  Dad's hung out with the kiddos while the Mom's scrap-booked at a local store.

Ran 9.5 miles early on Saturday morning with Matt before Ryan's 845a soccer game.

Ryan had one of his best games.  He is really beginning to understand the positions; talking to the other teammates on the field while controlling the ball and the concept of passing!  He also scored late in the 4th quarter!

• Pic 1:  Ryan is very proud of his 4th quarter goal
• Pic 2:  Team is huddled up for some coach pep talk!
• Pic 3:  Ryan watching from the sidelines

Saturday night, Tara and I went out with Matt and Beth to celebrate Matt's birthday with some great sushi and a movie.  Went to see Just Like Heaven after not being able to see Proof (sold out).  Don't waste your time at the theater with JLH and if you must, get it on DVD...

We hosted an Adventure Guide meeting at our house on Sunday.  Peyton's tribe, the Firestarters came over and we had a great time making "Thank You" signs for the local fire department.  We took the girls to the Fire Station to meet the firefighters and take a station tour.  The girls loved bringing them a bunch of chocolate chip cookies and the signs they made.

• The Firestarters are busy crafting their "Thank You" posters!

**UPDATE**

How could I forget the Saturday Lemonade stand and Taylor's blog?!  They earned over $19 selling water filled with Crystal Light powders and assorted snacks.  The kids priced everything at 75 cents and most of the time they would get $1 to $2 for each item...wow, I think they should of tested the market with $5 Lemonade!  Also, Emily sets up a blog for Taylor...wow!

• Emily, Taylor, Ryan, Allie and Peyton make the big bucks!

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tags:  adventure guides | just like heaven

Hurricane Rita Updates via SMS

Radio station, 99.5 the Wolf/KPLX has been using text messaging to keep their listeners updated and informed on all types of things.

The latest is hurricane Rita.

Text in "RITA" to 94525 if you would like the SMS updates.

Disclaimer:  KPLX is owned by SRC, the company I work for

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tags:  sms | 99.5 the wolf | kplx | hurricane rita

Ryan is a Tiger Cub Scout!

Talk about a blast from the past!  Ryan had his first official Tiger Cub Scout meeting this last Sunday.

His troop all met at the Coppell Fire Station #1 for a tour and meeting.  Really brought back some great childhood memories for me!  Ryan had a blast and can't wait to earn some beads and new patches!

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tags:  cub scouts

Vocal Chord Surgery

Yesterday I had my 6th vocal chord surgery.  I've been having issues that lead me to get extremely hoarse and I have to have a laser procedure to clean off the chords.

All went well and I'm on strict voice rest for 2 days (no talking at all) and very, very limited speaking for about a week.

Believe me, this is nothing compared to what others have to deal with, so I send even more emails at work and carry around paper and pen to write out my thoughts.  It is really more of a mental challenge than anything else.

Not being able to use your voice, when you technically can, causes you to really understand how important body language and eye contact is day to day. 

"Talk" to you soon!

Texas Man Sprint Triathlon 2005

The 2005 Texas Man Sprint triathlon was today, 9/18.  Officially, it is the Dave Scott and Karen Smyers Texas Man and having these legendary names on-site was an added bonus to a great race.  This was the final race in the newly created, Texas/Louisiana Border Battle Triathlon Challenge.

The race had nearly 700 participants; tons of first time triathletes and was put on by Tom Ryan's Dallas Athletes.

The distances:
500 yard open water swim
19 mile bike
5k run

This race was fantastic for a number of reasons.  Let me list a few of them out:

• Volunteers - another great showing by members of the Dallas Athletes
• Las Colinas - this is the first time I've raced through this town in Irving.  I loved the course, including the swim in Lake Carolyn in downtown Las Colinas
• Bike course - the roads were quick and nearly car free
• Run course - a 3 loop course allowed for family and spectators to cheer and be a part of the race
• After party and sponsors - Race director, Tom Ryan did a great job of having 2 massage tables, Smoothie King, plenty of after race food, Accelerade drink and tons of ice cold bottled water
• Finishers towel - this was a great bonus to be handed a full sized, Texas Man logoed towel immediately after crossing the finish line

I really enjoyed this course and hope the upcoming years will be at the same location.  With the hassles of dealing with different cities the triathlon directors go through, I definitely plan on sending emails and letters of "thank you" to city officials.

I was pleased with my results as well.  I finished with an overall time of 1 hour, 21 minutes and 12 seconds, which was 14th in my age group and 54th overall.  I upped my mph on the bike to 24.4 and ran a 7:32 mile for the 5k.

Great race and looking forward to 2006!

[link] to results

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tags:  triathlon | dave scott | karen smyers | dallas athletes

I Love Atomic FireBall Candy!

Atomic FireBall's have been one of my favorite candies since I was a kid.

I love that now you can take a virtual tour of how they are made!

[link] (thank you to Make and BoingBoing!)

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tags: atomic fireballs

What a Busy Weekend!

Wow...this weekend was a blur!  Seemed like we had ever hour planned.

Tara and some girlfriends put together a couple shower for our friends the Scott's on Friday night.  Typically, Tara and I are crashed on the couch watching some TV for a bit on Friday night!

Saturday at 6a, I started the morning with a 44 mile training ride through Flower Mound with Matt and a few others from Dallas Athletes.  Tara's parents were in town and stayed with us for the weekend.  They were in town to celebrate Tara's brothers birthday on Saturday evening.

Tara had a Arbonne meeting in the morning and met me and the kids at Ryan's soccer game.  It was his first game of the season and you could tell.  The kids were really tired and hot (it was nearly 100).  It was obvious that they weren't used to playing a whole game yet.  This is his teams first year with goalies, so that adds a new dimension to the game for the kids.

I headed to Ft. Worth in the early afternoon for my station's major event of the year, Bone Bash.  I was pretty excited to see April Wine in concert.  I used to love this band back in the early 80's when living up in St. Louis.  I was able to get back to Coppell before 1030p to stop by Kary's house to see the family and wish him happy birthday.

Met Matt at 6a Sunday morning for a hour long training run.  After getting home, the family headed to church.  St. Ann's was having their major fundraiser for the year, the St. Ann's Carnival.  I volunteered and helped with parking for 3 hours while Tara worked the basketball game and the face painting booth.  I got to ride a bunch of rides with the kids and Taylor and I ended the evening around 6p with a ride on the "Octopus"!

She loved it except the last 2 minutes when she got dizzy and was ready to get off.  I think the heat and day got to her, so we all headed home and got the kids ready for bed.

Sorry for the laundry list of events, but it really was a great weekend filled with some great family time!

• Pic 1:  Ryan and Peyton on the Elephant ride.  Ryan rode with Peyton because she really wanted to ride this ride
• Pic 2:  Getting ready to go
• Pic 3:  Good action shot of Ryan and Taylor on the swing
• Pic 4:  Another action swing shot
• Pic 5:  Ryan and Taylor are ready to get started
• Pic 6:  April Wine on stage at Bone Bash

 

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tags:  st. ann's coppell | 93.3 the bone | april wine | triathlon training | arbonne

Fuel and Recovery Drinks for Triathlon

I'm always adjusting and tweaking my drinks and nutrition for my training.  Recently, I heard Brett talk about how he was mixing his own special brew of Gatorade.

That got me thinking and here is my current set up.

Fuel for rides and runs (I mix this up in 34 oz. Gatorade Endurance bottles and keep in the fridge)

• 3 scoops of Glacier Freeze Gatorade
• just under a teaspoon of Sea Salt
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable glycerin (during the Summer heat)
• fill with water

Recovery Drink (I mix this in a 34oz screw on top plastic bottle)

• 2 scoops of Vanilla Protein Powder
• 3 scoops of Glacier Freeze Gatorade
• 2 tablespoons of Glutamine powder
• fill with water

I've been using the fuel all Summer and it got me through the Buffalo Springs Half Ironman with flying colors.  The added sodium really paid off in the heat.

Leave a comment with your fuel suggestions!

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tags:  triathlon nutrition | triathlon | gatorade

Time for New Running Shoes

I had just over 400 miles on my Mizuno Wave Rider 7's and it was time for a new pair.

I got the new version of this shoe, now called the Wave Rider 8.  I just love these shoes and it really is amazing how the padding gets compressed over time from the pounding.  The old shoes are still fine to wear, but not for training and races.

Tara and I ended up finding a lot of clothes, shoes and other household items over the weekend to donate to the hurricane victims.  Is anyone aware of a charity that takes old running shoes and puts them to good use?

• Pic 1:  New Wave Runner 8 on left
• Pic 2:  Wow...did the other shoes really used to be that white!? (I use Easy Laces on all of my running shoes.  Great for quick Transition times!)

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tags:  mizuno running shoes | shoes for charity