The Brenton's Final Results

Amy and I got up at 11:30 to the alarm on my phone. Yes, we had to set an alarm to wake up at 11:30. We are old people, and I sometimes get up at 11:30 for work. We dressed warmly because it is 40 degrees in Tucson tonight. I wore tights, two shirts, arm warmers, my Mountain Hardware beanie, and a windbreaker. Amy dressed similarly. Not only are we old, but we are desert rats too. We had a nice Fun Run through our neighborhood. We looked at the Christmas lights and watched the illegal fireworks shows. We ran 3.1 miles in 26:12, I burned 435 calories, had an average heart rate of 148 beats per minute, and averaged 8:43 miles according to my Garmin 305.

Early Results

Brett and his kids did their first half of the Broken, Beat & Scarred Team Brenton Fun Run. Brett finished in just over 22 minutes with Rebecca and Tyler just over 24 minutes. (I think they let the old man win to make him feel good). Remember to send pictures and times and I will post them here. Thanks to all who have/will participate.

Those are some cute little runners.

That looks like some serious business. Check out Tyler's hands. He is ready to sprint.

Christmas

Everyone made out pretty good this year. Caitlin got a video camera and is planning on becoming a youtube star. Philip got an acoustic guitar. He really seems to have a talent for music. Fortunately he is a metal head like his old man. Amy got a Patagucci fleece jacket and a new ipod. I made the mistake of introducing her to pod casts and her shuffle just wouldn't cut it anymore.I really scored. A set of tri-cams and 10 Wild Country carabiners. Just what my rack needed. Hope you had a Merry Christmas too.

Knot Answers

The answers to the knot trivia are as follows: Knot A- Granny Knot (This is probably the knot you are tying if your shoes come untied frequently, or you use a double knot to keep them from coming untied.) Knot B- Reef Knot. Some people call it the Square Knot, but a Square Knot is a completely different animal. (This is the base for a properly tied shoe.) Knot C- This is called a Thief Knot. Sailors used it to tie up their possessions in bags. It looks similar to a Reef Knot and then they could tell if someone had been stealing from them because the thief would surely use a Reef Knot to retie the bag. Unlike a Reef Knot it will easily come undone when pulled on. Brett got 100% on the first two, and half credit on the extra credit question. He's the only one who who even tried. It's like you people don't care about properly tied shoes. What's the matter with you. (Excuse me while I breathe in to a paper bag.) ..........OK, all better now.

Hypocrisy

I hope you like the Smiths. I know my friends Stayc and David do. In high school I was a big fan. They are outspoken vegetarians as evidenced by their album titled "Meat is Murder". I found if odd then when in the mid 90's that their song How Soon is Now, which is playing now, was played on a Nissan commercial while the advertisement touted the leather seats in the new Nissan Altima. I guess everyone has their price.

Music

It just wouldn't be Christmas without some AC/DC.

1st and 2nd Biannual Team Brenton 2.5K

We finally have it all together and are ready to announce the 1st and 2nd Biannual Team Brenton Fun Run. It starts on December 31st 2009. You run, walk, cycle, ski, snowshoe, skip, whatever 2.5K (1.55 miles). Then on January 1st 2010 you do the same. Amy and I are going to do ours back to back to end the year running, and ring in the new year running. Anyone who will be in town is welcome to join us. There will be finisher medals, and hand made bib numbers. All ages are welcome. Registration can be done by e-mail so I can get you your number (s) and medals. A small voluntary registration fee can be paid to either of theses charities https://www.ikat.org/make-a-donation/, or http://www.cureblindness.org/. The first link is to the Central Asian Project. That is Greg Mortenson's project to help educate girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan. These girls live in remote villages and have no hope of ever being educated. He is the author of "Three Cups of Tea" (Amy's favorite book from 2008). The second link is to an organization started by Dr. Geoff Tabin. He is helping cure blindness in Nepal by raising money for cataract surgery. They are doing cataract surgeries in Nepal for $20. Normally these people would go blind, and then wait to die. There are articles about this charity in both Outside, and National Geographic Adventure this month. Both of the men who started these charities are climbers by the way. Here at Broken, Beat & Scarred we believe these charities to be honest and worthwhile. We hope to raise a few dollars that may help change someones life for the better, and have a good time while doing it. Take pictures, and send your times so we can post them here on BB&S. Hope to hear from you soon.

Alex Honnold

Last night at the gym I met Alex Honnold. If you don't know him you haven't been watching enough climbing videos. Alex is one of the best in the world right now. He is known for free soloing. Free climbing is using only your hands, feet etc to keep you on the rock, but using gear and a rope to protect you from a fall. Soloing is climbing without any gear, or a rope. So free soloing is using only your body to climb and doing it with no protection from a fall. That's right boys and girls one mistake and splat. Alex has free soloed some of the biggest hardest routes in the Yosemite valley like Half Dome. He seemed to be a very nice kid. He posed for a picture, and acted embarrassed to be recognized. Imagine that, a famous climber being recognized in a climbing gym. Watching him climb was amazing. He moves so easily on routes that are at my limit. He did some lead climbing and he would climb up a 10a, down climb, lead a 9-, and then down climb. Both of these routes are very overhung, and horizontal at the top. I have lead both of them and there is no way I could do them back to back after having down climbed them. I was geeking out after talking to him and telling Amy about all of his climbing accomplishments. She looked at me and said "You know he is going to die." It made me sad to think that someday I will open a Climbing magazine and read a memorial to Alex Honnold. He really is a nice kid. If you are interested either google him, or search for him on youtube.

Big Announcement

It's Christmas time at UPS (and everywhere else I would imagine) so I have not been as good at keeping up with my blog as I would like. I know I have a shoe tying lesson to finish, but I needed to let you know about a huge event coming soon. Team Brenton and Broken, Beat & Scarred will be holding it's first event at the end of the month. It will be available nationwide to all of my readers. More details to come in the next couple of days.

Tying Your Shoes

One of my pet peeves is improperly tied shoes. I know it shouldn't matter to me how other people tie their shoes, but I guess I feel sorry for those who can't properly tie a shoe. Take for example an engineer friend of mine (who will remain nameless). I saw him yesterday and it looked like his four year old had tied his shoes. They were untying themselves while he was sitting in a chair.

I am here to try to save you from yourselves and untied shoes. This is going to have to be at least a two part post, and maybe even three. I have done more research than any one man should ever do on tying shoes. I consulted all three of my knot books, the web, Runners World Magazine, and others who appreciate a well tied knot. I think I have found the perfect variation on a knot for tying your shoes.

First a quiz. Can you name the three knots below. Please leave your answers in the comments, or e-mail them to me. That is if you are interested.

Knot A. Knot B (correct name, not the Boy Scout name).

Knot C (trick question, extra credit).