Disturbing

If you've been to my house before, you know I kinda live in the boonies.  No neighbors in sight, quiet, peaceful, but also the perfect place for someone looking to get rid of something to dump it.  This is apparent from all the random things I have found while running over the years in the ditches along the side of the road. 

Beer cans, dirty magazines, empty prescription pill bottles from online pharmacies in Las Vegas, old couches, rusty appliances, unwanted puppies and kittens, a wide variety of roadkill...I've seen just about everything.  Or at least I thought I had.

Last Wednesday I was headed back from a Dr.'s appt. in Houston when I got a call from a restricted number.  'Mrs. Lampson?  This is so and so with the Texas Rangers.  We have some questions for you.  We've been told you frequently run down Pinedale Rd?  We've recovered a body, and we wanted to know if you had seen anything that could possibly help our investigation?'  I told him I was headed back from Houston, and would be home shortly.  I then pulled off the interstate to catch my breath.

I had planned on lunch and shopping in The Woodlands on my way home, but that all suddenly seemed very unimportant.  

The scene on my road looked like something straight from CSI.  The Texas Rangers, the FBI, the Walker Co. Sheriff's Dept., and Houston crime scene vans lined my normally quiet little road.  I stopped and had my interview with the man who had called me.  I had seen nothing.  He asked me if I had been running past the area recently, and I told him that I had.  He then asked me if I had noticed an odor.  I told him that I had, but that wasn't anything alarming to me because of the abundance of roadkill.

They let me through, and I went home and cried.  I cried for several reasons I think.  First for the tragic loss, obviously.  The complete disregard for a human life.  But, it was also disturbing for it to be so close to home.  Just a quarter mile down the road, most likely while I was home sleeping, some deranged lunatic was attempting to bury a body.  Then, there is also the fact that I have been running past this for what the coroner estimates to be 3-5 weeks, and didn't notice.

As of yesterday they have identified the victim (a pregnant female), and have a suspect, but they are not releasing any details yet.  They only said that neither were Walker County residents.  These are the stories from our local newspaper.  one, two

I pray that the family of the victim finds peace, and that whoever committed this heinous crime is brought to justice.

My road is forever changed.

New 10K PR!

I went to Tyler today for the Azalea 10K, and still pumped from my new 5K PR, I really wanted to set a new 10K one too.  

30 seconds into the race I would have told you a new PR was not going to be possible at this race.  We started on slippery (wet from rain) red brick paved roads that seemed to be endlessly uphill.  Having worked up a sweat from the very first hill, I realized I had forgotten to take my sweatshirt off. ugh!  Not wanting to ditch it (my favorite) I tied the bulky damn thing around my waist and plugged on.

The first couple of miles I just wasn't feeling it.  I don't know if any of you have days like this, but in my head I was actually trying to conjure up some kind of race escape scheme.  Cut through the neighborhood or something.  My iPod must have sensed this and decided to throw me Mr. Brightside.  The Killers saved the day.  It was a total turn around after that.

I was in the groove.  I still felt like I had a 10 pound weight tied around my waist, and the hills on this course made Huntsville look flat, but I felt really good.

New 10K PR in the bag!

Lots of Walking, Not Much Running

I spent the morning with Ken walking the trails at my house with an engineer's wheel measuring for the races out here this weekend.  This was during the time I normally get my run in on Tuesdays, so I just squeezed in a short 3 mile run in the evening.  

That's all I have to report - Lots of walking and very little running.  Tomorrow's a new day!

Playlist of Choice

Adrienne asked for it, so here goes:

1. Mr. Brightside - The Killers

2. Low - Flo Rida

3. Bleed It Out - Linkin Park

4. Hands Open - Snow Patrol

5. I'm a Flirt - R. Kelly

6. Ignition (Remix) - R. Kelly

7. Stronger - Kanye West

8. Vertigo - U2

9. Photograph - Nickelback

10. Buy U a Drank (shawty snappin') - T-Pain

11. Give a Little Bit - Goo Goo Dolls

12. Crazy - Gnarls Barkley

13. Sexyback - Justin Timberlake (gay...i know, but being honest)

14. Flathead - The Fratellis

15. Not Ready to Make Nice - The Dixie Chicks (some special meaning here)

16. Kerosene - Miranda Lambert (...and here)

17. Irreplacable - Beyonce (...and here)

(repeat 15-17 as needed)

18. Kiss Kiss - Chris Brown

19. Crazy B---h - Buckcherry (not one for the kids)

20. 50 Dollars and Flask of Crown - Bleu Edmondson

21. Smack That - Akon

22. Rehab - Amy Winehouse

23. Lose Yourself - Eminem

24. Gin and Juice - The Gourds (makes me laugh)

25. Sorry - Buckcherry

26. Love in This Club - Usher

27. With You - Chris Brown

Well, that's it.  That's my favorite list. (today anyway)  No doubt sufficiently offensive.  I guess that's why the ipod comes with the little headphone thingies.

Oh, and I ran 6 miles easy on trails behind the house.  It would have made Bill proud.

Happy Easter

Today's Easter, and I'm taking the day off.  I had tons of family here to today, and I'm not sure how many times I was asked about my TIR experience.  Everyone wanted to know what it was like, how I liked it, are you going to do it again, etc...

As I tried my best to describe the event and explain to them that no matter how bizarre it may sound, it was one of the most fun things I've done in my life, I couldn't help but see the obviously puzzled looks on their faces.  'How could that possibly be fun'...I know that's what they were thinking, and I knew there was no way to tell the story to make them understand.  

So, I got out my laptop, opened up the comment section from my blog post yesterday, and told them 'look, these are the people I met on this excursion.  Top that!'  

You people are awesome!  Thanks so much for all your encouragement and support.  I am so lucky to have met you all!  

Happy Easter!   

New 5K PR!

So, I made it down to RTW this morning, and my goal for the race was to break 28 minutes.  I'm happy to say I did.  I'm not sure what my official time was, but by my watch I finished in 26:10.  I beat my PR by 2 whole minutes!  

I was so excited.  I think I told everyone there.  I guess all my efforts are paying off, and I've never been more motivated.  I've been stuck at around 28 minutes for about 2 years, so this is a really big deal for me!  WooHoo!!!

Afterwards I met up with some of the RTWers, some TWRCers and a group from Woodlands Fit at Skeeter's for breakfast.  I had already eaten, so I had three celebratory cups of coffee.

It Was a Good Friday

I ran trails behind the house this morning.  The first two miles slow with JP, and then he suggested that I take off on my own.  (whew!)  So I ran the last 5 really hard.  Hard for me anyway!

I really wanted to get more than 7 miles in today, so I decided to take one more quick run this evening before church.  I pushed myself hard the first mile, then walked the second mile while talking on the phone, and finished up the last two at a moderate pace.  I'll have to say, the phone conversation was much better than the run.

11 miles and pleasant conversation.  Good day.