After 100+ straight days of over 100 degrees in Texas, break through finally arrived — Today’s high was at only 93!

When I ventured out this morning at 5:30 am, I was pleasantly surprised with the slightly chilled weather.  I’d expect many runners on the road who were just as ecstatic as I would be.  And I was right.  Later that day my Texas running friends filed exciting reports about today’s run via email, Facebook or blog.

Ten minutes into my run , I turned onto Russell Creek Park’s running trail.  As I joined the running crowd, I could hear footsteps behind me, and detect the silhouette of runners in front of me.  Today I’d have a few opportunities to pass and plenty of opportunities to be passed.

Passing a runner, I thought, would be a climax.  It is through a long act of creating the mood, anticipating the move, and building the momentum.  The result would be a climax of exhileration.  Indeed, it felt like almost an eternity to shorten the distance between me and the runner ahead, no matter how short that distance would be.  I’d lower my chin in order to focus my sight only a couple of feet in front of me.  I’d swing my arm to power the legs to churn as fast as possible.  And I’d pay attention to my stride so that each would cover the longest distance possible.  Then I’d look up.  The distance did not seem to be shortened.  Feeling deflated a bit, I’d repeat the same routine again.  The next time I looked up, the distance seemed shorter.  After repeating the routine several times, I finally managed the distance to be short enough that I felt like breathing on person’s neck.

After all these drama, I thought I’d enjoy the climatic moment of passing the runner ahead of me.  Not exactly.  The act of passing lasted a mere split second.  Just as I was behind the runner breathing on her neck, a mere stride later, I passed her.  Unless I looked back, I’d see nothing except hearing her footstep fading slowly. 

Being passed had a similar anticlimactic sensation.  I’d hear a faint noise behind me.  Soon that noise became distinctive enough.  Slowly that noise was too loud to be mistaken as anything but footsteps.  Soon the huff and puffs of breathing joined the symphony of footsteps.  Suddenly I’d felt a breath on my neck, and a split second later, a running figure passed me.  

Three miles into my run today, I had been passed several times, but only managed to pass a couple of walkers and a runner couple.  Soon I came to the corner of Russel Creek Park where marathon strength training took place.  The runners were about to wrap up the strength portion, and were ready for their 3-miler.  Before I even came close, the faster runners already took the trail and soon surged out of my sight.  Two other runners were behind me.  It didn’t take long for the guy runner to pass me.  He was at least 6 feet tall.  I had to take 2 strides to match up his one.  He soon disappeared from my sight.

I started to hear the faint noise, then it became distinctive footsteps.  Soon I heard the breathing.  Very soon, a girl breathed on my neck and passed me.  Just like that – no drama, no climax.  She also surged up to catch the cluster of runners ahead of us.    

What a climax and anticlimax!

The odd of my passing vs being passed was extremely low.  I wouldn’t even bet money on myself for passing a runner.  That does not bother me.  I run for fun.  If I ever pass a slow runner once in a long while, I consider it a luck.  And I’d take a moment to enjoy the triumph, even though that moment was only a split second long.

Today I ran 6 miles.  I have 633.5 miles to go.

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Article source: http://kscat.wordpress.com/2010/08/26/climax-and-anticlimax/

Death Row is Back!! Future advice…Go with your Gut!!! August 18, 2010

Posted by buzzwordz in Buzzwordz Trivia, Plano, TX, Tim Ball, Two Brother’s Bar Grill.

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Death Row has not been around for a while and I was getting worried about them.  But them came last night at Two Brothers in Plano, TX, and tore it up.  They won all three rounds.  A quick story about going with your gut.  Missy and the Submissives had a chance to take 2nd round with the tie breaker question.  They had an answer that was closer than the other team on the tie breaker question but they had scratched it out and put something else.  They lost the round!!! Next time, guys, you have to go with your gut!!! That is my advice for the week and I am sticking to it.  See you all next week for another great night at Two Bros. in Plano,TX!!!

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Article source: http://buzzwordz.wordpress.com/2010/08/18/death-row-is-back-future-advice-go-with-your-gut/

Day Two after a sluggish long run on Saturday.  Recovering means to restore mental strength, heal physical sores, and allow muscle to rest.  Most importantly, it takes time.  Was 48 hours enough? 

When the alarm rang at 5 am this morning, my answer was a clear No.  I need more sleep.  I was not ready.  I wanted to push the snooze button except my BlackBerry was lying on the floor connecting to a battery charger.  I had no choice but to get up to silence it.  On my way climbing back to bed, I tripped over my sleeping cat on the floor.  Strangely she made no noise – she was used to the push and pull game we played all these years.   She simply did not want to be bothered but to go back to her deep sleep.  I, on the other hand, felt guilty so I came down to my knee to apologize to her.  My stroke, surprisingly, invoked a minor protest.  She moaned a bit without lifting her head.  Her tail gently swept against my legs as a reminder that she wasn’t happy.  Then she buried her head deeper in her curved body as if she was a dead cat.

After all the melodrama, I was fully awake.  Climbing back to bed did not make any sense.  So I got up, ate some breakfast, changed into my running gears and headed out to the track.  Today I need to make up for 800 repeats I missed last week when I was out of town.

There was only two cars at the track parking lot, and only one lone runner looping fast on the track.  My warm-up loops did not go well.  Felt like I was dragging heavy legs that did not belong to me.  The fast lone runner swooped by me, leaving me to feel like a turtle clawing and crawling on the ground.

I stopped to sip some water, took a deep breath, and walked to the starting line.  Mentally I was ready to run my 800 repeats.  ”Let brain tell leg what to do,” I told myself, “Do not let mood drag my feet.”   Off I went, first curved my body for the first 100, then straighten my body for next 100, repeated the same pattern for one loop, then the second loop.  I looked at my watch — 4:40.  It wasn’t good, but it was decent.  I only let the lone runner pass me once.

After a recovery lap, I set off for the second 800.  This time I finished in 4:37, slight improvement.  Recovery again, I went for the 3rd — 4:32.  Not bad, I patted myself on back and looped for recovery.   The lone runner must have finished his workout.  No one passed me during the 3rd repeat. 

Before I started the fourth loop, another girl started an easy pace around the track.  It was still dark.  The lighting around the track was off by 6 am, leaving the track poorly illuminated.  The silhouette of her running in front of me gave me a clue of her pace and the distance between us.  I thought I could catch her if I put an extra kick. So I kicked — not any easy one, by any means.  Slowly I caught up with her, running side by side for a couple of steps, then I passed her.  By the time I came to finish, my watch registered 4:25.  

I was thrilled with the small improvement I made.  15 whapping seconds over 4 repeats!  Especially given the tough recovery from Saturday’s sluggish run.  And, for the first time in a long time, I was able to pass someone.  

It was a hard morning, after all.  Glad I was able to pull through 4 miles.  I have 677 miles to go.

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Article source: http://kscat.wordpress.com/2010/08/16/recovering-from-sluggishness/

Collin County calls itself “The Jewel of North Texas”. With all the county has to offer its residents and businesses in great cities like Plano, McKinney, Frisco and Allen, one could hardly disagree. The county is beautifully contrasting with its vast, rolling countryside and mid-rise business parks.

Its major cities boast many great shopping treasures like Ikea, Stonebriar Centre, Willowbend Mall, Shops of Legacy, Shops of Fairview and the Allen Premium Outlets, just to name a few. There are a variety of restaurants to please any palette and meet any budget. Arts, culture and entertainment are thriving in this northern part of the Metroplex – and soon there will be a grand venue for the masses with the completion of the The Arts of Collin County Performance Hall and Arts Park.

Plano, the largest city in Collin County, is the ninth largest city in Texas. It is home to more than 273,000 residents and is the corporate headquarters for some of the nation’s largest and most recognized companies. This city has grown into something of an icon in North Texas. CNN Money has bestowed such honors on Plano as ‘the best place to live in the Western United States’ and ‘the 11th best place to live in the nation’. Plano schools consistently rank among the top schools in the United States. Not bad for a suburb 20 miles north of Dallas.

Frisco has more than eight million square feet of retail and dining. It has become a hub of entertainment, thanks to first-class venues that host a multitude of sporting events and concerts year round. The Dallas Stars call Frisco home, as do the Rough Riders, FC Dallas, Texas Legends and Texas Tornadoes. You’ll certainly not be without entertainment here. Somehow in spite of all the activity, Frisco remains a close-knit community with strong values. The school and neighborhoods of Frisco are wholesome and inviting, making it an attractive place to raise a family.

McKinney and Allen are both following in the footsteps of Plano, making a name for themselves with their growth, development and education systems. In addition to these large cities, Collin County is filled with smaller communities that are riddled with farms, ranches, open land and Texas history – towns like Celina Prosper that have very little commerce at present, but have small town pride and high property values. (Celina was even featured in the new Kenny Chesney video, ‘The Boys of Fall’, which I’ve embedded at the end of this post.)

With offerings like this, it’s no wonder more and more people are finding their way to this great jewel that is known as Collin County. And we’re sure glad they are. Contact us to learn more about finding your home in Collin County.

Here’s the Kenny Chesney video ‘The Boys of Fall’ - just keep your eyes open for the orange Celina Bobcats:

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Article source: http://www.lisatalksrealestate.com/2010/08/11/collin-county-offers-country-charm-and-city-convenience/

At 5:40 am we pulled into Waters Creek shopping center parking lot.  The only few parking spaces left in a big lot were at the far end to the marathon group starting point.  It was no surprise to me, as today was the reunion run with our Plano FIT marathon training groups.

I was excited to find a sea of yellow and blues congregating at the starting point.  This year our uniform for the girls are bright blue, and bright yellow for the boys.  Since Lukes Locker started Allen FIT, I have not seen my runner friends who remained with Plano FIT since the conclusion of the Spring season.  Today I got to run with the friends I have trained with for the last 2 seasons — Fred, Sondra, Mary, Ashley — and a lot more new friends.  Our Red Marathon group suddenly expanded from 5 to more than 15 people.  Today we were to conquer 12 miles together.

Although we started out in Allen, the majority of the route extends into Plano.  Alejandra summarized last week’s run in an email to us, “Plano in Spanish means flat,” she continued with her rhetoric question, “Who said Plano was flat?”  Today we followed the same route as last week.  Every incline we encountered, someone would repeat Alejandra’s question, “Who said Plano is flat?”

Fortunately the weather was cooperating, well, relatively cooperating.  We started out 15 minutes earlier.  It made a huge difference, as we were able to cover more than 1 miles with the head start.  When the sun broke out later, it baked away the humidity, making the run less miserable than last week.   After Mile 2, our Red group broke into subgroups according to our comfortable paces.  Four coaches — Sondra, Mary, Ashly and I — led the individual subgroups.    

Meredith, Robin and I stayed together.  We stopped for water refill at Mile 5, and joined the rest for hill repeat at Mile 9.   The Wagner Hill was named after Jennifer, a veteran coach known among Plano marathoners for her kindness, thoroughness, patience and knowledge about running.  Again, it was not a hill you’d ever find on any printed or googled map.  It was actually an open grassy area with some nasty incline at the end.  Robin and I ran the first repeat and found it difficult.  We started the 2nd repeat and found it slightly easier.  Then we went after the 3rd, and the last, but had to count the final 10 seconds when we approached the peak of the incline.  It was hard, but we did it.  Two miles to go.

Last week it was at this exact cross-road when I took the group onto the wrong path, resulting in our unplanned mileage increase.  Today I followed the right direction.  After running through the Hobitzelle trail, we came to the cross roads of Alma and Hedgecoxe.  We had only 1.5 miles to go.  Unlike last week, Robin, Meredith and I still had plenty in the our tanks.  A couple of more hills later — “Who said Plano is flat?” — we had the finish line in our sight.  Ahead of us, several faster Red marathoners — Sunny and Margaret – and their strong finish energized us.  We followed the suit, ran a couple of downhills (thank goodness!), and came to the finish line, where we were greeted, congratulated, and high five’d for an excellent run.

Our Plano FIT friends were equally excited.  “The course is tougher than our training route,” one of them observed, “But also more fun.”  What are our observations?  I thought Plano guys and gals put in a faster clip than ours, as far as the Red group was concerned.  Alejandra concurred with me. “Their Green group led the pack, and ours were at the back,” she shared her observation during our post-run refueling breakfast.

Nevertheless, it was a great run.  Today I covered slightly more than 12 miles.  I have 718 miles to go.

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Article source: http://kscat.wordpress.com/2010/08/07/the-reunion-run/

Want to grow your dental practice?

Online advertising—a dental website, blog, listings, optimization, and all that stuff—is essential in any modern marketing plan. You must remember, though, the Web is world-wide (thus the www). Let’s take a step back for a minute and thing about who your patients are. They’re the folks who live in your neighborhood, go to the schools in your town, and shop at the same grocery stores you do. Not all of them are plugged into the Internet 24/7. There is life outside of the computer for some.

At Modern Dental Practice Marketing, we plan, promote, and manage events for dentists. Getting people to have fun in (or very near) your office is a great way to show the community that you care. If you have great events, even once or twice a year (if not quarterly), your name will be the buzz of the town! Here are 5 ideas for fun dental practice events that will grow your patient base:

• Easter Bunny Photos – Offer free photos of the kiddos with a tooth-brush toting bunny who, of course, has sparkling choppers. Pass out brushing charts and set the kids up on a cavity-free program while they’re there.
• Arbor Day Festival – Any number of cool presentations about gardening, composting, rainwater storage, etc., and a potting bench for the kiddos to plant seeds. If your office is “green,” let everyone know!
• Costume Contest – Everyone loves a costume contest! Host a parade around a community park, and give the winner a big treat.
• Halloween Candy Buyback – See www.halloweencandybuyback.com for details.
• Christmas Wrapping – Provide custom gift wrapping for a set time and for a set number of gifts (ex. 4). Make sure the tag says “Wrapped with care by Dr. You” and that the folks you’re wrapping for have snacks, drinks, and fun Christmas stuff to do while they wait.

BONUS: Want more cosmetic cases? Realtors are very image-conscious people, and they network like crazy. Plan a realtor appreciation happy hour at your practice after hours. Invite about 25 local realtors, and offer a deep discount on take-home whitening kits. At the event, well stocked with bubbly and hors d’oeuvres, announce an awesome referral program, and provide attendees with welcome packages for their clients.

The goal is new patients for you. Let MDPM make it happen. Call us today at 940-395-5115, or email moderndentalmarketing@gmail.com.

Tags: colleyville tx, community dental practice makrketing, dallas dental events, dental office events, dental office promotions, dental practice growth, dental practice marketing, dental promotion ideas, dentist marketing ideas, dentist marketing tips, flower mound tx, fort worth dental events, free dental marketing tips, frisco tx, grapevine tx, internet dental marketing, keller tx, lewisville tx, more dental patients, murphy tx, plano tx, southlake tx, top dental marketing ideas

Article source: http://www.moderndentalmarketing.com/2010/07/14/5-excellent-dental-office-promotions-for-dallas-%E2%80%93-fort-worth-dentists%E2%80%A6-and-a-bonus-marketing-tip-for-cosmetic-dentists/

Enough about me …

Article source: http://codewienie.wordpress.com/2010/06/01/this-week-im-in-plano-tx/

Packed House and a Good Game at 2 Bros!!! May 12, 2010

Posted by buzzwordz in Buzzwordz Trivia, Location, Host, Tim Ball, Plano, TX, Two Brother’s Bar Grill.

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We had a full house Tues night at 2 Bros in Plano, TX!!!  The energy was up and everyone was having a good time.  We had a tie breaker between Death Row and Wine and Dine.  Team Wine and Dine got the win for the 1st round and the 10 dollar gift card.  But Death Row came back with a vengeance and took 2nd round and 1st overall for the night with 44 pts.  There was a tie breaker for 2nd overall between Wine and Dine and Dr. Acula. (I love that name).  Dr. Acula ended up getting the tie breaker and winning the 10 dollar gift card.  They made it out all the way from Bedford, TX.  They told me they had to get their trivia fix for the week since they could not attend on Thursday at Big Shots.  Im glad you guys came out.

I will see you all next week, same time, same place, 2 Bros, 8pm on Tuesdays.

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Article source: http://buzzwordz.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/packed-house-and-a-good-game-at-2-bros/

So far the internet is running fast and steady, but that’s the end of anything good we can say about our internet cable company thus far.

We signed up with Time Warner Cable’s internet service online for $39.99 a month. They waved the instalation fee of 19.99 because we signed up online, which was very pleasing for a little while, up until we called the local Time Warner office to see if it was possible to get our internet instalation date moved up. When signing up online, we were told that they couldn’t help us for at least a week, but we were hoping that a phone call might change that. In the end, it did, but not after one hell of a headache.

Getting ahold of the local Time Warner office turned out to be fairly simple. We called them, asked them if they could up our instalation date by a few day. They told us they couldn’t because we hadn’t signed up, though if we wanted we could sign up right now on the phone…for $49.99 a month and a $39.99 installation fee. Since we simply wanted to up our instalation date, not have a pay hike on our service, we hung up.

I’m sure it’s understandable to anyone that I didn’t like getting jerked around on the phone like that, but wanting our internet as bad as we did, we decided to have another go at it and called back a second time. The same situation occured with some broad on the phone telling us we could sign up for MORE than we had already agreed to pay and completely unwilling to help us figure out what was going on with our online subscription.

Understandably furious, we drove from our appartment to a local Buffalo Wild Wings to use their free wireless internet to check my email. Sure enough, we had recieved a confermation number in the email for the lower prices and waved instalation fee.

Tired of getting jerked around by the local office, we decided to call corporate to solve our problems. They informed us that service hadn’t been turned off by the last people to live in our appartment, so we needed to fax proof that we lived there now and the other people had moved out to the local office. Guess what the local office said? That there was no service still occuring at our location and they could sign us up right there on the phone for more than we had already agreed to pay.

So what did we do? We called corporate back. They were at least willing to help us, instead of just fuck with us. All in all, we spent two hours getting everything sorted out. The only bonus was having our instalation date moved up by 4 days.

In the end, this is a review of the local Timer Warner Cable company for the Plano area near the Central Expressway (or the 75 if you’re from the West Coast). Their service over the phone is horrendous and they will try to scam you out of your money. The guy would installed our internet was very friendly, though.

Tags: Plano TX, Plano Beginnings, review, word press blog, blog, Dallas, Plano, Time Warner Cable, internet

This entry was posted on April 26, 2010 at 2:18 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Article source: http://planobeginnings.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/time-warner-cable/

Ever hear of that six-dollar burger? Hamburger lovers, this is the place for you; Carl’s Jr.’s got nothing on Burger Break.

Make no mistake, this is not fast food. Do not come here expecting a 5 minute wait. The meat here is not pre-frozen patties, the veggies are fresh and crisp, though the soda is from a fountain. You pay a bit more, and you wait a bit longer, but the quality far surpasses that of the Burger King down the street.

The interior of this small restaurant is mostly black and white, with a few dashes of color here and there. Service is friendly, and while the music is questionable, the atmosphere is very relaxing overall. Some might be turned off by the lack of decor, but I found it very uncomplicated, unlike many other restaurants.

Burgers here are huge, well worth the 6 dollars you will be paying for them. The menu offers a large selection, with many different types of burgers to choose from. Unfortunately, there is only on vegetarian burger, so this won’t be a common stop for anyone with qualms about eating meat.

Several sides are also available including regular french fries, fried calamari, and fried mozzarella . We decided to get the onion rings, which were nothing spectacular but also not horrendously awful. I would have prefered the breading to be a little more crispy, and to have the onions cooked a little longer.

All in all, we enjoyed our trip to Burger Break. In time, we will be returning and I will update on how that trip goes.

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Tags: Plano TX, Plano Beginnings, review, word press blog, blog, dine in, carry out, vegitarian food, food, Dallas, Plano, restaurant, vegitarian, Burger Break, burger, sandwhich

This entry was posted on April 26, 2010 at 1:50 pm and is filed under Restaurant Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Article source: http://planobeginnings.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/burger-break/