For Whom the Dogs Bark

26F, 81% humidity, wind NW 2 mph, clear and cold.  Bright moon, waning but almost full, gorgeous morning for a run.  Bundled up double wrap and was on the road before 5.  Met Wade at his house, ran down to the Y and joined them for 4 of their 8 miles (most of them are running the Houston Marathon in a week) before breaking off and heading home.  I left Wade at his house and ran a few more to get 20, last 4 were 8:47, 8:37, 8:25 and 7:41, 20.06 miles altogether, 2:58:23, average pace 8:54 per mile, flat shoes.  Felt good to run in the brisk weather this morning, but not nearly as good as the big breakfast and hot shower afterward.  No ice bath for this runner.  Breakfast was 4 glasses of of grapefruit juice, one calcium pill, one piece of toast with peanut butter, one glass of chocolate milk, 1/3 cup of whole wheat boiled (with 1% milk, brown sugar and blueberries), and one egg (cooked Sunnyside up in honor of allie).  No wonder I'm not losing any weight.

Wade had a good week.  He has been in search mode for 6 months and got a job on Thursday.  CFO of a start-up oilfield tool company, gets to keep his old salary and has a ton of upside as the company grows, and he is staying in Houston so I'm not losing a running buddy.  Plus he is getting some running speed back, he has almost caught back up to me all of a sudden, which makes sense -- he was faster than me in high school and he is 7 or 8 years younger than me.  He announces his new job on Wednesday.  Would have qualified for a nice severance package (about 3 months of salary) if he waited two more weeks to announce.  His wife asked him why he couldn't wait to announce and he said he didn't feel right taking severance from his old company when he already had a job.  He was a Mormon bishop for five years and I would say he was flying his colors high this week.  Not sure I would have come out the same way as he did, but I have complete respect for a decision like that.  So many people I deal with are fun to be around in most circumstances but they behave differently when money is involved.  It is an honor to count Wade as a friend.

In contrast to Wade, I found a $1 bill by the side of the trail this morning.  I think I spotted it first because I have the poorest running form, always looking at the ground.  Caused a 15-runner pile-up while I stopped to scoop it up and do a victory dance.  I'm not in Burt's league, but it's a start.