This past week has been great. Memorial Day came and went in style. Theresa and I headed up to her parents' cabin in northern Wisconsin for some much need rest and relaxation. The first thing we did when we got there Friday night was head out on the lake for some fishing. Fishing is a very calming activity for the most part. The only stressful times are trying not to get savaged by a northern pike on a hook. Northerns are fun fish to catch and reel in, but taking them off is another ordeal. Not only are they quite slimy, but they have innumerable teeth that remind me of cat's grooming brush. Not pleasant! So I caught a few northerns, a couple bass, and lastly a very nice crappie, which we kept for lunch. Since I caught the unlucky fellow, I got to fillet him! I'd never done this before and Jim (Theresa's dad) taught me now. After negotiating the blade carefully a few cuts in, I decided I was doing well. Not too well I guess, as I filleted a little chunk off my right pointer finger. No harm done, but that knife was sharp!

Bears are somewhat common where the cabin is and there was one spotted the week we visited on the property. I had the job of taking the carcass of my butchered crappie out in the woods far away from the cabin. It was dark, very dark. Theresa came along and brought a plastic flashlight along. In truth, I wasn't scared. Should I have been? Yes! I dropped off the carcass about 10 yards from the drive about 300m away from the cabin. Theresa and I headed back, seeing the lights of the cabin the in distance. As we got closer I knew we'd be OK and Smoky the Bear wasn't going to make dinner of us. I was settled, until I heard a big noise! "RAAAAHHHHH!!!" I buckled and almost swore. Jim, Sue, and Luke all hid in the woods and waited to terrify their son/brother in law. The sad thing is Theresa was scared too, even though she knew of their plan! I should have seen it coming, but it was too dark and I was so excited about filleting a fish that I overlooked it. I haven't lived down how my legs buckled and shook.

Underrated/Overrated:
Wife Swap on ABC

This reality TV show follows two families as they trade wives with the other families. The families are always polar opposites of each other and conflicts and hilarity ensue. Many times one wife is defiant while the other is a doormat. The wives first live with the family under the family's rules for a week. After the week is up the visiting wife gets to make up her own rules for the family to follow. Often times, the family will resist the changes in a dramatic way. Take a look at this video of some weird people who eat raw meat. They were encouraged by the visiting wife to eat cooked food and this happened:



Yes, I know these strange people are from Iowa. And no, I've never met and Iowan like this. Anyway, a show this hilarious, dramatic, and underrated needs to be watched by more people! Fridays 8/7c on ABC.

Lastly, I'll talk about running for a bit. I've picked up a great agent named Brendan Reilly from Boulder, CO. He's doing a great job. On the training and racing front, I'm preparing for the USATF Track Championships, which will be held at Drake in Des Moines June 23rd. I'm running the 10k. Training for it the past few weeks have been tough. Workouts are dense and long. My easy days have been very easy to recovery correctly. This summer I plan on running Peachtree and Bix again. Two classic road races that should be on everyone's list to run sometime in their lives. You can follow my training at Strands.com. I wear Mizuno shoes/apparel.