Next Saturday is the start of college football season. This will be my first season as a season ticket holder for the University of Cincinnati Bearcats and I couldn’t be more excited to see them play. We will get to see four games on campus at Nippert Stadium and another couple of big games downtown at Paul Brown Stadium. Here is a quick tease of the kickoff video which we will see next Saturday!

I finally made it to my first Red’s game of this season on Sunday afternoon. A friend of mine, who lives in Denver but is originally from the area, was in town and got together a small group for the day game to wrap up the series against the Cardinals. We bought some of the cheapest tickets for the stadium out in the Kroger Bleachers, but the view from the seats was actually really good. The only big complaint I have is that I couldn’t see the big scoreboard from our seats, which is above this seating area. Also the rows of bleachers seem to be a little too close together, so getting in and out can be tricky. Otherwise, the bleachers have backs on them and we managed to stay in the shade for the entire game.

View From Bleachers

The game itself was pretty entertaining as far as baseball games go. The Cardinals took an early lead in the second inning off of an early home run. Once we made it to the sixth it was all Reds from there, including a home run of their own from shortstop Zack Cozart. Eventually the Reds went on to win the game 3-1. The crowd was a little weak for the game. I blame that on a couple of things, the heat of the day and the extra $5 applied to ticket prices for this series since it was a “select” game.

For the first time since I moved away from Cincinnati in 2003, I played hockey with my good friends Ken and Jon last night. I played hockey with them both while in high school and both of them were in my wedding party. They are playing a summer session of adult hockey with a team at the Northland Ice Center. I probably would have joined them for the entire session but my hockey equipment was trapped in storage somewhere waiting for our  move-in  day at our new house. Once our boxes were all unpacked, I told them I was ready to play. Their team had a game last night and needed substitutes, so I dusted off my equipment and found the old rink.

Nothing much has change at Northland, the first rink I played at in Cincinnati. Though the glass on top of the boards has been replaced as needed, the same old benches are still in the lobby, and the concessions looked the same as ten years ago. They do have some newer locker rooms, though I think those were completed before I left town years ago. The rink was really warm and the ice was really soft, which I am not a fan of. Regardless I had a blast playing hockey with my old friends once again.  We tried to play on a line together and succeeded for most of the game. All three of us had a goal in our 4-1 victory. The playoffs start next week and I believe I will be back on the ice with them!

Last night I attended my first Florence Freedom game. The Freedom are a professional baseball team that competes in the Frontier League, which is independent of both major and minor league baseball. According to  Wikipedia, “its level of play is considered comparable to low A-level” of the minor leagues. Tickets start at only $7 for the lawn (or $10 for seats) and only go up to $12 for the VIP sections.

Champion Window Field

The stadium, Champion Window Field, holds 4,500 people but it feels even smaller than that. I would have guessed the capacity to be only a couple of thousand. The field itself is entirely made of FieldTurf, including the infield, pitcher’s mound and batting area. I was told before the game about the FieldTurf, but I didn’t expect it to be the entire field, including the areas that are traditionally dirt. The  concourse  offers three or four concession stands with a variety of food and drinks. A pulled pork sandwich with fresh thick cut potato chips was $8 and large pours of Killians were $5.

Concourse View

The game itself was fun to watch, especially being so close to the field. The Southern Illinois Miners took an early 2-0 lead in the second inning and never looked back. They ended up beating the Freedom 9-1 but that didn’t stop the crowd from staying through the end of the game. With no traffic to worry about after the game it is nice to relax and enjoy the entire game. Plus they allowed children to run the bases after the game and the players stuck around to sign autographs as well.

In-Laws Enjoying The Game

More photos can be found on haisfamily.com

After over four years of living in Denver, who would have thought that the first time Kim and I ever used our mountain bikes for their intended purpose would be after moving back to Cincinnati? I’m not sure why we never rode our bikes on the Colorado trails, I guess we always had too many other things going on and the trails always seemed so far away. Now that we are spending our weekends at my parents house, complete with  in-house  babysitters and nearby trails, we have no excuses.

Late last week I found the Cincinnati Off-Road Alliance and realized that the trail at Landen-Deerfield Park was just 15 minutes away from my parents. A friend had previously recommended the trail as quick alternative to some of the farther away trails of Cincinnati. I attempted to get a few friends to meet us at the trail for a Sunday afternoon ride, but was unsuccessful in doing so. It actually turned out okay that no one else was able to join us, as it was pretty comical in the beginning as we tried to get comfortable plunging down the trail on our bikes. Almost immediately I took a tumble off the trail and into a sticker bush, but I didn’t let that stop me from enjoying a couple of laps on the trail.

The trail itself is almost two miles long (map) and has a couple of very challenging creek crossings. The first time we rode the trail, I think we rode it opposite of the intended direction. This could help to explain my early fall on the slick downhill and why every obstacle seemed much more challenging than we expected. When we rode a second time we went clockwise, which I believe is the intended direction, and it all seemed much easier. Both Kim and I ended up having a blast on the trail and we look forward to trying some other trails in the near future.

I had a really busy work day today, and for that matter yesterday too. Fortunately I’ve started running before I login for the day, since it is much to hot outside for lunch time runs. As a bonus, I can stay focused on days like today without stopping for lunch. This new routine was in effect for both today and yesterday. My legs are little sore this afternoon so tomorrow will  be a relaxing day off, at least in the running world. Who knows what tomorrow brings as far as my job goes.

Sunday Kim and I participated in Morgan’s Little Miami Triathlon.  The race is comprised of a 6 mile canoe, 5.5 mile run, and an 18 mile bike race in that order, though the measurements all were shorter according to my GPS watch.  I suppose that is better than the actual distances being longer. I really didn’t have a goal for the race other than finishing, but the night before I decided it would be good to finish under 3 hours, and I almost did it. My finishing time was  3:04:19.

Obviously Kim and I performed the canoeing segment together, completing 5.27 miles in 1 hour, 1 minutes, and 36 seconds. That’s over 5 mph, which is faster than I thought! It wasn’t easy and our arms were definitely tired by the end of it, but overall it went pretty smoothly and we didn’t tip. I carried our running shoes in a backpack and we changed into them once we finished and stopped to use the restroom. My watch timed this as a 4 minute stop, which is something that perhaps I could improve if I do it again.

Once we had our running shoes on, I dropped our sandals to my mother who was waiting for us at the drop. I also noticed a place to drop a bag, which would be taken back to the start area. Kim and I decided to run at our own paces. For me, the run was nice except for the last hill. In the morning we dropped our bikes in a staging area and then walked down a mud filled trail to the river to start the race. At the end of the 5.32 mile run, we had to run up this same trail, which was really exhausting. I thought my pace was under 9 minute miles, but the last hill probably killed that and I finished with 9:09 minute mile pace: 48 minutes, 44 seconds.

For the biking segment I borrowed a road bike that my dad has been using for his own triathlon training. It worked out really well for me, but after I finished I realized I probably could have pushed just a little bit harder. I completed the 17.62 miles in 1 hour, 8 minutes, and 15 seconds, or 15.5 mph. Again, my grand total time with all stops included was  3:04:19. Kim finished at  3:35:08, which was a great accomplishment for her. The run alone was the longest she had run since before she was pregnant with Trey. Our combined time was  6:39:27, which put us exactly in the middle of the male/female division. We had a great time and would definitely consider participating again.

I really miss my lunch time runs I had while working in the office in Denver. I wish I could still head out for a nice jog around our business park, but unfortunately my office is no longer in such a location. Plus we do not have any showers in our Mason office. They have talked about adding some showers to the building, which would be great. The Little Miami Trail is less than a mile and a half from the office. Though I couldn’t actually run to the trail without  severely  risking my life, it would be nice to drive down there for a quick jog while in the office. But I do need a place to shower off after a humidity filled run.

Speaking of the Little Miami Scenic Trail, Kim and I headed down there on Sunday for a bike ride. We plan to compete in the Morgan’s Triathlon in a couple of weekends and badly need to put some miles in on a bike. I managed to get sixteen miles in on my mountain bike. The shade from the trees really helped to make the ride very nice, even though the temperature was approaching  ninety  degrees! If there is one saving grace from the humid summer heat in Cincinnati it has to be the shade from the trees.

It wasn’t until a buddy of mine from high school mentioned it, that I realized my new office is very close to Galbreath Field, or what is left of it anyway. Galbreath Field was the home of the Moeller Crusaders football team before and during all my years in high school. In fact, the team played all of its home games there for twenty-one years before moving to various stadiums. The owner of the land wanted to sell it, but since 2003 it has sat empty and unsold.

What is left of Galbreath Field

The other day I took a walk over to the former site of the stadium to see what was left. The  College Football  Hall of Fame building is long gone, as is all the other structures on the property, including the bleachers. The only things left are the scoreboard,  chain-link  fence surrounding the playing surface, and a couple of water fountains. Even so I couldn’t help but reminisce back to the numerous days I spent here leading up to, and especially during, high school.

Old Scoreboard

I recalled all the good times had in surrounding parking lots,  tailgating  and waiting for the Friday night games to begin. I also remembered the times I was out on the field as one of our school’s “yellmen” and even the couple of times I watched a game in the stands as an alumni. The hill behind the scoreboard is still there, where boys in junior high would hang out during the games. It was nice to be reminded of such wonderful times growing up.

Sunday afternoon I headed down to the Little Miami Scenic Trail which I still call the Loveland Bike Trail. My dad was going to the trail for some  triathlon  training so my mom, wife, son, and I went down as well to walk along the trail. It was a beautiful day out, and though it started a bit cloudy, it was clear and sunny when we finished our three-mile walk.

If you never heard of the trail, or never been on it, it stretches 78 miles from Springfield to Newtown, and has plans to expand even farther. This distance makes it one of the longest continuously paved trails in the U.S. I was just reading yesterday of plans for the trail to meet up with the Ohio River Trail, which would allow it to connect to downtown.

Cincinnati really appears to be trying to improve things for bicyclists and I hope that continues. I loved riding my bike in Denver and hope to continue to enjoy doing so here in my home town.