CurrentlyVince

Linkpost for January 26, 2012: Blog Stuff

2012-01-26T23:30:00.000-06:00

Fairly recent blog posts that I liked. (Yup, I'm still trying to keep up with all you crazy kids.)

ClaireTheCpChic muses on portrayals of the disabled on TV, and makes me think about The Facts of Life for the first time in a long, long time.
Josh Cox tweeted about some Texas un-Hospitality upon his arrival in town for the Olympic Trials. Runner's World Daily expanded this into a illustrated storyboard worthy of Unsolved Mysteries.
Tim at The Dragyn's Lair runs down his favorite movie fight scenes. (I must click into my Netflix account later.)
Mommy's Fabulous embarks on an epic quest for Snow White panties. And the drama has a happy ending.

I ought to do more of these linkposts in the future, so I can properly recognize these authors for making my day a little brighter or more insightful..

Aramco Houston Half Marathon

2012-01-16T18:00:00.000-06:00

On the "heels" of the ordeal at RNR San Antonio, the new year found me ill with a sickness bug that seems to be still making the rounds. So my run confidence coming into Marathon Weekend here in Houston was sagging. But as I had deferred last year's registration, skipping this year's race would mean swallowing a DNS for a half marathon that has cost me in total more than $200 in registration. So I found myself holding out hope that maybe things would come together somehow on race morning.

If nothing else, I was scoring myself a PR in the number of visits made to the George R. Brown Convention Center in one week thanks to my involvement with Saturday's Olympic Trials.When my alarm jolted me awake at 3:30 a.m. yesterday it felt like my serendipitous perfect storm was gathering.

I was breathing freely.

I downed some cold medication anyway just in case and managed to tick off my entire checklist, including finding a downtown parking space by 5:00 a.m. For the type of person I am, this is miraculous.

So it only felt appropriate to praise the Lord at the pre-race Mass in the GRB at 5:30 a.m. This is the only time of the year you'll see me show up this early for church services. After being dismissed with a "blessing of the feet" I put on one more application of BodyGlide, then headed out to the starting corral under perfect running conditions -- 40F, humid, no wind. This is shorts/short-sleeve weather for me, if not for the thousands of others I saw bundled up as if they were preparing to board The Polar Express.

Before gun time, I had made a decision to go ultra-conservative -- NO RUNNING. This would be a nearly 100% walk strategy where I would make a point of keeping one foot on the ground at all times. I was not going to risk pounding pavement like I did in San Antonio. Not now, when my feet have grown accustomed to the crushed surface trails along the neighborhood forest.

And the strategy paid off. As I type this now, I have the usual postrace quad soreness. But I have no pain in my feet -- none. My best memories of this race are from the last three miles. I got the best-tasting cup of Gatorade ever from my girlfriend working the aid station on Allen Parkway. Shortly after that, I came upon a random stranger handing out American flags right before I entered downtown.

I had watched the tape-delayed Trials broadcast on Saturday afternoon and remembered the joyful footage of Meb Keflezighi being handed a flag on the homestretch as he claimed victory. So naturally I decided to recreate my own "Meb Moment," turning the corner at Discovery Green, grinning at the people in the viewing stands and waving the Stars and Stripes above my head as I crossed the same finish line on Avenida de las Americas.

The splits:
(GPS readings at the end are likely inaccurate because I was in the midst of all the skyscrapers.)
Mile 01 - 12:37
Mile 02 - 12:02
Mile 03 - 11:50
Mile 04 - 12:39
Mile 05 - 11:49
Mile 06 - 12:44
Mile 07 - 12:18
Mile 08 - 13:34
Mile 09 - 12:38
Mile 10 - 15:24
Mile 11 - 15:30
Mile 12 - 15:20
Mile 13 - 17:03
Last .04 mi - :26
13.04 mile elapsed time: 2:56:01 per Garmin Forerunner 205
Chip Time reported by race: 2:55:54
Gun Time reported by race website: 3:11:40

Don't Do The Bartman: Playing a cog in the machinery that minted Team USA

2012-01-15T19:00:00.000-06:00

Caution: This post steers into logistics and running nerdity. You've been warned.

My favorite action snap of the morning: Jeanne Cooper of Colorado splatters a mile 19 Powerade at my table. Cooper went on to finish in 2:49:16.

When I got the Thanksgiving-week email from the Houston Road Runners Association soliciting a little more fluids crew help with the Olympic Trials that would happen yesterday, I decided to inquire. Growing up, I learned that the Olympics were a Very Important Television Event that only happen every four years in far-off lands, and even the partially-jaded sports fan that I am now still thinks it's a special thing. So I felt that being even a small part of the process that will send our best athletes to the coming London games will give me a vested interest in seeing them succeed when I watch them from the comfort of my living room in about six months.

So how does an aid station for world-class athletes differ from the table, Igloo cooler and Dixie cups found at the turnaround of my typical neighborhood 5K? For starters, there are more tables -- lots more tables. The last thing you want to see is a slow rush-hour-like crowd stacking up around a small area. These tables get spaced far apart. With approximately 20 feet between tables, our fluids station would consist of 44 tables covering a five-block span of the turn at City Hall. (There were two additional aid stations elsewhere on the course, each with a similar number of tables.) The spacing would make it easy for athletes striding by at 12 miles per hour to pick up a drink.

The next difference is the personal attention: Most of the tables would have eight large dots spread out on them, Each dot was the spot where a specific athlete could expect a bottle pre-filled by the athletes themselves with whatever they thought they would like to drink at that specific point in the race. With the triple-loop course layout, the runners would meet us at the mile 3, mile 11, and mile 19 points. So, as an example, the two volunteers at our table number one were entrusted with the three bottles top-seeded Ryan Hall would fill and label "Bib 1, Mile 3," "Bib 1, Mile 11," and "Bib 1, Mile 19" as well as the similarly-labeled bottles from seven other athletes. (Table two would have bottles from second-seeded Ritzenheim plus seven others, and table three would have bottles from third-seeded Keflezighi plus seven others, This staggered arrangement would help prevent closely-seeded runners from reaching for the same table at the same time.) As the race progressed, the volunteers would be responsible for having the right bottle on the right spot on the table at the right time.

I suppose they decided that this task was too complicated for me, so I was assigned to one of the last couple of tables. My job was to make cups of Powerade available, just in case an athlete wanted something in addition to (or instead of) their pre-filled bottle. On the preceding Wednesday, I left an orientation meeting with a belly full of pepperoni pizza and these words from our team leader -- "Remember Steve Bartman."

In case your baseball trivia synapses in your brain didn't fire just then: On October 14, 2003, the Chicago Cubs hosted the Florida Marlins in a playoff game. With the Cubs leading 3-0 in the eighth inning, a Marlins player hit a foul ball just over the railing into the left-field stands. The Cubs' left-fielder attempted to reach over the railing to make a catch, but previously-unknown fan Steve Bartman deflected it and possibly prevented the Cubs from recording the second out of the inning. The Marlins would eventually score a bunch of runs in that inning, and angry Chicago fans would point at the Bartman "interference" as the turning point that cost the Cubs the game and eventually the league championship series.

"Remember Steve Bartman" meant that we had specific instructions to not become part of the action in any way. We were asked to stay off the course if there were athletes in the vicinity. Drinks would be set out on the table, but unlike my neighborhood races, athletes would be expected to pick them up on their own. USA Track and Field officials would be watching, and handing a bottle or cup to an athlete could be counted as outside assistance and a possible reason to be disqualified. And none of us were interested in becoming infamous in the running community for interfering with a competition that would be aired on NBC later in the afternoon. (Can you imagine the hate mail that Houston would get if one of our volunteers tripped Ryan Hall?)

In the end, my assignment went exactly as planned. My table partner and I served up a few Powerades, provided soft-spoken encouragement (no cowbell-level cheering!) and marveled at sports history passing us by. The frontrunners, as some of you may have seen on the TV broadcast, looked invincible. But even in the Olympic Trials, many of the back-of-packers looked like they were visibly struggling on their last pass by us (mile 19). One woman made a grasp at four different Powerade cups at my table and fumbled them all. And at the end, we waited around for nearly an extra thirty minutes for an update on one female straggler that was injured. Eventually we got word that she decided to drop out, and then we dismantled our refreshment stands.

Thanks for reading all this text. Your reward at the end is more of my pictures from my smartphone camera! (Click for larger versions.)

On Friday night, opening ceremonies happened in Discovery Green. The Trials hopefuls were introduced as a group, followed by speeches and presentations from Team USA officials and past Olympics greats. Trials competitors Meb Keflezighi and Deena Kastor were recognized for their medal accomplishments in the 2004 Athens games. "Elder statesmen" Frank Shorter and Joan Benoit Samuelson were recognized for their accomplishments by being named honorary captains of the men's and women's teams and were gifted with cowboy hats. It was like a pep rally for the Olympic Team.

The opening ceremonies concluded with a smile-inducing fireworks show.

My partner Rachel stands behind our ready Powerade table early on a chilly Saturday morning. This is the view the runners would see if they glanced in our direction heading north on Bagby Street. Eight cups are in the positioned in front for easy grabbing, and we had a bunch more in the back to replace them as necessary.

This was the table next to ours, with athlete-filled bottles ready to go. In general, the men didn't do much other than fill their bottle, slap the supplied labels on, and turn them in. Some athletes taped energy gels to their bottles. The women got more creative, attaching stickers, glitter paint, or in one case I saw, pink foam flamingoes. The "LSS" bottle on the corner belonged to 50-year-old Linda Somers Smith of California. I remember this because when she drank and discarded it, it came right at me and landed at my feet.

The race itself didn't yield any real dramatic turns of events. The top seeds went to the front of the pack and were the only contenders in the competition to secure the top three spots and be named to the Olympic Team. This is the men's lead pack passing us at mile 11, approximately 55 minutes into the race. In front is Ryan Hall, who eventually placed second. Dathan "Ritz" Ritzenheim would get the dreaded "not quite" fourth-place finish. I believe behind Ritz in this picture is third-place finisher Abdi Abdirahman. Way in the back with the blue cap is the eventual men's winner of these Trials, Meb Keflezighi.

The athletes arrived in waves that got further and further spaced out as the race progressed. This is the mass of women appearing after they made the turn from McKinney onto Bagby at mile 3, at around 16 or 17 minutes into their race. They are led by the NBC cameramen on a motorcycle.


And here is the front of that mile 3 women's pack. The Olympic squad would eventually become Shalane Flanagan (right, with blue top and her just-about-trademark high socks), Desiree Davila (red/yellow/black top) and Kara Goucher (left, blue top, obscuring her bib in this shot).

For $18 per mile, this better be good

2011-12-15T10:30:00.000-06:00

Last weekend was the date for the Sugar Land 30K. I wasn't going to be participating, but since that was the last race in this fall's "Warm Up Series" before the Houston Marathon, I was reminded to go ahead and submit my switch to the Aramco Half. The drag in San Antonio had me convinced that 26.2-Ready wasn't going to happen this year. I'm still at a better place than stuck-on-the-couch, though, and that's the important thing.

"U-S-A . . . U-S-A . . . U-S-A . . . U-S-A . . ."

So, considering last year's deferral, I will be at the start line of a $235 half marathon in one month. I certainly hope to have a non-sucky run for that money. On the plus side, during the same weekend I'll be making myself available as a volunteer for the Olympic Trials Marathon, and the opportunity to be even a small part of some elite athletes' Road To London is something I'm looking forward to just as much.

Home Run 10K

2011-12-03T12:00:00.000-06:00

Having nothing to do with baseball, this morning's event could have been called the "Home Away From Home Run," but no one bothered to consult with me when they picked the name of this second annual fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House Houston.

Arriving late, I heard the horn sound when I was still a block away from Sam Houston Park. The start line was dismantled by the time I reached it, so there won't be any chip time data on me. But this is no big deal since I wasn't really running for time anyway. The Home Run is "only" a 10K, but since this would be the longest distance I've done since getting Rocked in San Antonio, I fully geared up and went out with a long-run mindset.

A refreshing breeze made the humid skies pleasant to run under, and after a loop in and out of Midtown, it was time to grind out the back half of the course on the rolling pavement of Allen Parkway. On the Allen Parkway out-and-back, I took opportunities to cheer on the race leaders on the home stretch. (Whenever I do this in a race, some of the other participants around me seem genuinely surprised; I guess they'd rather tune out of their surroundings and keep their mind on their iPods.) After the last U-turn I picked up a couple of impromptu running buddies and chatted a little about running and our volunteer connections with RMH. That helped the last couple of miles go by much quicker.

Upon my return to the shadows of the downtown skyline, I was delighted to find some great treats from sponsors at the postrace, including food from Holmes Smokehouse and Creative Crepes (Nutella crepes, yes!). The House's mascot is a Labradoodle named "Mogie," and all finishers went home with a dogbone-shaped medal. I'm sure I can find space on the Christmas tree for this one.

I've always appreciated the 10K distance and was sorry to miss out on the first Home Run last year. Not only is the benefit cause a good one, but the race event itself was really well done. This one is certainly a worthy addition to the Houston runner's calendar.

The splits:
Mile 1: 10:26
Mile 2: 11:02
Mile 3: 11:53
Mile 4: 12:28
Mile 5: 11:48
Mile 6: 12:03
Last .2 mi: 2:40
10K Elapsed Time: 1:12:18 per Garmin Forerunner 205

Trifigura Home Run website:
http://www.rmhhomerun.com

I'm thankful . . .

2011-11-24T13:00:00.000-06:00

For remaining employed in a time of heightened economic uncertainty.
For the FCC's opposition to the AT&T/T-Mobile merger that has no upsides for the customers or the employees of either company.
For having comfortable housing in an area with beautiful neighbors.
For the contents of my kitchen, where my biggest complaint is that I have run out of space in my freezer for any more yummy things.
For opportunities to go and make a difference for others.
For the nineteen thousand pageviews at Houston Running Calendar last month. (Whoa!)
For the organizers and volunteers that make all those running events happen.
For the CyanogenMod team whose firmware has made my Nook Color a much more interesting device.
For the knowledge that there will be a season 5 of Mad Men.
For the cessation of wildfires (for now) and for the firefighters that have been keeping our homes safe.
For being able to sleep in this morning, run my own one-man Turkey Trot with the treetops, come home and write a 351st post to this blog.

. . . and much more. Happy Thanksgiving!

Chase After A Cure one mile (give or take a few hundred yards)

2011-11-19T14:00:00.000-06:00

Technically speaking, if today's run was a race, I won.

I've never tried a one-mile event, so when I heard about the Chase After A Cure on the University of Saint Thomas campus, I thought it might be fun to try. I wasn't expecting a USATF-certified course, but during my warmup, I couldn't help but notice that my Forerunner was counting the cone-marked path short by nearly a quarter-mile. Oh well.

The race director was an MBA student hosting this fundraiser as a class project. Her start line instructions could be distilled into three words: "Follow the cones." The course was an short out-and-back surrounded by a larger loop, laid out functionally in what is known as a "lollipop." When we were sent forth from the back of the athletic center, the two young guys in front of me reached the end of the "lollipop stick," glanced both ways and then exchanged puzzled looks before taking a left turn on the sidewalk. Everyone else followed suit, except for me. I'm certain that I was the only one -- aside from the RD -- that got a look at the arrows on the course map pointing to the right.

So as I proceeded clockwise around campus, I got a chance to wave hello to everyone following the loop the other way. The attendance was roughly thirty and most were walking. I wasn't the first one to return to end of the "stick," but I was the first one back who had followed the course correctly. I slyly suggested to the RD to try directional arrows or signs at her next event.

There was a real winner today, of course -- the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation -- and I hope this project puts that young RD on the path to an A in the classroom.

Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio 1/2 Marathon

2011-11-15T12:30:00.002-06:00

Along with the soreness in my heel, I'm now home with real lingering doubts as to what I can do in Houston in January. On Sunday, November 13, I made my RnR return in San Antonio, and the race toasted my expectations.

Acknowledging that I'm still working on my comeback to running, I had registered a few months ago with an anticipated finish time of 2:45. For race morning, that placed me in corral 26, close to the back of the 30,000 participants, so I didn't cross the starting line until after 8 a.m. I knew it was going to be a warm morning, so I had to balance two concerns -- not going out too fast due to the heat and knowing that I should try to cover as much ground as I could before the fog lifted.

The fog dissipated by the time I hit the 10K point, and I found myself in increasing difficulty. I remember this part because the RnR organizers had planted a large inflatable guitarist balloon figure that straddled San Pedro Avenue. I made it under okay, but I saw people behind me get a surprise obstacle as the breeze caused the figure to dive and crotch-bounce the pavement, blocking all lanes.

The last half of the race had me heat-bothered and hurting more than expected. I'm sure some of my problem was taking on this course on sloped pavement after logging just about all my training miles on trails here in the Houston flatland. But that doesn't explain why I only consumed half a package of GU Chomps when I was consuming a package and a half during long runs of similar length. Looking back, perhaps I should have taken one of those little packets of margarita salt from the volunteers at the start area. I could have been running calorie-rich, but electrolyte-poor.

There were a fair number of spectators along the course, but I really could have used more cowbell. The most memorable signs I spotted were "My Mommy Is Faster Than Your Mommy" and "FART!" which came at the right moment to crack me up. I did my best to acknowledge the cheering and otherwise have a good time of things with the people around me. Yelling "Watch out: heavy man being acted upon by gravity!!!" while passing people on a downhill hasn't gotten old for me yet.

With a lot of walking and stopping to stretch my aching achilles, I was heading for my personal worst finish time for a half marathon. I gathered myself for one final push to try and finish under three hours, but was unable to do make that happen. After humbly accepting half marathon finisher medal number ten, I plopped my butt onto the Alamodome parking lot with some HEB-supplied snacks as headliner Vince Neil gave us "Dr. Feelgood," "Girls, Girls, Girls," and other Mötley Crüe tunes that I'm sure the under-30 crowd imagined were playing on the wagon radios during San Antonio's cattle drive days.

I did have an excellent weekend overall, though. Being able to get a downtown hotel really did make the expo and race morning logistics a breeze. I feel fortunate not to have been one of many participants to have needed medical attention. I even read that one runner died.

I'm counting a burger from the original Fuddruckers restaurant and a little historical sightseeing in downtown San Antonio as a great start in "active recovery." After this race, however, and knowing the Houston Marathon course has a lot more pavement waiting in a couple of months has me seriously considering a switch to the half distance. I really am learning how to do this stuff all over again.

The Splits:

Mile 1 - 11:15
Mile 2 - 11:13
Mile 3 - 11:37
Mile 4 - 11:46
Mile 5 - 12:24
Mile 6 - 11:56
Mile 7 - 12:52
Mile 8 - 12:37
Mile 9 - 14:04
Mile 10 - 14:47
Mile 11 - 16:32
Mile 12 - 20:26
Mile 13: - 16:31
Last .1 - 2:47
Half marathon elapsed time - 3:00:45 per Garmin Forerunner 205, 3:00:41 chip time

Run With The Saints 5K

2011-11-05T11:50:00.001-05:00

A near-frosting front blew through town recently, and before next weekend's half I thought it might be a good idea to have a "race rehearsal" in cool/cold conditions. So this morning I dropped in on an event I've never done before, the Run With The Saints 5K at John Paul II Catholic School right here in the upper Buffalo Bayou neighborhood.

For the first time since the end of the Summer of Fire, I pulled a C9 shirt from the long-sleeved side of the closet and when I arrived at the school, I literally warmed up for a mile with a jacket on. By gun time things were aligned perfectly -- I was warmed up, the temps hung in the mid-40s and there was plenty of residential shade and no wind on this flat course.

After the first mile of weaving through walkers and telling half a dozen kids about their untied shoes, I was able to settle in with my breathing and let the legs go on auto-pilot. I let my mind wander to thoughts of oven-warmed brownies in mile two and visualizations of a banana split with mango ice cream in mile three.

When I reached the finish line, I noticed we had been tricked! The entrance to the finish chute was the exit driveway to the parking lot, with a "DO NOT ENTER" painted on the pavement. We'll never be saints if we're flagrantly disobedient, right?

But hey, I've got my first sub-thirty 5K since 2009 and it feels like a thin slice of heaven.

The splits:

Mile 1: 9:39
Mile 2: 9:37
Mile 3: 9:36
Last .1: 0:49

5K elapsed time: 29:39 per Garmin Forerunner 205

Houston Texans Running of the Bulls 5K

2011-10-16T13:43:00.000-05:00

While waiting in the "bullpen" for this morning's race to begin, a surprising thought entered my head:

I am on the attack today.

Yesterday, I went out to prove that I wasn't too sick to finish 3.1 miles, and did it. And today, I felt better than I did yesterday. So, I could say that I felt ready to take this one by the horns.

I looked over the crowd that had come in for today's race, and it was much bigger than the one that showed up for the Battle Red Run the Texans hosted in 2006. Not Rodeo Run large, but there were easily as many people here as at the last Astros Race For The Pennant 5K I was at, so the Texans' event marketing people must have stepped up their game recently.

We were told to expect the sound of a cannon blast to signal the start of the Running of the Bulls 5K, but I guess there was a firing malfunction and we were sent forward without much fanfare at all. As planned, I attacked the first mile way more aggressively than I did yesterday. I did my best Arian Foster impression, weaving and cutting around many, many people for that entire first mile. I found myself amused at passing numerous walkers for that entire first mile. In the end there was only a one minute discrepancy between my chip time and gun time, so I can only presume that they must have started the course early.

The Bullpen Pep Band that plays at Texans home games was out to play for us next to the Mile 1 water station, and I gave them an enthusiastic wave even though I couldn't quite make out the number they were playing at that moment in time. Mile 2 of this course features two crossings over Kirby Drive using the pedestrian bridges that lead out of Reliant Stadium. My inner nerd became the motivator during the bridge crossings, as these were the on-the-spot mantras I muttered to myself over the bridges:

Uphill: "Potential, potential, potential, potential. . . ."
Downhill: "Kinetic, kinetic, kinetic, kinetic. . . ."

I was even feeling better than expected in Mile 3, and I'm pretty sure I passed more people than passed by me. I still feel a little discouraged when I can barely keep up with some of these long-legged ladies and gentlemen that appear to be merely walking enthusiastically, though.

The finish line was through the north tunnel. Although a 20-yard "red zone" and end zone were marked on the pavement, I was really hoping to end the race on some of the actual turf used during games in Reliant Stadium. Surely they grow spare squares of the stuff, right?

Even though I struck out during the door prize drawings, I still came away with my fastest 5K in more than two years, and that's no bull.

The splits:
Mile 1: 9:13
Mile 2: 10:09
Mile 3: 9:59
Last .1: 1:43
5K Elapsed Time: 31:05 per Garmin Forerunner 205

Official race results:
Chip Time: 31:00
Gun Time: 32:01
Placing: 77th in M35-39 AG

Run to Cure HD 5K

2011-10-15T22:30:00.052-05:00

Friday afternoon found me being dragged down by what I believe is a head cold. Even with a medication-assisted night's sleep, I wasn't exactly feeling 100% when I showed up at Oyster Creek Park to take on this morning's Run To Cure HD. I registered the requisite brain malfunction when I arrived and realized I had left my timing chip at home. No problem, really, since I'm rarely in danger of being within sniffing distance of a podium finish.

I had my trusty Forerunner 205 GPS to record my race, and it was secured with the replacement Velcro strap I ordered from Garmin after one of the eyelets on the original "watchstrap" broke, It's not stylish, but the Velcro worked really well to stop the device from bouncing around, just as it did with the original Forerunner 101.

This wound up as a tightly spaced race, as we were doing two out-and-backs on a narrow asphalt trail that was not closed to the public during the race. It's a good thing that the turnout for this was only a few hundred people or else we'd have problem with runners weaving into others' path. I kept up a pretty good pace during mile 2, "drafting" behind a woman mimicking a rollerblading motion with her stride.

In the final mile, the beginning of the final leg-in was marked with a line of white tape and some college-age volunteers were there marshaling runners to touch the line before turning around. I decided to play this up even further by asking if I could not just touch the tape line, but if I could caress it, stopping and bending over to give it a nice patting. That got a nice whoop-and-holler response.

We may be slow in the back of the pack, but we have more time to have fun on the race course!

And now, it's off to bed for me: I'll be taking on another 5K in the morning.

The splits . . .
Mile 1: 10:37

Mile 2: 10:39
Mile 3 11:17
Last .1: 1:24

Elapsed 5K time: 33:58 (per Garmin Forerunner 205)

Houston Running Calendar re-launch

2011-10-10T22:00:00.000-05:00

My other blog project has been a simple, yet comprehensive, list of upcoming races and fun runs in the Houston area. I'm moving it to a custom domain name of its very own. So http://houstonrunningcalendar.blogspot.com is changing to http://www.houstonrunningcalendar.com.

Thanks to everyone who's been giving me positive feedback. Update your browser bookmarks!

Octoberfast dreaming

2011-10-10T21:45:00.000-05:00

Tonight I ponder both where the training time has went and how the remainder of training time will be coming prior to race day in January. The Houston Marathon Kick-Off Party came and went a couple of weeks ago and we're at the point of the year where the long runs will be served mostly in increasing helping sizes.

I feel like I'm ahead of the curve as I stretched out for 16 miles this past weekend. Yes, I was very exhausted by the end, but I was pleased to see that the body recovery was a snap, compared to previous long runs where I'd be working out soreness for more than a couple of days. It was a humid morning, but partly cloudy with temps that stayed under 80F through mid-morning. I was breaking in a new hydration belt -- the Nathan Speed 2 -- and it felt really good to have that pair of 10-ounce bottles around my center-of-gravity instead of 20 ounces sloshing around together as usual in my handheld Amphipod.

Fueling this season's PR distance on Saturday were Black Cherry Clif Shot Blocks, Blueberry-Pomegranate GU Chomps, and a MP3 playlist with nothing but albums from the band Cake. Cake gave a great show for their Houston fans recently as headliners of BestFest in Midtown. One thing I hadn't noticed until that night is that their songs don't vary too widely in tempo. So a nothing-but-Cake soundtrack was actually useful in keeping up a decent running rhythm.

Endurance is building, but I'm still concerned about speed. If Marathon Sunday was tomorrow, I wouldn't be ready for the 13:45/mile pace needed to finish in the 6-hour limit. I'm hoping speed will come around with cooler weather and more training time. Meanwhile, this week I'm dialing back the distance this weekend for at least one short race, so here's a toast to finding some Octoberfast in my glass!

Just Run for a Just Cause 10K

2011-09-17T11:45:00.011-05:00

I began the morning by slicing a fingertip with one of my fingernails while tying the drawstring on my shorts.

Yup, that's the kind of pro runner I am.

After applying a Band-Aid and muttering, "Who does this!?" a few times, I was on my way to the Just Run for a Just Cause at Kingsland Baptist Church in Katy. I just wanted to give myself a little test to make sure I haven't forgotten too much about race execution.

I'll generously grade myself a D-plus for this one. The course is a semi-shaded 5K loop on suburban concrete. I would be circling it twice for 10K distance. The first loop went by in about 32 minutes. This was way too easy, so of course I immediately hit trouble in the form of lightheadedness and a feeling that control of my breathing was slipping away. I think I can put the blame on any combination of the following causes:

A little too much caffeination before the race.
An arcing sun dialing up the mid-morning temperature to almost 80F.
Pushing the pace too fast too soon.
More than the recommended daily allowance of running skirt sightings.

I decided that the smart thing to do was to slow down before I gave myself a lovely case of heat exhaustion. So I completed my second loop at long-run pace, basically keeping myself in line behind a guy sporting excellent facial hair and a finisher shirt from the Cowtown Half Marathon. With the power of Cowtown Soul Patch leading the way, I trundled back into the church parking lot in a total time of about 1:11, which is totally acceptable versus laying myself out on a random curb with my heartrate skyrocketing.

This run was a benefit event to fund aftercare for women rescued from human trafficking operations. The shirts given to today's registrants were created in a factory that gives these rescued women jobs outside of the sex trade. They sport a unique design, with the race name on the back and signatures of some of the workers on the front.

Today was the race debut of a new pair of shoes, the Asics Gel Phoenix. Interestingly enough, years ago I was in "shoe love" with Saucony's Grid Phoenix which was discontinued, so it's a wonderful happenstance that the competition also picked up the "Phoenix" moniker years later for mild stability running shoes. They even have the nice wide toebox that had been a Saucony hallmark.

So I'll close this report with a question: Before I run away with the stupid-injury crown, what is the wackiest race day injury you've had that had nothing to do with running the race itself?

The splits:

Mile 1 - 9:59
Mile 2 - 10:31
Mile 3 - 11:20
Mile 4 - 11:20
Mile 5 - 12:40
Mile 6 - 13:10
Last .2 - 2:30
10K Elapsed Time - 1:11:32 per Garmin Forerunner 205

Ever call in an order for "wildflowers" and have "wildfires" show up instead?

2011-09-03T10:45:00.007-05:00

The other morning, I woke up listening to the update on Tropical Storm Lee and had a really good laugh when I heard that the tropical storm watch area stopped at Sabine Pass. It's like the weather knows exactly where the state border is located. Houston, normally gifted generously with moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, continues to be hit with the Texas Drought of 2011.

It's been so dry that my neighborhood reservoir caught fire twice this past week. When the air has been just right this summer, I can still catch a whiff of ashes from a fire that burned about a hundred acres just after Memorial Day. During this morning's long run, I got a look at a small pumping base the fire department has set up to fill up their tanker trucks with water from Langham Creek in case another flareup appears.

The run itself was a wholly impromptu affair with a lot of unplanned sidetracking to check out how the flora and fauna are faring. The 11-mile Garmin track resembles a rough sketch of an amoeba. I'm continuing my experimentation with fueling, and after last week's Sport Beans, today's choice was an old friend, Vanilla Bean GU Gel. I can't exactly say I enjoy eating them, but the packets are very compact and they still digest readily.

Just for fun, I'll leave the next few choices up to the audience:

GU Chomps vs. Clif Shot Bloks -- between those two, which should I take with me on the next long run? (The other, of course will be used on the one after that.)

And, what's your favorite stowaway on-the-run energy source that I should try next?

A South Coaster's advice for the Irene After-Party

2011-08-27T23:45:00.007-05:00

It's a little late to write about hurricane preparedness, but as a resident of Houston with memories of Hurricane Ike still pretty fresh, I'll offer the following pointers for those who will be digging out of the aftermath of Irene shortly.

If you remembered to "run from water, hide from wind" then you're likely alive to read this. It's going to be a costly hassle, but you'll have great stories and some of you are going to enjoy the post-storm days as an extension of summer vacation.
Houses with landline telephone service and DSL might suddenly become the communications hubs of the neighborhood.
If you were one of those who were prepared enough to get a generator before the storm hit, congratulations! Be considerate of when you're using them, though, or else risk having your street sound like a motocross competition all night long.
You may be cleaning up "street salad" for days.
If you see a downed cable of any type in the street, flag the area to warn others, but don't attempt to play Crocodile Hunter and attempt to touch it or "move it out of the way." They can have nasty bites.
If you believed the story that taping your windows had any kind of real protective effect you'll be scraping residue off the windows until the next hurricane shows up.
Your radio airwaves will feature law firm commercials targeting insurance companies until . . . well, I'm still waiting for Ike-related stuff to stop.
If you think the real estate "bubble" has taken value off the top of your house, you haven't seen anything yet.
Consider having a general contractor on retainer now, or be prepared to wait in line for one to fix your house later.
If you've ever had thoughts of changing careers to construction, you're in luck!

Stay safe, East Coasters. When you're done playing with the storm, would you mind sending what's left to drought-afflicted Texas? Thanks!

Spirited Thirteen

2011-08-27T12:00:00.004-05:00

It wasn't my first time to pass the spot, but this morning I was on foot in Cullen Park on my long run and finally noticed a small cemetery tucked into the thick vegetation beside the trail less than a mile away from Barker-Cypress Road. A historical marker identifies the spot as being in use since antebellum days. The plots are surrounded by a fifty-foot square of chain-link fence, so I wasn't able to get a close look at the markers themselves, especially to satisfy my curiosity about the headstone where a medal appears to have been left very recently.

All the other times I've taken this path I have simply wheeled by on the saddle of my bicycle, so once again having my feet on the ground reveals details missed when being occupied with riding or driving. Before moving south to present-day Interstate 10, the town of Addicks was actually located in this area until the Corps of Engineers built the dam and created the reservoir for floodwater containment. I find it a little haunting to see the burial sites left behind.

And now I have another reason to refrain from going for any late-night runs on this unlit trail!

The run itself went reasonably well. I learned my lesson from Sunday and brought some extra get-up-and-go in the form of Extreme Sport Beans. (There was nothing wrong with the beans, but I think product names like this are an unfortunate "Generation X" legacy of the 1990s. The word extreme should not be allowed on any packaging unless it's accompanied by a frank medical warning that what's inside actually pushes the boundaries of what is considered edible.) My total distance was thirteen miles at my usual snail-like pace, with the last two mostly walked as the heat index had uncomfortably escalated past 90F.

What's your favorite not-so-extreme use of the word extreme? And have you recently noticed any sights in your neighborhood while running that someone in a car would surely miss?

12 miles, done. In your face, August.

2011-08-21T12:00:00.008-05:00

I did walk a lot this morning, and I finished my distance fueled by nothing but gumption and a fantasy of double fisting Klondike Bars while riding dolphins in a sea of chocolate milk. But a dozen miles is a dozen miles.

I was able to fill my Amphipod at least five times with the fountains along the trail, so hydration isn't a problem. I'm just at the point where I ought to plan on packing some gels/beans/cantaloupes with me so I can kick in those energizing carbs when I need them.

Since my last visit to Terry Hershey Park, the county has added some convenient distance markers to the trail, spread out in quarter-mile increments. So if you forget the GPS at home, you've got something with which to measure your outing. I believe the playground and the restrooms at the Beltway 8 end of the trail are also recent improvements. Y'all have no excuse for using Buffalo Bayou for lavatory purposes now.

6 New or Improved Happenings for Houston Runners After This 100-Degree Garbage is Gone (Hopefully)

2011-08-19T06:00:00.002-05:00

With the annual back-to-school sales tax holiday weekend upon us, I'm sure you're already looking for ways to spend the enormous pile of cash you'll be saving. Well, maybe it'll be more like another penny or three squeezed through the couch cushions, but if you scrape together enough for a race registration fee, then I can suggest a handful of notable new (or tweaked) events for which you could make space on your fall calendar:

Duck Run (August 27) -- The people that created the Luke's Locker/Baker Street Pub "beer runs" on Wednesday nights are launching this four-miler event in the heart of Katyland. For the ethanol-needy, note that the start/finish venue is a brewery. Also note that the benefit cause is Ducks Unlimited, so wearing bright orange might be a good idea if the suds are flowing a little too freely to the waterfowl enthusiasts.

Tour de Art Run (September 18) -- Originally held as a RUN@WORK Day event, this year's Tour de Art is happening on the weekend, which is likely more convenient for many of us who would not be able to participate due to conflicts with work. If you've ever had a curiosity to learn more about the public art scattered around downtown Houston, this is your opportunity. Think of it as a super-casual art gallery stroll with a tour guide jogging the group to 15 pieces scattered over five miles. The gathering will happen at 7:45 a.m. at the downtown library (500 McKinney Street) and the run starts at 8 a.m. And best of all, aside from transportation/parking downtown, this one is FREE!

Running of the Bulls 5K (October 16) -- The Houston Texans are back with their 5K event. I believe the course posted online is a new one, snaking almost exclusively through Reliant Park. (I can't think of a worse abuse of the word "park" in a Houston area place name, aside from "Deer Park" perhaps.) The finish line is now in an end zone of Reliant Stadium itself. If we could have members of the 2010 Texans defensive secondary personally welcoming finishers and joining them in end zone dances, the NFL fantasy experience would be complete.

Toughest 10K Galveston (October 22) -- In case your appetite for racing over bridges isn't satiated with the original Toughest 10K in September, the concept has been franchised to the Island. Let's hope the recently reconstructed causeway is pedestrian-friendly and the morning ocean breezes are gentle for this inaugural event. Remember, the sharks are more afraid of you than you are of them!

Run In The Park (November 5) -- The old Park to Park five-miler benefiting the Hermann Park Conservancy is being taken off the streets and relaunching as a happening totally within Hermann Park. I'm sure they will save money by not needing a score of law enforcement officers for traffic control at dozens of intersections. When the route map is released, can we hope for a path that shows off the park at its best -- perhaps right through the zoo and even across the Miller Outdoor Theater stage? Maybe the kids' choo-choo train could even be the pace car.

Texas Metric Marathon (November 13) -- The kilometer is unloved, misunderstood, and even shunned as un-American. The Houston Striders made a smart move a few years ago by trotting their tape measures out and tacking on a little distance to their tired 20K to turn it into the Houston Half Marathon. The word marathon is popular and familiar; the average American can participate in one with nothing but a free weekend, a couch, and a cable TV subscription. This fall the Houston Masters have also decided to go some extra distance with their unsexy 25K and bring the 26.2-kilometer "metric marathon" concept to Houston. Listen to how that sounds: putting "marathon" in a race title is like tearing open a packet of Instant Sexy. (Now I'm waiting for Finish Line Sports to market their 30K as the "Sugar Land 25-Percent-Off Marathon Distance Run." Everyone likes a discount!)

All these were events that stood out as I've been putting together the next month's update of my other blog project, Houston Running Calendar. What local run dates have you looking ahead? Do you know of a new or overhauled event that I didn't list that could use a little publicity? Drop a comment and run away!

Red pigtails are streamlining

2011-08-14T10:00:00.001-05:00

Today's fresh, hot-n-juicy random running update channels the muses behind some of Wendy's ad campaigns to sell burgers over the years.

You know when it's real.

I did register for Rock'n'Roll San Antonio as mentioned previously, and it feels great to have that waypoint approaching on the calendar. It's going to be fun and I won't be concerned with any specific training for the half marathon distance, as I'll always be keeping completion of Houston 2012 in mind as the ultimate goal. Virtually no speedwork will be on the menu and the emphasis will be on long-run mileage and bringing it earlier.

Always great, even late.

Whereas a typical novice half marathon buildup might gradually introduce double-digit long runs around October, I'm taking them on now -- in the midst of the worst Houston heat wave in my lifetime. Oh, joy! But I feel like I must make up for lost time from last year, so I'm coping by trying to get significant parts of these done before dawn even breaks.

Never cut corners.
This gem of a sign was spotted at a local day.care center during last weekend's 10-miler. Perhaps they're skipping the proof.reading and passing the savings on to parents.

Where's the beef?

You won't find any in these avocado enchiladas. This weekend I dug up this recipe from Deena Kastor that was overdue for another go in my kitchen. Even if you can't keep pace with an elite marathoner, you can at least learn to fuel up like one from her website.

So, would you say "it's better here" where you're at? Or are you just feeling square?

Practicing Solo

2011-07-23T02:00:00.006-05:00

I'm going bloggin'

After midnight
Can't get no shuteye
What am I supposed to do?
So here I'm bloggin'
After midnight
Posting for you.

Sorry, Patsy.

I started getting drowsy in the nine o'clock hour and thought things were falling into place for a restful night before an early a.m. Saturday run. But a mere few hours later, I find myself very much awake, so I'm pecking away at a running-related blog post I was planning to write sometime this weekend anyway.

I've decided against joining a marathon training group this year. The Katy Fit experiment last year was going okay up until I found myself out for the season sick. (No, I'm not blaming all those nice people for that.) Training for Houston 2012, however, I know I really want flexibility in my schedule. I can easily see a lot of long runs fitting in on Sundays instead of Saturdays. I certainly didn't need the coaching tips, which are abundant online and on my bookshelf.

With autumn creeping up on the calendar horizon, I want to solidify my weekly mileage. June certainly challenged us with the unusual triple-digit heat. (Unlike inland parts of Texas, Houstonians traditionally had an understanding with Mother Nature to have mostly "moderate" summer high temps in the mid 90sF in exchange for pea-soup-thick Gulf humidity.) And I've been dragging for nearly two weeks of July thanks to a head cold.

So here's hoping that things "fall" into place in the coming months. I'm thinking that a return to the 13.1-miler at Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio would be a good waypoint along the way. Surely in three years the city has figured out how to host this event since my first terrible taste of the RNR series, right?

Now it's back to another attempt at gathering some bits of sleep before putting on the shoes for . . . I don't know . . . five miles? I'm in full control of my schedule after all.

How has your summer running been? Has it been dreamy, or has it been like a fight with the snooze button?

Freedom 5K

2011-07-04T10:30:00.003-05:00

This morning I ran my fastest 5K in more than 12 months. You'll have to take my word for it, however. In opposition to all the race day things I did right, the one detail I managed to miss was remembering to bring my timing chip.

Since you won't find me among the official results, here's the rundown from my GPS:

Mile 1: 10:06
Mile 2: 10:19
Mile 3: 10:12
Last .1: 1:19
5K elapsed time: 31:56 (per Garmin Forerunner 205)

This was my sixth time to run this Fourth of July event in Sugar Land, and I'm not seeing a reason not to come back for a seventh. The registration is relatively cheap, the tree-shaded course provides refuge from the sun, and there is a building track record of luck in the door-prize department. This year, a restaurant gift certificate rode home in the car with us.

This race report wouldn't be complete unless I document the following exchange from the last mile:

Spectator: This is the last hill!
Me: They always say it's the last hill!
Spectator: Sorry, we're just inclined this way.

It's not very often that someone else is dropping the wretched pun on me. Good show, sir!

Happy Independence Day, y'all.

Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Minecraft

2011-06-24T23:45:00.007-05:00

The appeal of Minecraft can be difficult to describe to others. As of the current beta, players are not given an overall goal to achieve. There is a "score" being kept, but no one bothers to compare or brag, or even care what it means. In fact, I wasn't really sure why I keep coming back to my virtual block worlds until an epiphany presented itself during a recent discussion with my girlfriend:

Being in Minecraft feels kind of like my summer vacations when I was a kid.

"Good parents" today seem determined to plan out their children's time out of school. Family road trips get bookended by sports leagues, lessons, and activity camps. As a preteen, I remember having long stretches of unstructured playtime during the summer. And that playtime was outside.

Sure, we'd play some ball, but even then they were always just unsupervised pickup games among ourselves on the neighborhood streets. What really consumed our daylight hours was simply heading out exploring. Living in what was then exurbia, several square miles of surrounding forest and cattle pasture beckoned us to come out and simply pass time.

Where there was a flood control ditch, there was the chance to discover the channelization of water and the living things in it. Tromping under a forest canopy challenged our skills at not getting lost and sometimes our ingenuity at constructing a tree fort worth defending from random scraps of found lumber. And finding a large hole in the ground was an occasion to stop, peer into the darkness and wonder what dangers or even evil creatures lay within, before racing out to beat the late onset of dusk and make it back home in time for dinner.

We weren't out to "win" summer vacation. We were outside to experiment and experience. And it's in this way that Minecraft doesn't demand that you accomplish any one thing. Instead, this literal "sandbox" game invites us to come up with our goal for the day and explore everything. It's a virtual open-ended LEGO set in a time when actual LEGO sets are sold in boxes that tell children what they're supposed to be building.

P.S. If Minecraft creator "Notch" happens to be reading this: Please consider adding the ability to craft Bikes as a locomotion option in the game. And they should do wheelies too. Just sayin'. I'll even take them with coaster brakes and banana seats.

Impact A Hero 5K

2011-06-04T11:00:00.005-05:00

Summer's in high gear now. It's the season where decisions on where to run can pivot on the number of shade trees on the course. This morning I passed up the Heights Fun Run to go to Mercer Stadium instead for the Impact A Hero 5K.

While the stretch of Austin Parkway pavement we used could only be described as partially obscured from the sun by trees, there was no obscurity as to the purpose of the event. This is an annual fundraiser for grants to wounded veterans returning from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, On their website, the group states an expectation to hit a six-year grand total of one million dollars in contributions this weekend.

I've watched this event grow way up from its early editions as a small neighborhood run at Lost Creek Park. Today at its current venue, the crowds arrived to claim overflow parking at the mall across the street. The national anthem was punctuated by a military flyover. Finishers were treated to piles of breakfast tacos from the St. Laurence KCs and barbecue from Pitts and Spitts. The Houston Texans once again sent head coach Gary Kubiak and cheerleaders to lend some celebrity star power. But the highlight of the morning is still the arrival of the veterans -- many of whom were there to wheel the course -- to rousing applause.

I'd rate my own run as mostly good. I was cruising for two solid miles, but had to take a walk break at the start of mile three because I was feeling cooked. But I really felt inadequate trying to keep up with the guy in the full firefighter gear, which included the insulating long underwear. At least that was his claim, and I didn't find it necessary to ask him to prove it to us.

In remembrance of those we have lost and in grateful tribute to those serving now -- THANK YOU.

Mile 1 --10:24

Mile 2 -- 10:25

Mile 3 -- 11:30

Last .1 --1:08

Elapsed 5K time -- 33:27 (per Garmin Forerunner 205)

Gun Time -- 34:32

Chip Time -- 33:23

Katy Sunrise Rotary 5K

2011-05-28T09:45:00.004-05:00

After waking to a pre-sunrise alarm, my girlfriend and I were off to check out the Katy Sunrise Rotary 5K this morning. Choosing today's race was made easier with a RunHouston discount offer last month and knowing that the Houston Astros have moved their Race for the Pennant event from Saturday to Memorial Day itself.

With Luke's Locker running the show, it was no surprise to see this event executed flawlessly -- except for the starter's airhorn that had the sonic power of a dog's squeak toy.

Out on the boulevards of Cinco Ranch, I came back to the La Centerra shopping center with a pretty good 5K for me finish at this point. Here are the stats from the Forerunner 205:

Mile 1 -- 10:58

Mile 2 -- 11:05

Mile 3 -- 10:40

Last .1 -- 2:07

Now I did not punch "stop" on my Garmin promptly, so my chip time should look better than this. After crossing the finish line into the chute, I got distracted from my stopwatch by the little boy that ran into my back at full speed. Lots of kids were racing today. A couple of young girls were leapfrogging with me in the last half of the race -- they'd sprint past me . . . then I'd plod past them while they were looking at a crack in the road . . . then they would blow past me like I was standing still and I wouldn't be able catch them until a butterfly got their attention.

I wish I had that energy again.

So, how is your Memorial Day weekend?