Archive for the ‘Texas’ Category

Rock n Roll SA 2009

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

Well, one more life goal down…

Race Course

My first marathon was the Rock ‘n Roll San Antonio on November 15, 2009. I finished in just over 5 hours, which was just fine with me.

First let me say, that was fun. It was a long damn race, but it was fun.

Second: they say you hit the wall at about mile 20. My wall was waiting for me somewhere around mile 14. Mile 20 was easy. At mile 14 you’re still running away from the finish line. After mile 17, you’re running towards the finish line. And the fastest way home is down the race course… so everything after mile 17 is easy. (of course, besides the fact that it’s still 9 miles away)

Third: At one point earlier this year, I thought I might be able to do this race in 4 hours. I still think I might have been able to get there with more/better training. But instead, I decided to enjoy both training, the race, and my life. It turns out that just preparing for a marathon can consume a ton of time… so backing off the training a bit can make the rest of life quite a bit easier and more enjoyable.

As a corralerry, taking my time at the race meant that I jumped out of bed the next day without any pain. I was tired, for sure, but not sore. This was a very welcome relief. Loosing time during training is one thing, but losing time to recuperating after a marathon injury would be more disappointing.

Fourth: Turns out that I’m a bit emotional after running for 5 hours straight. Go figure.

Fifth: Check out the front image on the Marathon Website… That’s me in the background! I kinda hope that I don’t have to keep looking at my pained face as they start advertising next year’s race…

There are a few more photos on the official race photographer’s website.

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Trail shoes, knees, and racing with a view

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

About a month ago I signed up for a trail race (running on hiking trails rather than streets). Since the bottoms of my delicate feet are so sensitive, I invested in a pair of off-road running shoes with a nice stiff sole. Thinking that I better break in the shoes at least a little, I took ‘em out for a couple laps around the neighborhood. Turns out that running on pavement in shoes designed for dirt isn’t such a good idea… My left IT band got itself all inflamed and stayed that way for several days.

The internet says that IT band issues are pretty common in all runners (novice and pros alike) and it’s basically a over-use injury. Dr. Internet recommends rest and stretching so I took the week off from running in an attempt to nip this injury in the butt.

At the end of this week, hoping for the best, I went ahead and did my trail race. The event was a lot of fun despite the soaring temperatures and long slogs up and down cliff faces. It’s amazing how much beautiful scenery there is in Texas. I kinda wish I had stopped more often and longer to take in the vistas, but heck, it was still a race… None the less, I still enjoyed them as they went by. In the end, I got to see 6 miles of really nice scenery in just over an hour… let’s see TV compete with that!

Alas, the knee is still hurting. I’m more diligent about stretching this week, and I got new (street) shoes in case the wear on my old shoes was contributing to the problem. We’ll see how this next week goes and hopefully I’ll be able to avoid asking a real doctor for advice.

None the less, I think this trail-running thing may be more my style then the road races. Not only are the races smaller and less claustrophobic, but they’re a lot more laid back. For example, the start of 10K’s in downtown are signaled over a 10 gazillion watt PA system with pop music blaring down upon every racer. This race started when the race director shouted “go” from the top of a ladder.

Simple is better.

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Texas Water Safari 2009 – The Start

Saturday, June 13th, 2009

A buddy of mine is attempting the Texas Water Safari this year, so we headed down to San Marcos this morning to watch the big start. As luck would have it, we met up with Aaron (my buddy) and his boat-mate Josh (here on out “our heros”) on the highway and followed them right into the starting area… that’s got to be a good omen, right?

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Our heros are using a plastic Hobie kayak, something that makes them a bit unique is this crowd. Most of the boats are either aluminum canoes or highly customized canoe/kayaks made of fiberglass, Kevlar, and other exotic materials… not bright red plastic. None the less, our heros are undaunted by this fact and are pushing ahead. The ace up their sleeve is the Mirage Drive which, if they make it to deep water, will allow them to use leg muscles instead of back muscles to move the boat.

Mirage drives

Mirage drives

Front Mirage Drive installed

Front Mirage Drive installed

After the start, we made our way down to the first interesting part of the race… about half a mile or so down river. Everyone had to get out and portage around a damn in the river. Some went right, some went left, but everyone get a little wet… ;-) Out heros seem to have made it through this section without incident, and still looked strong.

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I think they’ve got their work cut out for them, but if they can make it to deep water without injury… well… they’ll make it all the way!

Post Script

Due to a hole in the hull, Our Heros had to haul extra water down the river which was already running really low. As a result, they had to drop out just before the second checkpoint after 33 miles or so. They put in a hell of a performance and really had a good running if you ask me. Can’t wait to see how they do in the next race…

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Rock and Roll San Antonio

Sunday, November 16th, 2008
2:00:26

Today we finished our first half marathon. That’s just cool to say. Not only did we finish, but we finished within 30 seconds of our goal time. It’s not very often that my performance is within 0.33% of my projection. I’d say that’s a successful run by (almost) any measure.

As advertised, the course was indeed very flat. Coming from our training in central Austin, the few minor hills that we did encounter were behind us before we even realized they were there. We also found that the course was really well supported compared to the 10K’s that we’ve done before. The water stations were busy, but long enough that we could just get our cups at the far end of the stations.

(more…)

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San Antonio Half-Marathon Signup

Wednesday, March 26th, 2008

Since we all know that goals are pretty much the only way to stay motivated sometimes, Gwen and I have signed up for the
Inaugural Rock ‘n Roll San Antonio Half-Marathon. It’s scheduled for November 16, 2008, so we have eight months to get ourselves shaped up for the race.

Rock n Roll San Antonio Marathon Course

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