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.

The inaugural Run Austin Run Half Marathon was held on Oct 11, 2009. The event was just the right size… not too many people, but enough to support the required aid stations.

All in all, the event went pretty well. The morning brought dark skies and rain, which I enjoyed. Unfortunately, this scared away some of the aid-station volunteers and most of the finish-line vendors. But all this stuff is really just icing on the cake that is a fun run through Austin’s west side. The course support like road-blocks and medical tents were all in place, so a few missing volunteers is OK.

The minor issues are easily be attributed to the fact that it was the first time the event was being held. I have high hopes for next year’s event.

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

Well, it’s official that I will be official…

An official letter stating my completion of the degree requirements

The Defense

I had a great turn out for my defense. In a department where four or five students show up to a defense, I packed the room with more then twenty five. Thank you all for coming!

The presentation went really well (my committee even thought so), and again my stellar audience came through by asking four or five really good questions about the work. And the questions were even on topic! The closed door “grilling” went smoothly too. My committee had great, insightful, and critical questions that lead to some interesting discussions. I was really lucky to have such insightful and inspiring people to advise and critique my work. Thank you!

If you’re intersted in reading the dissertation or thumbing through the slides, I’ve posted them on my research page.

What’s Next

My advisor has kindly agreed to keep me on as a Post-Doctorial Researcher here at UT-Austin. Besides doing more of my own research, I’ll help organize and contribute to the research supported by the Pervasive Computing Test Bed. I’m really looking forward to tackling some of the really interesting problems of physical simulation, cyber-physical systems, and large-scale software systems.

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.

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

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.

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…

Links

• Shake Paddle and Roll 2008

All totaled, I got 48 miles of running and hiking into just 6 days. Add in 3 full days of academic conference and I’d say it was a pretty darn good trip!

The last three runs of my trip

Links

1. gpsies.com: Stanley Park Track
2. gpsies.com: False Creek Track
3. Google Earth: Stanley Park Track
4. Google Earth: False Creek Track
5. Garmin: Stanley Park Track
6. Garmin: False Creek Track

A view of our hike to Norvan Falls

As always, the hike started out on a nice wide trail. A rushing river nearby filled the air with sound and mist which in turn filled the forest with moss. I think the moss was the most defining characteristic of the day’s scenery. I knew moss came in different varieties, but this was like walking through someone’s moss collection… Bright green, dark green, blue, navy green, olive green, even forest green…

Snow!

By far the most exciting part of the hike came near the end of the hike when we both heard a loud crack from the forest. Tim and I both (incorrectly) assumed that the other had stepped on a stick and thought nothing of it… for about 3 seconds. Then, with a bunch of snapping, splintering, and crashing, a very tall tree fell across the trail about 10 feet behind Tim. With as much speed as we could muster on a rocky downhill grade, we ran as fast as we could to get out of the way, but there’s really no chance that we could have outrun the tree… had it fallen in our direction. Lucky for us, it landed off to the right somewhere and not on top of us. Tim should have some photos of the tree, so I’ll post those when I get them.

That’s all I’ve got for now… gotta run.

Links

1. View or download this track from gpsies.com: Norvan Falls Track
2. View the track in Google Earth: Norvan Falls Track for Google Earth
3. Use the track on your Garmin: Norvan Falls Track for Garmin

View of the Sendero Diez Vistas trail

One of the few switchbacks I could take a picture of

I’d like to say that the vista at the top of this climb made up for all the pain on the way up, but I would be lying. There was a very nice view, but the 10 person group eating lunch kinda spoiled the solitude of the moment. Likewise, the crowd at the second vista made it similarly anti-climactic. But the third vista… the third vista was really nice.

Me, deep cove, and Vancouver... in that order.

After spending 50 minutes gaining 1400 feet of elevation, and 80 minutes losing it, I was done with the hilly section, and just in time. My quads were screaming at me and my feet were desperate for flat ground. As you’ll see below, I wasn’t even in the mood to smile for the camera. And then it dawned on me: yes, I was done with the hilly section, but I still had 4+ miles to go to get back to the car… ugh.

In the end, as miserable as I was, there’s really two important points:

1. It was my own darn fault for underestimating the vertical climb and
2. It really was a pretty darn pretty place.

Links

1. View or download this track from gpsies.com: Sendero Diez Vistas Track
2. View the track in Google Earth: Sendero Diez Vistas Track for Google Earth
3. Use the track on your Garmin: Sendero Diez Vistas Track for Garmin

Overhead view of Sasamat Lake / Woodhaven Swamp run

The trail around Sasamat Lake itself is in excellent condition and easily run-able for anyone. The trail leading from the lake up to Woodhaven Swamp is steep but well maintained. Other then the short segment that parallels and then crosses the road, the trail is surrounded by picturesque forest the entire way. The Woodhaven Swamp is particularly scenic and the air full of birds calls.

There’s really not much more to say about this run… it’s just a really good, pretty, short trail that I would recommend to anyone.

Links

1. View or download this track from gpsies.com: Sasamat Lake Track
2. View the track in Google Earth: Sasamat Lake Track for Google Earth
3. Use the track on your Garmin: Sasamat Lake Track for Garmin