Epilog

Boy are my dogs tired...

For medicinal purposes

Did better than I expected, but not a PB.  I guess I should be happy to finish with a sub 2:30 time, but, if I had just gotten off my butt and done more training, I could have improved my time.  Hell, I am glad again to have participated and completed the run.  I won't bore you with the mile by mile details.  It did rain, but was more of a drizzle/mist at the start.  Around mile 9 is when the skys opened up, but we were too far gone to care.  The race organizers had stated that if there was a lightning strike within a 10 mile radius, they would halt the run, but that did not happen.  It was much warmer than last year with the temps in the 60s at starting time.  

Hurting like hell, but I am doing ok.  I kinda screwed myself over by starting out too fast.  I jack rabbited out of the start and was doing a 9 minute pace over the first 3 miles.  That turned out to be a mistake.  By mile 5 my knees were hurting and calfs cramping.  Wound up walking more of the race than I care to do, but I did hold it to a 11:11 mile pace through the end.  The last 1/2 mile was a stretch.  I pushed on through determined not to walk across the finish line and my left quad was cramping like no tomorrow.  Race times and stats are already posted on the web.  Pictures should be up by next week.  

About half the field was in front or behind me...

Terri liked one of the shirts I spotted at the expo.  A lot express a certain attitude and I thought I would share a few more.  Not sure if I would wear one...

That which does not kill us, makes us stronger

Despite my best efforts, I survived another one.

2:26:32 

Not my best time, but I did break my goal of 2:30 (2:26).  Not bad considering the lack of training.  Now for my Advil IV....

Here we go

It's way too #@&^% early and I'm too old for this s#@t.

0700 start time.

If all goes well, I should be crawling across the finish line before 1000.

Fingers crossed

Forecast not good.

Weather.com has the chance of rain at 80% now and one station has pegged it at 100%.  Front it moving through the area tonight and expecting rain/thunderstorms.  Hoping it pushes through but expecting to be a wet run.  At least it will be a warm rain (50-60s). 

Reconsidering my plans?  Nope.  I may regret this decision come 0300, but I'm in for the long haul.  Too late to back out now.  Besides, in the 38 year history of the Houston Marathon, it's never been cancelled for weather reasons.  One can only hope for fair skies and calm seas.       

I picked up my race packet this morning.  There is a health expo that runs in conjunction with the race.  Big hoop-te-doo.  Lots of booths selling you everything from energy shots (got mine) to running gear.  Some really great bargains on clothes and gear.  You can get a serious set of running shoes for 1/2 price.  I even spotted some ASICs GEL2150s for around  $60. Good thing I already got my new shoes earlier.  Good opportunity to buy gear and clothes if you are seriously into running.  I am kind of a sucker for these kinds of trade shows.  I like to collect a lot of gimme stuff like shirts, lights, samples.  

Getting organized.  Laid out my uniform, charged up the iPod, stashed away the energy fuel, starting to hydrate.

Time to put the big boy pants on and hit the streets.

There's an app for that

I said it earlier, technology can be amazing.  Last year, I noticed a lot of people carrying more sophisticated hardward during the run.  Some have these high tech GPS watches that will give you your pace time, location, calories burned, and where you are in relation to other runners of your class (probably even tells you what you had for breakfast).  Some will carry their iPhones (too much weight for me to lug 13.1).  There is even an app for those who really want to see where they are on the course.  
 



I am a bit more old fashioned.  I prefer to stick with my old Timex Ironman to tell me my lap times.  I did break down two years ago and finally got an iPod Nano just to jam to some tunes while sweating with the masses.    

Almost game time.  The Finish Line just went up yesterday.  Come Sunday morning, this place will be packed. 

The end is near

Fair Weather Runner

Ok. I'll admit it.  I'm not a dedicated, hard core runner like some people are.  I run when I can, when my schedule allows, when it's convenient, when I feel like it.

During the week, I try to run during lunchtime instead of going out for some over priced, fast food. I got into the routine many years back at Intermedics. We had a great work out facility on the campus with a locker room and showers. I don't normally go for distance, more go as far as time allows. During the week, I try run during my normal lunchtime so that gives me ~1-1.5 hours run, cool down and clean up. I really hate treadmills, so I will try to run outside whenever possible. The summer is especially brutal when I go running in 92+ temps and 80% humidity. I like to run at that time cause it really wrings you out. Something about sweating out the toxins is supposed to be good for you?  Of course, when it is so hot, it takes me a long while to cool down, even with a cold shower. Because we have temperate weather, I try to keep up with my running all year long. I've run when it was blistering hot, I've run when it was hovering around freezing, I've run in a windstorm (great if your route gives you a tail wind), I've run in snow, I've run in sand. The one thing I really hate is when it rains.

If it is raining or is looking ugly, I will weigh my options. I have been out on a 5 mile run and halfway out the skies opened up on me.  Trail running - no cover, no where to get out of the torrent, already soaked so I just kept going. By the time I finished, I was soaked to the bone. Took a 4 days for my shoes to dry out.  When running in the rain, nothing stays dry and wearing rain gear is about like jogging in a sauna.

I;ve kept my eye on the forecast for the past few weeks, but any projections past 5 days is pretty much a SWAG.  Last three years we've had some excellent running weather (cold + clear). Was hoping for some halfway decent weather for Sunday, but, alas, the latest forecast is not so rosy:

Scattered T-Storms

      High              Precip  

67°F             40%

Definitely will mess up pace times.

3 days till lift off.

3 years and still kicking

If you hang around this blog long enough, you might surmise that I am big on traditions. School, patriotic, holidays, family, work, football. I seem to have a tradition for everything.

I've started my own tradition. Not sure how I would label it - Celebratory? Defiant? Morbid? Somber? Or perhaps Depressing?

Three years ago, I went under the knife to deal with prostate cancer. I got diagnosed with adenocarcinoma (fancy 5 dollar word for cancer) back in 2007 while doing a physical for my trek to Philmont. I won't bore everyone with a rehash the old story, but you want the gory details go take a look back at some of my older postings.  

Given the prognosis, I had a couple of options I could take to deal with the situation:

1. Expectant Management/watchful wait (do nothing and keep getting probed/tested)
2. Radical Prostatectomy (surgery – aka Whack-A-Mole)
3. Radiotherapy either (nuk’em till they glow)
4. Brachytherapy (stick some radioactive pellets in the neighborhood)
5. Cryothreapy (something about freezing the little buggers out)

None of those sounded all that exciting to me and I eventually chose the surgery route and went under the knife and came out clean on the other side. Follow up exams show I am still "cancer free". I have marked this event down in my calendar to remind myself just how lucky I am. Not everyone who has been diagnosed with this crap has done so well. I've been able to go back to my normal bad habits/life style without any major issues. Sometimes, when things get busy/hectic/chaotic, I will forget that this even happened. Whenever I get too busy or self-absorbed with my own petty problems, I need subtle reminder not to take things for granted. That's one of the reasons I started running the half marathon about 3 years ago. Actually, I did try to run it in 2008 before my surgery, but the race was completely booked up and the only openings were in the adjoining 10k race held at the same time. So, technically, I've been participating in the hoopla for 4 years now. Come this Sunday, this will be my 3rd time at bat. I hope to break my time from last year, but will be glad to make it across the finish line upright. Occasionally, family/friends will ask why I do this and my reply that it reminds me that I'm still alive. I may be sore & stiff come Monday morning, but at least I am still around to complain about it.

Pain heals, Chicks dig scars...Glory lasts forever.

5 days and counting.

      

Looking back now, I just realized that I started this feeble attempt at blogging around that time, so I guess I could call this a 3 year old blog. I've been told I'm full of BS, just didn't think I had so much to make it last this long.