2009 Cowtown Radioshack 10k

Today was a first for me, and I'd like to take you along for the experience before the details start to fade from memory.  I ran in my first race today, the Cowtown Radioshack 10k.  Here's what it was like.

Things actually got started yesterday after work.  I went to Sundance Square in Ft. Worth to pick up my packet which contained my bib and timing chip (along with a ton of advertisements and a T-shirt).  There were actually a couple of good information guides in there as well.  It was pretty cool even at 5:30 p.m. yesterday, and I knew that didn't bode well for the next day.  The process was pretty quick, though, and I had what I needed.  Before going to bed last night, I pinned my bib on my shirt and affixed the timing chip to my right shoe.

5:15 a.m. Saturday -

I laid everything out for breakfast the night before, and I sprang out of bed.  I didn't do anything different that I do any other morning that I go work out at the gym.  Since my 10k's are around an hour, it's about like taking a group exercise class.

6:15 a.m.  -

I've got everything, and I'm ready to go.  It is dark, and the short walk to the car chilled me pretty thoroughly.  This showed up in my attempt at updating my Facebook status as it was littered with typos.

6:45 a.m.  -

The drive to Downtown Ft. Worth is quick, but then the traffic jam hits.  I now have my parking spot in one of the free garages, and I post an update on Facebook.  I cranked up Metallica on the way down to try to get psyched up for the race.  It worked pretty well.

6:55 a.m. -

I see many people taking shelter in the Barnes & Nobel at 4th and Calhoun so I decide to join them.  It was a popular place since they serve Starbucks.  They also have real restrooms too.  I decided this was a pretty good idea so I headed upstairs.  Lots of other people had the same idea, but fortunately for me most of them were women.  You would have thought they were giving out something really special as long as their line was.

7:05 a.m. -

It seems a little early to head over the the starting line - just a few blocks over at 4th and Throckmorton.  So I find a corner to claim back down on the first floor, and I do some light stretching.  The number of people in Barnes & Nobel had to exceed what the fire codes permit, but no one seemed interested in enforcing it at the time.

7:15 a.m. -

I decide that I need to get used to the elements so I make my way over to the starting line.  It is very cold at 37 degrees with a moderate north wind.  I only know shorts and a T-shirt as my running gear so that's what I went with.  Much to my surprise as I make my way over, I find Jason Cook and his wife (I forget her name), and she is running the 10k, but Jason will be running the 5k that starts at 8:15.  After a brief conversation, I find a spot behind the starting line in the middle of the pack.  I stretch some more as best I can in close quarters, and I make idle chit chat with some of the other people standing near by.  Everyone is amazed that I am in shorts.  I wasn't amazed as much as I was just cold.  However I knew I'd be fine 5 minutes into the race.  My adrenaline was up at this point.  Like many others, I jump up and down as we get within 30 seconds of the gun.

7:30 a.m. -

The start of a race is most closely akin to a mosh pit from the 90's metal era.  I didn't get bumped too badly, but there was not much space to operate in for the first couple of blocks.  We head south on Throckmorton Street and follow the course (which can be see in full on the Cowtown web site).  It was hard to hold back and not just tear out running full speed when the crowd started to thin.  I managed to get about four minutes in before I gave in.  There were some downhill stretches early on, and I used those to make hay.

7:39 a.m. -

We reach the first checkpoint at mile 1.  I grab a cup of water and slurp down a couple of sips before tossing it.  I'm feeling good at this point.  However a couple of uphill stretches take care of this.  The wind was relentless on the open east/west portions of the run which were also the longest stretches on the course.  It was manageable though by this point.

7:57 a.m. -

I've now reached the halfway checkpoint.  It was encouraging to be on a 54 minute pace given how strong the wind had been.  I grabbed more water and pressed on.  The next quarter of the race went by fairly uneventful.

8:14 a.m. -

I reach the five mile checkpoint, and I'm starting to feel it at now.  I'm officially ready for the race to be done.  I skip the water at this point not wanting to slow down for it.  This might have been a mistake.

8:22 a.m. -

I've just passed mile marker six.  We are headed to Main Street, and there are more spectators along the route.  This should have been energizing, but I was pretty much out of gas at this point.  I trudged along until I could see the Finish Line and the clock.  Seeing 53:45 ticking up toward 54:00, I hit a burst with the last bit of energy that I had.  I crossed right as the clock ticked 54:00.  Then the search for water, water, and more water.  For food, they were giving bananas and yogurt so I passed on that knowing I had a protein bar in the car.

8:30 a.m. -

I need to stretch, but now that I've stopped moving it is cold - really cold.  No problem.  Barnes & Nobel to the rescue again.  It is a zoo, but I make my way up to the second floor.  As things turned out, there was plenty of room on the empty World History/World War II isle.  After a good stretch and cool down, I made my way a few blocks back to the garage.  It was slow getting out, but I eventually did.

And that was my Cowtown experience.  If I could change anything, I would trade out today's weather for next weeks forecast - mid 50's in the early morning with winds out of the south.  That would feel like summer by way of comparison.

Until next time...

PH

Catching up, random thoughts, and some reviews

Please accept my apologies for the long gap between posts.  There has been a lot going on over the last month, and I'm just now catching my breath.  Without further ado, here's the news that's fit to print (at least in my opinion).

Like many of you, our house took a hard hit from "the crud".  Based on what people who have actually had the flu have told me, we didn't have it.  However, what we did have was bad enough to knock each of us off our feet for at least a day apiece.  I took a sick day off of work, and until last year I had gone for almost five years without taking one.  Yes folks, it was a sledgehammer.  But this too shall pass...  We are all back to normal - well, something like that.  I'm not really sure what normal means, but we have returned to our previous states of health at any rate.

I was elected Treasurer of our Church at the quarterly voters meeting in January.  I'll be serving a two year term in this capacity where I will provide oversight to the Church budget at the Council and Voters assemblies.  I also volunteered to be our congregations layman representative at the Texas District Convention this summer.  I've never done any of these things before so I'm looking forward to learning some new things.  I have had budget responsibilities at work for the last three years so Treasurer duties are a natural extension of that.

This is somewhat old at this point, but I've been meaning to post about it for over two months now.  I served on a jury back in December, and it was an interesting experience.  I have been called down to the Tarrant County Courthouse two times prior, but I was only selected for reserve jury duty.  That's where they keep you for a whole or half day as standby for additional juries if needed.  This time they called my name for the fourth jury so I felt like I had a sense of purpose this time.  Along with about 50 other people, I was assigned to Judge Dana Womack.  I had never been a part of the jury process before, and it was eye opening.

The Voir Dire process was shocking.  They called us all in with assigned seating.  The lawyers asked questions to specific people and asked for additional comments from other people.  The lawyer for the plaintiff said that being quiet was the way to be selected.  This invited much diarrhea of the mouth from people who just wanted to get out of there.  One person went as far as to say that the plaintiffs "looked like people who would take advantage of the system".  After hearing other similar statements, I knew that I needed to be on this jury to try to bring some sanity to the process.

Sure enough, I kept quiet, and they selected me among the twelve.  The case involved an unresolved insurance claim from a chain reaction rear ending accident.  The facts were fairly straightforward in favor of the plaintiff, but the defendant had the superior lawyer/presenter.  I wanted to vomit as the defense lawyer pelted us with a PowerPoint presentation for her closing arguments.  I couldn't believe the glassy eyed looks among my fellow jurors as form trumped substance.

We went back for deliberations, and an initial straw poll showed a vote of 8-4 in favor of the defense.  I was one of the 4 so I spoke as to my reasons why (with my deepest apologies to the plaintiff) but the next vote was 11-1 (yes I was the one).  Since civil verdicts only require a 10+ majority, the case was over.  We deliberated less than 30 minutes.  What I learned was that I hope to never have my fate in the hands of a jury.

In other news, I've had a lot of time to read and listen to music since my last post.  Here's a list with links to the goods:

The Warlord's Son - a war novel set in Pakistan/Afghanistan.
Amberville - a creative noir novel.
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team - a leadership book.
The Empty Mirror - a historical mystery novel.
Loser's Town - a very salty mystery set in L.A.
Snark - a windbag commentary on social graces.
Chinese Democracy - the long awaited new CD from Guns 'N Roses.
Happy in Galoshes - Scott Weiland's second solo CD.

There you have it.  There's a little something for everyone with more to come.

Until next time...
PH