Good Times At The Capitol 10K

I got the itch to run a race earlier this year and using my better judgement (which rarely happens) I passed on the half marathon, which I wouldn’t have had enough time to get ready for. Instead I picked the 30th annual Capitol 10,000 which gave me a month and a half to get ready for it and their mascot is a cute little armadillo which Livy likes. There was also a ‘run club’ starting at the fitness center at work to train just for the the ‘Cap 10K’.

The race was this past Sunday morning and it was full of excitement with 16,082 runners. Jenny and Livy got up early and gave me a ride down to the start. Since they were dropping me off and it was early for Livy we didn’t go really early. The runners were supposed to be grouped by speed with joggers, walker, and strollers in the back of the pack but that plan didn’t really happen. By the time I got there the staging area was packed and there was no choice to but to start at the back of the pack behind about 10,000+ people. It was pretty amazing to see the race start and slowly walk up to the starting line as the mass of people squeezed down to fit through the starting gate. It took me over 4 minutes before I got to the start line. Because  the starting gate squeezed the crowd down and then opened up to the wide street there was actually a little room to run, but not much with the crowd.

The course was around downtown Austin starting on the Congress Street bridge (where the bats live) looping up around the Capitol. The first half of the course was uphill and hilly with the second half being downhill and flat. (Course map with elevation) Since this was my first 10K, let alone the first race I’ve ran in 14 years, I was planning on trying to pace myself for the first half and then see how hard I could push it the second half. That plan went out the window when I crossed the starting line and began slashing through the mob. I could tell I was running faster than I had planned but I felt good so I went with it. I actually missed the first two mile markers because of the crowd so I didn’t know what my split times were. At about 2.5 into the course on the biggest hill, Jenny and Olivia were camped out waiting to cheer me on. Luckily I picked the side of the road that they were on. Livy was pretty cute sitting there chomping powdered donuts. They had a good time watching everyone including the people who wore silly costumes. I had joked and offered to run in an Easter Bunny suit but I take that back now. It’d be tough. Here’s some video Jenny took at that spot which might give you an idea of just how crowded it was (and that’s after 2.5 miles!).

There were still 3.5 miles to go after that but the big hills thinned out the pack enough that you didn’t have to constantly dart around people anymore. The last two miles seemed a little tough just because they were flat. So how did I finish? Well, I had figured that 55 minutes was a reasonable goal and that best case maybe 53. Maybe it was adrenaline, or maybe the energy ‘goo’ pack that I ate right before the race (which tasted horrible) but I ended up finishing in a time of 50:30. That is a pace of 8:08/mile. Needless to say I had a great race. Before I started training that would have been a good time for me for one mile let alone over six. Next time I’ll probably try to start a little further up in the pack, but it was a fun challenge to fight the mob and made it seem like you were running that much faster.

Just so you don’t think I’m getting a big head over my personal record time here are a few quick facts. The fastest times were 29:42 in the Men (4:47 per mile), and 35:28 in the Women (5:43 per mile). 14 men over 60 beat my time. 10 women over 50 beat my time. The oldest finisher was 96. And pictures of people running a 10K always make them look goofy, even if they aren’t wearing a costume which is why I went with the post-race shot.

 

Ka-Chow!

One of the photography websites that I watch in my RSS reader linked to a cool photoshop tutorial that I had to try out. Here are Jenny and Olivia posing with our digitally made over car. He’s ready for his audition for the sequel to the recent movie Cars. Ka-chow!

 

What a Croc

You may think it is a bit premature to be getting ready for summer before Easter, but the girls here are gearing up already. Jenny’s been eyeing those Crocs shoes for Livy but they are hard to find in the infant sizes in stores. So when we saw a $10 off, free shipping, and no tax deal we couldn’t pass it up. We were going to get them for the whole family but they don’t make them in dog sizes (sorry Red) and the deal was only good on two pairs. So after a quick trip to the mall to have Jenny try on a pair to figure out her size we came home and put our order in. Pink for Jenny and purple for Olivia. I’m sure they’ll be very cool and comfortable at the beach this summer.

Giving Up Two Wheels for Lent

Giving something up for Lent has never been a big favorite of mine. There are, of course, obvious reasons why I didn’t enjoy it as a kid which usually meant giving up candy, soda, or deserts. But as I’ve gotten older it’s been harder for me to find something to sacrifice that really did what it was supposed to, which is to remind me of what Easter is about and the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. Well, this year has been different. Before Lent, I kept trying to come up with something to give up, but I could only really come up with one idea, which I really didn’t want to do. I don’t have too hard of a time giving up small things and I have a hard time sticking to things that aren’t regimented. Soon enough it was Fat Tuesday and I was out of time and only had one idea that really seemed like it would be difficult enough to matter and regimented enough that I would be forced to stick to it. So what did I give up?

I gave up driving to work and traded in my 4 wheels (truck) for 2 wheels (bike). That’s right, no more jumping into the truck and zipping off to work in the morning. Now it is roll out of bed a little earlier, pack clothes for the work day, pack breakfast and lunch (which can add quite a bit of weight), and then throw on some athletic clothes and hop on the bike. I’ve got a nice route to work which is about half trail and the other half on a quiet neighborhood street. It is right at 3 miles one way so it really isn’t that far, but it seems a lot farther as I’m rolling out of bed. I’ve even biked when it has been raining and sloppy muddy this week. (I do shower at work at our fitness center.) Since going to work isn’t really something that I can ignore the regiment has worked out, but I’ll be honest, I didn’t blog about it earlier because I did wonder if I had bitten off more than I could chew. Especially the first week, since it had been a while since I’ve riden my bike and my behind took a good week to adjust to being back in the saddle. After biking to work this morning, running hills for a lunch workout, and then our first game in the 3-on-3 basketball league at work which Jenny and Olivia came to watch, I did catch a ride home with them. That just means the bike is left at work and I’ve got to lace up the running shoes tomorrow morning.

So as my Godson & nephew Ben asked, "Is it Easter yet?", I’m with you man.