Philosopher/Bureaucrat

I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

-Ecclesiastes

Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account.

-George Orwell

It's Beginning To Run A Lot Like Christmas

Running on the Town Lake trails under a gray drizzly sky, church bells ringing Christmas songs. It's cold and wet but I'm nice and cozy in my oompa-loompa style hooded jogging suit. My core is telling me I haven't been doing this enough, could be yet another New Year's Resolution. But for now it's just the trails, the runners, and the promise of a peppermint mocha afterwords. It feels good.

More Marathon Musings

It was like running on another planet (a planet with ten times Earth's gravity and half as much air), a lovely country road on a beautiful sunny day, just the way it always looks when suddenly everything is different now. Each step sent a new shock wave rolling up my body.

Live intensely.

There comes a place where you have only six point two miles to go. I can run that distance in 40 minutes, jog it in an hour, or keep walking until I get there. For most of the race, though, you're not there yet.

We pass the Lone Star Brewry. Twice. This truly is a test of willpower.

We run past the old Spanish missions. Prayer might help, but I can't risk putting stress on my knees. If you think about it, you do have time to run in and say a quick Hail Mary.

When I look back now, I think about crossing the finish line less than I think about all the rest of the race, beginning, middle, and end. Every mile has its own character, its own challenges.

The Sabermetrician in Me

Yes, it is a baseball term, and I don't know if there is an equivalent for running, but I discovered my time is better than third place in the female age 12-14 division. That's right, I only got beat by two 12-year-old girls! Something to be proud of, I think.

Half Marathon PR - It's Official

My finisher certificate from the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon came in the mail. My offical time was 1:45:29. I placed 189th (out of 766) in my division, 938th (out of 4222) among men, and 1174th (out of 9625) overall. I'm very happy with that result.

My "age grade" is 57.2, less than 3 points below "local class," the lowest grade. Presumably if I don't run fast enough to be in a grade, does that I'm just casual runner? Judging by the results, there's a lot of us.

I like half marathons, and I'm thinking if I can run an 8:03 pace, I can shave a few seconds off and run in the high-7s.

A Long Long Way to Run

I remember the best parts first. The anticipation waiting at the starting line under a waning gibbous moon, then rounding the many street corners ol' San Antone at sunrise, down familiar country roads and back again to cheering crowds. I'm convinced they added that last .2 miles to marathons because the excitement and exhilaration of the last .2 miles completely erases the pain of the previous 26. Afterwords, there is laughter and jokes, crawling in and out of cars, baby giraffe walks, merriment and beer.

Niamh (that's prounced Neeve, for the non-Irish speakers) had a great day and qualified for Boston on her second marathon, a fact I had to point out to as many people as possible as we walked back to the car. Me, I had a slightly worse time. The good news is I'm not so sore because I didn't run as fast as I expected. The bad news is I didn't run as fast as I expected. I probably started out a little too fast, and it soon became clear I would have to I take my time and enjoyed the scenery on that country road home (hey John Denver!). It was run walk run walk run cramp walk run walk walk walk run whew!

Pre-Pre-Race Dream

Dreamed I was late. Not for the race, but for the day before the race. The reason? It involved a girl and class I had in college, along with an unlikely cast of celebrities. Other than that, the dream didn't make a whole lot of sense.

The plan today is a pancake breakfast, then to Run-Tex to buy clothes for unexpectedly cold weather. I probably shouldn't dress for temps between 50 70 when it's going to be 30 to 50.