Tuesday, November 18, 2008

San Antonio Recap


Decent weather, good food, great friends. Sounds like a recipe for a sweet weekend. Combine it with the energy and excitement from 30,000 runners and you've got it!
What would any trip to San Antonio be without a visit to the Alamo. I particularly appreciated the unbiased and evenhanded presentation of the factors leading up to the conflict. Texas - it really is like a whole other country. Having read Michener's Texas as a kid it was cool to see the site of the battle.



Here's Angie at around mile 2.5. Getting ready to hand off her extra hat and gloves. Her sherpa's were glad to have the gloves.









So this is what it feels like to stand on the side and cheer. I was glad I had brought my Turtleman cowbell. It was pretty quiet early in the race.
I was suprised at how little interest I had in running the race. Even going to the expo didn't cause any regret.
Here's the whole crew celebrating Angie's 15 minute PR. Wow! She was even so considerate as to run 3 seconds slower than my Grandma's time this year. Whew!
Here she is - Injured Runner Report #992-1. They document everything at the medical tent - even just needing a bandaid for a blister.
The Doc had to document putting a whippet in an ambulance to warm up at mile 20 of the Twin Cities Marathon one particularly cold year. That was their first (and perhaps only) veterinary incident at TCM.
Neither Anne nor I slept very well and we had an o-dark 30 flight out on Monday so the trip wasn't as restful as a weekend away usually is. Back to the hockey grind!
For those of you who have had concerns about a certain dietary anomoly of mine - never fear changes have been made. Stay tuned.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Quickly from San Antonio



Just a quick note from San Antonio. We got in late afternoon yesterday. Here's the view from our room down to the Riverwalk.

As some of you know, I'm not planning on running the race. I will go out with Mike tomorrow and get a good run in. I decided that I needed to keep focused on CDA and not risk putting my tired body through a late season 1/2.

Since I'm not running the race, it's Katy bar the door! Last night the Doc and I hit Coyote Ugly (at her suggestion). The Doc didn't make it up onto the bar last night, but it was close at times. We had watched a few episodes of the Making Coyote Ugly show so it was interesting to see it live. We were out of there by 10 and it was a Thursday. Maybe we'll get back there tonight with the OBs - should be even more lively. If there's a bartop dance I'll be sure to post pics here!

It's going to be 80 degrees down here today! Sweet! After that it cools off a bit. I can feel your sympathy streaming my way!

Just got an email from Zman's coach that they came back and tied in their first game of the season. It was a bummer missing his first game (and the next 2) but did I mention it was going to be 80 degrees today?

Texas - it's like a whole other country!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Prerace Press Conference - Squinting in the Bright Lights

Having emerged from my self imposed training cave (the "TC") it was time to sit down and fulfill my prerace media obligations. After having spent the last 8 days in the TC the bright lights of the cameras from the assembled media throng (the "AMT") were a bit harsh, but I'm no longer seeing stars. The following is a mostly unedited transcript from the press conference.

AMT: When last we heard from you, you were trying to determine your goals for SA Rock n Roll 1/2. What have you been doing in the interim?

Me: I've spent a great deal of time in my training cave ("TC"). I've undergone complete body composition, VO2 Max, Anerobic Threshold, pinky strength and intestinal fortitude testing. The results have not been pretty. I've been deemed category FSAW - fat, slow and weak. FSAW is not something that can be overcome in 8 days. Although I have given it my best shot.

AMT: What about training?

Me: Well, during those 8 days I've started multiple runs. I even finished a couple of them. Thanks to NS Rob I just finished an 11 mile run in just under 2 hours. Not pretty.

AMT: Will it be enough to beat the lovely Angela?

Me: Thats a great question! No.

AMT: What is your plan for SA Rock n Roll?

Me: I'm going to go down to SA, walk the River Walk with my wife of excessive hotness, check out the Alamo, enjoy a ton of TexMex, have some cervesa on Friday evening and I suppose on Sunday morning I'll tie my shoes and run 13.1 miles (or some part thereof).

AMT: Specifically what's your plan for the race? What will you do about Angela?

Me: I'm going to go out in around 10/min miles and hopefully pick it up a bit in the second half of the half. Finish prediction anywhere from 2:05 to 2:15.

AMT: Is it true that you've been seen at your computer next to a pile of fun sized wrappers?

Me: That wasn't me unless you have photographic evidence and even then those weren't my wrappers. I mean that's my kids' candy - like I would eat that candy one sweet mini snickers bar after another followed by mini twix - damn why are these individually wrapped it really slows me down (although not enough).

At this point the Doc ripped the microphone out of my hands shouting "NO MORE Questions, can't you see he needs help."

Thanks again for the run today NS Rob. I think part of my deal is that I've been out there alone too much, I'm too tired. Couple that with FSAW and it's not good.

Rhetorical Question: Can I call it a taper if I had about 10 days of training, somehow threw in a couple of long runs - 9 and 11 miles and am now resting?