Thursday, January 26, 2012

Austin Half-Marathon

T-Minus 23 days until the Austin Marathon. Or, Half-Marathon in my case. For those that would like to track progress in real-time, you can download the Austin Marathon App for iPhone or Android.



That way when you're sitting around on Sunday, you can laugh at my dumbass as I trudge along 13.1 miles.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Running, Seriously?

Lonnie, I didn't know you run.
Of course, we all do. If you're chased, you run. If you chase, you run. If you gotta be there soon and you're not in a car, you run.

Is running a real sport?
The challenge is simple. "I can be over there before you." In the past it was because a wild animal would eat the loser. Now we just do it so the winners can get shiny pendants on cloth necklaces. (I like the idea of the old style better.)

When do you know you've crossed the line and become serious about running?
It's the same as any other sport. First, you buy shoes. Golf shoes. Bowling shoes. Racquetball shoes. Cleats. Next, you pay-to-play. In most sports this happens very early (golf, bowling.) In running, you never need to pay, the world is your court (all but the watery bits.) So if you do pay to run, yeah you're crossing a line. Other signs include: traveling for an event, recruiting others to play, bragging about your results, (or writing a blog post.) And let's not forget practice.

Well it sounds like anything could be a sport. I buy beer (pay,) "recruit" my friends, travel to a party, and brag when I beat them at beer pong.
Dedicated shoes are a must.



Running Kinda Sucks While You're Doing It.

But as much as it sucks, it seems like I must like it at least a little bit to devote a blog to it. The fact that I don't write it on my own time make it easier but I digress.

This entire little running venture came about after a seemingly normal Facebook status update from a friend saying he was running in a 5K. The Kick for Kenya 5K at Golf Course Church of Christ in Midland, TX, to be specific. Having lapsed in the running game for a while due to injuries sustained in a car wreck and just general American apathy, I decided to join him. Lonnie Richardson and our now-in-the-Navy friend, Martin Arevalo joined, as well.

Running Pic 1

With only a real month of training, I ran this thing and finished with a decent time, much to my own surprise. I kinda got hooked after that. My only real problem with the entire race atmosphere was that they served orange slices post-race but a bottle of Blue Moon nor Shock Top was nowhere to be found (We remedied this at another 5K but that's another story).

Personally, I run because it's kinda cool to see yourself get better at something with tangible evidence that you are. And also, I like collecting those numbers. I'd say I enjoy the charity aspect of it but honestly, aside from the Kenya 5K which tells you in the title who it's for, I don't really do it for that.

And now, I'm committed to running in the Austin Half-Marathon on February 19th. I anticipate major suckage during that race but I'm sure I'll act like it was really fun days later.