The Digital Bridge to My Nowhere

Among the many things for which I was thankful this past Thursday was finally getting DSL activated at my new residence. It's certainly not on the same level as water or electric service, but having Internet access at home has become closer to being a highly desirable amenity. It took much longer than I expected, but now my information island is connected.

I was a longtime DSL and home phone customer with AT&T (and SBC before that) and was very satisfied with the service. The small handful of you that actually follow this blog might recall that I was even able to blog through the thankfully brief electrical outage during Hurricane Ike.

So a full month before I moved in, I placed an online order on the AT&T website asking that I get similar service here. The day before I moved in, an AT&T tech called me from the site to confirm that I had dialtone and my new phone number was ready. On the same day, my old phone line lost dialtone and my DSL modem lost signal. At least the disconnect portion of the order went as planned.

I had asked the phone installation tech about the new DSL service -- which I had also requested for my move-in day -- and he advised that it would be handled separately. Well, I was busy with other things as one might expect, so I let this slip for a few days. When I did finally get around to pursuing help, AT&T's customer service gave me obtuse answers like these:

• The new phone number wasn't mine. (What?)
• I needed to place an order for DSL. (But I did?)
• I had an invalid order number (I can clearly read what I printed out from AT&T's own website.)
• DSL wasn't available for my new phone number. (Hmmmm.)
• DSL was available for my new address. (Double-hmmmm.)

Finally after receiving a bill for a new month of service at my old address, I -- with the help of an astute customer service person at AT&T -- finally figured out that the information system being used by customer service had never properly marked my old service as terminated. Because I had placed a move order, that hangup prevented the DSL order from proceeding on my new number. This apparently is not a rare problem for this system, but once that error was cleared, I was cleared for DSL on my new number. So three-and-a-half weeks past my original move-in date, I was finally able to get my new home LAN hooked up to the outside world.

For at least the time being, then, I recommend that AT&T customers who are moving not, under any circumstances use the Move My Services link on the AT&T website. Make two separate orders -- one to disconnect service at the old address, and one to activate service at the new one. This way, if there is an issue on one of the orders, it will not interfere with the other.

Now it's time for me to post a couple back-dated TXU Energy Turkey Trot and RNRSA race reports.

TXU Energy Turkey Trot

I waited until the night before to register for this 10K in Houston's Uptown District. At least I was smart enough to not try registering for this big event on Thanksgiving morning itself! My car and I showed up 30 minutes before gun time and I took a spot in a nearby garage since all the spaces in the Uptown Park shopping area were full.

I was able to get a semi-decent five-minute warmup and then took a spot in the starting crowd near the "11 minute pace" sign. I think most of the folks running had little idea what an eleven-minute pace was, because I was dodging and weaving for just about the entire first mile. Of course, this ended up throwing off my pace and I came upon the first mile marker in less than nine minutes.

That would end up crushing me because soon after I got to the three-mile mark in 27 minutes, I lost energy. I took several walk breaks back to the finish line and ended up with a 10K chip time of 1:00:58.

So for now, my 10K PR from this year's Flying Pig (59:07) is still kicking back and feeling safe. I still feel that this is a "soft" number that I should be able to crack if I can just get decent speed and fitness back....

Rock 'N' Roll San Antonio

I took part in the half marathon at Rock 'N' Roll San Antonio this morning. Slap me if I say I want to do a mega-event like this again. I probably will still do it anyway, but I just need a reminder of what I'm setting myself up for.

I mistakenly thought that showing up two hours ahead of the race start would be enough time. As I surveyed the sea of brake lights around me at 5:30 a.m., I knew something was wrong. Without any traffic control, the line of cars waiting to get into the AT&T Center parking lot had backed up a mile onto Interstate 35. An hour later, I was finally parked and was ready to stand in the line for the shuttle buses.

I think it was around 8 a.m. or so that I finally made it to the start area, 30 minutes past the scheduled gun time. The pre-race plan was to meet up with Lacer from the RWOL forums in corral #11. Corral 11 was long gone by then, and I'm assuming Lacer was as well. So, already feeling tired, I launched my race with corral 25.

The first half went pretty well. The race organizers had already started taking down the mile markers by the time I got on the course, so I was depending a lot on my Garmin to give me pace feedback. I hit mile six at around 60 minutes. It wasn't long after that when I spotted a familiar-looking runner lady wearing red and the name "Katrina" glittered on the front. I said hello to the RWOL forum's Redsparkle and wished her well as she was going for 26.2 miles today.

Shortly after this, my race fell apart. I knew my training runs lately have been awful, and it was this point where it showed. I ended up walking frequently on the latter half of the race. My Garmin shows my elapsed time for the course at around 2:28, the likes of which I haven't seen in nearly two years. It was one of those races where I was mostly grateful to finish.

After finishing, I was presented with another hour-long wait to reclaim my gear bag. Then came the final line of the day to board the shuttle buses back to AT&T Center. This wait wasn't truly bad compared to the others, but the line went down one staircase and climbed another. I'm really glad I didn't run the full course today!

So, here's some final thoughts as I'm digesting pizza and chicken fried steak (the "100 calorie" packs of crackers and Dole fruit cups handed out at the post-race weren't quite enough):

1) When your race instructions say that the parking lot opens at 4:30 a.m., there's a reason for that.

2) Train badly, race badly.

3) If you can avoid checking in a gear bag, do so!

To put the race performance in perspective, I had PRed the half marathon distance with a 2:08 six months ago at the Flying Pig. Even last November in San Antonio, I ran a 2:13. So I'm having to deal with the reality that I'm less fit than I was just last year.

(later)

Tonight, I was able to let off some frustrations at the post-race concert headlined by The Cult. The band is still largely together, and they still rock! "Fire Woman," "Rain," and "She Sells Sanctuary" have held up well after all this time.

Change

Unless you've been hiding under a very heavy rock, you know today's election day. The ballot, of course, is headlined by the choice for a new President of the United States. Constitutionally, I am eligible for this office, so if you can't make up your mind, feel free to just scribble "CurrentlyVince" as a write-in candidate.

I was one of many who took advantage of early voting. In addition to avoiding the lines, this worked out well for me because I don't even live in my voting precinct now. Over this past weekend, I changed addresses, so I am no longer reporting from Fort Bend County. Doing my part in "going green," I've moved closer to where I work. So instead of commuting 45 minutes in the morning and an hour in the afternoon, the trip is only 15 minutes each way. In addition, I've got easy access to numerous trails so I could potentially use the time savings to run more.

I would have posted something sooner, but I'm still waiting for the Internet to connect to my new abode. I need to find out why AT&T was able to promptly able to install my phone service, but not my DSL.

Tour de Donut

For most of this past weekend I was pretty occupied with moving, but I am pleased to report that I did make the time to ride in the 5th Annual Tour de Donut, a cycling event that benefits the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

There were two rides offered in this event this past Sunday. The serious cyclists would take a 55-mile loop route starting and ending at Katy Mills Mall. The other option was the shorter 28-mile donut challenge, which would offer two stops well-stocked with donuts. Each donut consumed in this challenge would earn a five-minute deduction from the rider's time.

Y'all already know which box I checked on my entry form, right??

About fifteen minutes after the clock started, I crossed the start mats with the back of the pack. The route was slightly altered this year, with riders being sent out of the mall parking lot and over to the Interstate-10 feeder road. I think this change gave the riders more pavement to work with and reduced early bottlenecking.

It was a beautiful morning with cool, sunny skies and some breeze as we turned off the highway onto the two lane blacktop that cut south into the Katy prarie. This section of Fort Bend County is making the transition from rural to suburban, with horse ranches and feed stores alternating with newly-sprouted master-planned communities.

I'm far from being a serious cyclist. My only "training" was taking my Schwinn Suburban out of the garage for a ten-mile ride the previous weekend to make sure it was still working. One of the ride marshals pulled alongside me and grinned. "You're doing pretty good on that mountain bike." I suppose I was.

Just like last year, I did a lot of passing in the early portion of the ride. Among the parade of wheels, I saw more than one tandem bike, a couple of rollerbladers, and a pair of young ladies sporting pairs of short-shorts and brightly-colored over-the-knee long-stockings.

At mile 11, I made it to Fulshear (pop. 718), the site of the first donut stop. I pulled off the road into the gravel-covered parking lot in front of an attorney's office. The cyclist behind me lost control on the gravel and skidded sideways to the ground. He gave me a good startle, but he was okay. So it was time to hit the donut line.

"Start me with three," I told the volunteer. She plucked three glazed Shipley's donuts from one of countless boxes and placed them in my hand. I turned my back on another volunteer, and she made three hash marks on my race bib. (Last year, I showed up with my race bib on the front of my shirt, runner-style like a noob.)

Down went the donuts: 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . yummy! Back in line, I asked for three more and got three more hash marks.

4 . . . 5 . . . 6 . . .

With the sixth donut, I could sense that my stomach was starting to question what I was up to. I was already one donut shy of my count from last year, but I decided that I had eaten enough for now and re-mounted my bike. I felt really loaded down, like the donuts were five pounds each or something. It wasn't until three miles out of Fulshear that I was pedaling normally again.

After that first stop, the 55-mile route split away and the line of riders around me had definitely thinned out. I certainly was far from the only one out there on a cheap bike. I waved the "sign of the horns" at a guy with the dulcet tones of Kiss rising from his handlebar speakers. I exchanged greetings with a couple of riders sporting Aramco Houston Half Marathon shirts.

Turning north, we passed the halfway point of the route entering Waller County. We proceeded on to the bustling city of Brookshire, Texas (pop. 3450), where the second route stop at mile 18 waited for us at a quick-lube shop. I accepted three more glazed from the donut tent and took them down -- slowly. By the ninth I had "hit the wall" in gluttony terms and had to take a seat on the curb. Another guy and I marveled at a third gentleman standing in the grass puffing away.

"A cigarette!?" we asked incredulously.

"Hahahahaha," replied the smoker. "Yeah, and I've had ten dounuts too."

I wouldn't even think of emulating his example, but I admit that I was impressed. I did want to reach double-digits in the donut count today, so I staggered to my feet, and asked a volunteer for one final sugar-coated ring of fried dough. It felt like a long, long time, but I earned that tenth hash mark on my bib number and re-mounted for the return leg to Katy.

I never really felt normal for the rest of the ride. Really feeling loaded down, I was fighting a headwind and was barely eking out 12 mph. As I entered the mall parking lot, I noticed my Garmin had ticked off 29.3 miles for this year's revised route. As the race clock ticked to 3:01, I rolled across the finish mat, feeling accomplished. Last year my chip time of 2:07 and seven donuts was good enough to put me in the top 15% overall. This year's official results are still being tabulated, but I'm pretty sure going for more donuts this year possibly cost me more time than I got back in credit!