A Belated "Runnerversary"

Last night I was relating the story of how the whole me-and-running thing began. (Readers with absurdly sharp memories know that I started this blog with that tale.) By the end of that discussion, I realized that Thanksgiving 2009 could technically have been considered an anniversary -- or as I have heard others call it, a "runnerversary"!

It's funny to draw a parallel with other relationships we might have, but it really has been a relationship. In the past five years, there have been ups, there have been downs -- and you grasp that seed of hope that promises that it will all be worth it in the end.

During the past week I logged the my most mileage since starting on the acid-reducers. Yesterday's long run was only eight miles, and from the lingering soreness, it's obvious that I'm still regaining lost conditioning.

Friday we had an amazing snowfall. Well, really, EVERY snowfall in Houston is amazing. The Northerners will laugh at this -- it prompted schools and businesses to close early. Anyway, I tried to go out in it for a few minutes, but in the end I retreated to the comfort of the indoors. By the next day we were returned to our usual mild climate, so there was no opportunity to get used to it. I remain largely unprepared for true winter running.

So, being indoors, I logged a good chunk of mileage on the treadmill. Unexpectedly, I discovered that a runner risks football-related injury by combining treadmill time with watching games on television. I nearly fell off the treadmill alogether when Texans runningback Chris Brown got intercepted (as in a pass interception . . . really??) at the goal line.

We're now six weeks away from Marathon Sunday in Houston, and I think of myself as "on target" for the Aramco Half.

Switch

I've officially switched registration to the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. I had been dreading having to do this for a while because it feels like admitting failure, but realistically, I won't be marathon ready in January.

I don't feel that it's right to charge an extra ten dollars to switch races, especially if it's a switch to the race that is less expensive. Isn't the nonrefundable nature of the full marathon registration fee enough punishment to our wallets?

I also wonder if the December 10 cutoff date to switch is really necessary as well. Rock 'N' Roll San Antonio, for example, handles switches all the way through the expo.

The exploding popularity of the event is partly to blame for this frustration I suppose. With the rapid sellouts we have now, participants are basically being asked to commit to one race or the other six months in advance.

So, I will miss out on the race route through West University, the Galleria, and Memorial Park. But there's seven weeks until Marathon Sunday, and I hope that will be enough time to be ready to run 13.1 miles from the GRB to UST and back again.

Katy YMCA Turkey Dash

In both the figurative and literal senses, this morning's Turkey Dash was an acid test. I thought I had found the right strategy to ward off the race-day nausea that has dogged me for too long. But would it work?

Well, just like true gold drenched in nitric acid, the results turned out to be shining:

Mile 1: 9:44
Mile 2: 10:02
Mile 3: 10:33
5K elapsed time: 31:26 (per Garmin Forerunner 205)

And so, I find myself thankful for my best race in six months. I thought I had an outside chance at 30 minutes, but that was definitely lost in the final mile. Mysteriously, several people in the crowd running around me began to wheeze, hack and cough. This put my mind in a not-so-pleasant place, so I just slowed up and let them pass ahead before I caught whatever they were tossing up. Otherwise, the battery of ranitidine and old-fashioned calcium carbonate enabled me to open up my breathing and push my pace into the tens again. It was a good run, and I was entertained for much of it by eavesdropping on a group of women swapping stories about what their kids were learning in sex-ed class.

The weather was stunning -- sunny with temperatures in the high 40s and no wind. The public address announcer crowed that the event set a new registration record (2900). Families with children and dogs were as abundant as the parking at the new Villagio shopping center across the street from the Y. In all, I can easily see this event growing just as popular as the TXU Energy Turkey Trot in the Uptown District.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This Old PC: Setting Sail for New OS Shores

My copy of Windows 7 arrived from Amazon right before the weekend. After adding memory and a new video card to my Shuttle box previously, I was ready to take the plunge.

When making a major change like this, it's always a good idea to leave a fail-safe option if something should go wrong. My first step, therefore, was to create a system image file of my existing Windows XP installation to an external hard drive using Norton Ghost 2003. Then I yanked the internal drive out and placed a new (and larger) drive in its place. After cloning the old drive's image to it, I was free to make a mess, knowing that I could bring the old drive back at will if things got hopeless.

As long as I was in an experimental mood, I was not only installing the new version of Windows, but also wanted to see how my system would react to a Linux installation. So the second part of this project was supposed to be installing OpenSUSE 11.2. From past experience, I remembered that Windows installations tended to wipe out Linux bootloaders, while a Linux installation is more amenable to accomdate a Windows boot option. So the Windows 7 Setup would be up to bat first.

I booted from the Win7 upgrade DVD and was presented with very few prompts before the installer got to work. The only real detour I made was needing to indicate that I wanted the new OS to install itself to unallocated space on the hard drive, creating a new partition in the process. The install appears to have completed flawlessly. I started a load of laundry in the washer at the same time I started the Win7 install, and I was back on the web in less time than it took my Kenmore frontloader to get reach the spin cycle. All hardware was detected perfectly, including my WLAN adapter, my wireless network printer, and even the native 1440x900 resolution of the Westinghouse TV that I use as a monitor. Since there is no direct upgrade path from Windows XP to 7, I'm still left with migrating or replacing my applications, but Microsoft gets an A+ grade from me for handling this old PC configuration.

The OpenSUSE install, on the other hand, could be described as "rough." I had downloaded the ISO file from the OpenSUSE site and burned it to a DVD-R using Active@ISO Burner. I used GParted to shrink the Windows partitions and leave some room for the Linux filesystem. Booting from this disc also kicked off a pretty friendly installer program. After a few basic questions, the YAST2 Setup tool got to work. In just a few minutes, I was poking around the KDE desktop environment. Hardware support was incomplete, though, as drivers for many devices were just absent. Most prominently missing was support for the WLAN adapter, which was surprising since the Broadcom chipsets are common, and a functioning network adapter would have been useful for possibly downloading drivers for the memory card reader, printer, and monitor (resolution was stuck at a distorted 1280x1024). In the end, I removed the ext4 Linux partitions and just left Windows, the new and the old, in a dual-boot setup on the hard disk. I still want to investigate today's Linux possibilities, but I may stick to experimenting with it purely on a test PC.

With support for Microsoft Money fading away, one of the new apps that will be added to this Windows 7 system will be Quicken Deluxe 2010. Let's hope that installation goes as smoothly as the Windows setup program itself.

This Old PC: Freshening up hardware for 2010

One of the remarkable things about my experience in personal computing is the current period of relative stability in which I've found myself. In the 1990s I'd build another box every other year or so to keep up with advances in speed needed to keep up with the demanding programs I was running, i.e. games. But my computing habits have changed. I game less, and most of those titles are now on consoles. The most demanding PC game I run now is SimCity 4, and that was released back in 2003.

What this means is that I've been able to get by with the same desktop chassis at home since 2002. It's what I consider a classic, the brilliant SS51G from Shuttle's XPC series. When many enthusiasts were still obsessed with big tower configurations, I chose this toaster-sized box as the foundation of the system I still use today. The oddly translucent blue faceplate is a reminder of the influence that Apple was exerting in product design at the time with its original Bondi Blue iMac.

Within the SS51G's compact dimensions, Shuttle left enough breathing room for what has turned out to be a long life of expansion options. For the past eight years I've been back inside the case to swap or upgrade components several times. (For example, there used to be a floppy drive where the flash memory card reader is now.) This past weekend, I gave this old PC what will probably be its last internal hardware upgrades -- a second gigabyte of RAM and a new videocard.

As long as I had the system unplugged and the case open, it was a convenient time to exorcise all of the dust bunnies that have been collecting for many months. A few minutes with the ever-popular can of compressed air stripped away the fluff clinging to the inner crevices. A couple of tips I thought I'd pass on to readers looking to perform this chore themselves:

• Turn the computer on its side, or even upside-down if necessary, but always keep the can of compressed air upright. Or else be prepared to see liquid propellant squirted into your machine.
• Use a stick-like object to stop fans from spinning from the blasts of compressed air. Not only is it more difficult to blow dust off of moving blades, but remember that DC electric motors double as generators. Who knows what might happen if you start pushing random current upstream from the fan?

Once things were dust-free inside and out to my satisfaction, the new components were swapped in and I was booting back into Windows XP soon enough. The videocard, based on the GeForce 6200 from nVidia, was a bargain-basement purchase, but it should be enough to enable the Aero interface of Windows 7 -- which we'll leave for a future installment of "This Old PC."

Energy Capital Run

This will be my last race for the time being. I completed a run/walk of this 5K in just under 42 minutes.

I had pre-registered earlier in the month and I'm glad I showed up. The weather was beautiful one for outdoor activities, with a dawn temp in the high forties. Instead of a cotton T, the packets came with a New Balance tech fabric shirt with the race logo. Gulf States Toyota's facility is right on the course, and after the race I picked up a freebie Houston Rockets polo shirt from the carmaker's table. I will make good use of both.

In all, this was a pretty well-run event. The only anomaly I encountered was that the police had not completely closed the Enclave Parkway intersection with Briar Forest, and participants had to stop there twice on the out-and-back course until the officer waved them on.

I hope I can figure out what is keeping me from running as I think I should. What worries me, of course, is that there's a real possibility that I may have to sit out the marathon if I don't.

Forward.

Rookie mistake

Two small shortbread cookies, a packet of GU gel, a handful of cotton candy, half a cup of chicken noodle soup, and a piece of bread -- this is basically what powered me through virtually all day yesterday including a long run. Not surprisingly, this didn't work out well.

I think I simply let myself get distracted by excitement of a busy day. On Friday, I got invited to come out to a festival on Saturday, and I decided that I would just fit this event in between this weekend's long run and another festival I had already planned to attend.

When I got up Saturday, I was in such a rush that the only pre-run food I had was the cookies. I was carrying a GU gel and ate that halfway through thirteen miles. Still in a rush, I got home, showered and immediately left for what was supposed to be festival number one.

I ended up wiping myself out. My energy stores were zapped, and yet at the same time the run had suppressed my appetite to the point where eating seemed abhorrent. I felt trapped in this pattern for hours, forcing myself to nibble as much as I could tolerate to keep going. I felt so bad that I ended up skipping festival number two.

Lessons re-learned:
1) Before morning runs shorter than an hour, breakfast isn't necessary for me. For long runs, it's highly recommended.
2) After finishing a long run, I need to start the re-fueling process as soon as possible -- within the first hour -- even if the body doesn't seem to be demanding it right away.

Sadly, you'd think that this sort of goof wouldn't be committed by someone pursuing the Houston Marathon for the third time (if I count the eventual switch to the half course in 2007), but it happened and I fully own the mistake.

My appetite didn't re-appear until late last night. At 11:59 p.m., I devoured a leftover Quizno's sandwich, a banana and a glass of soy milk; this made the most substantive meal I had all of Saturday.

As of today, we have 90 days to go until the Houston Marathon. I'd like them to be full of brighter thinking.

Run to Cure HD

Actually, today's primary goal was to get in some long-run mileage. So after checking in at Oyster Creek Park an hour before race time, I did an extended warmup of four miles before reporting to the start line. I'm still unable to run a full 5K at 5K effort and my mile splits look a lot like last week's:

Mile 1: 9:34
Mile 2: 11:53
Mile 3: 13:42
elapsed 5K time: 37:00 (per Garmin Forerunner 205)

Just like last week, race nausea hit me in mile 2 and dogged me into frequent walking breaks for the rest of the course. Oh well. I don't know if I was seeing the final official results, but the sheets that were posted during the awards ceremony showed me as the second to last male in my age group. At last year's event I was at the bottom, so I'll have to be happy to move up, right?

After crossing the finish mat, I was off to log another three miles before I left the park, for a total of ten. I took a rest at the awards ceremony long enough to consume a slice of pepperoni pizza and claim an XL T-shirt from the University of Phoenix ("I am a Phoenix") as a door prize. (Boy was I really coveting that free registration for the Sugar Land Turkey Trot instead!)

The weather was absolutely wonderful for a race. After yesterday's front came through, we were left with a 56F morning with overcast skies, versus the 97F heat index we had to deal with on Thursday afternoon.

Next weekend should be free of racing, and then I'll be reporting from the Energy Capital Run on the 24th.

Celiac Run

Five miles at Bear Creek Park went into the log on this pleasant morning, including the Celiac Run event:

Mile 1 -- 9:13
Mile 2 -- 13:22
Mile 3 -- 11:55

3.18-mile elapsed time per Garmin Forerunner 205 -- 36:05

The double-loop race course had to be altered to avoid a flooded area of the park, and everyone wearing GPS agreed the revised course was a bit long. But I wasn't worried about setting any new records today. It was all about just getting back into the swing of showing up and completing a running event after a three-month dry spell. And it was tough to pass up a 5K being held just a short drive away from home.

I feared that this race was going to turn out just like this past Heights Fun Run. I started fairly strong, then was hit with a bout of nausea in mile 2. Luckily, I was able to recompose myself in time to mostly jog the rest of the course in and claim that 36:05 time -- exactly ten minutes over my all-time 5K PR.

Speaking of thirty-somethings, I would have been an award recipient had I listed myself as "competitive" on my registration. This was a really, really small event (scheduled against the juggernaut downtown known as the Komen Race for the Cure) and only one male in my age group showed up. In a normally fiercely contested age/gender group with awards three-deep, only one guy was competing. To be honest, claiming hardware by default like this would have cast a hollow feeling on me during the short ride home.

The whole purpose of this event was to raise awareness of issues affecting and resources helping people with gluten allergies. Therefore the spread on the refreshment tables was a bit different from usual. The gluten-free brownies got my full endorsement, but I couldn't palate the bagels with a texture between angel-food cake and cornbread, but tasted like neither. The Redbridge beer I remember from a previous edition of the Celiac Run was nowehere to be found, but I give the organizers sweet props for putting out cartons of strawberries. Yum!

The last running-related footnote I'll add is that I've switched shoes -- finally. In recent weeks I've had periodic flareups of my dreaded achilles tendinitis, and I realized that the last time I bought new running shoes was six months ago. So this week I've been breaking in a pair of New Balance 1224s, and have been pretty happy with the results. This morning was wholly pain-free, and I'll take it!

Fall opens with a bloom of bullet points

• There's no doubt now; autumn is firmly in gear. The air is cooling. The calendar has flipped to October. Pumpkins and (artificial) Christmas trees are prominently on display at the local plant nursery.
  
• I've updated my running calendar blog with a lot of events coming up in October and November, many of which seem to be new -- at least to me. H-Town runners, have fun scheduling your weekends.
• I've already signed up for the Celiac Run and the Energy Capital Run; it's always nice to be able to support races that are in easy reach of home. I'm still far, far off my peak speed from the spring. Anything below a 40-minute 5K will be acceptable right now.
• Spearmint has earned my respect. A plant which I thought had been neglected to death during the brutal summer heat on my patio has sprouted fresh leaves as fall has started. I'm rewarding it with a larger container that won't be so prone to drying out.
• My crop of Swiss chard was totally overrun by some sort of leaf miner bugs that ripped holes in the foliage, then stripped them clean. It only took a week. The devastation was so complete that the barren stems that remained reminded me of those pictures of the timberlands surrounding Mount Saint Helens after the mountain blew up. After raising the white flag, I've planted nasturtium and cilantro seeds in those containers instead. Maybe they'll be less appetizing to pests.
• Speaking of seeding, fall is supposed to be the proper time to sow wildflowers for next spring's bloom. Within the view from my patio, there is a patch of earth just outside the apartment complex that is just growing some very ordinary weeds at the moment. I am having thoughts of doing something to help it become more interesting in the future....
• I'm glad to see a new season of The Amazing Race. I'm still hoping that the producers will shed the manufactured drama that infects just about all "reality TV" and revert back to a focus on team logistics and problem solving that brought me in as a viewer in the first place. It's a faint hope, to be sure.
• The CR-V clocked its 175,000th mile this week. I'm looking forward to posting a long-long-term test drive report in a few months once she hits her 10th birthday. It's been a pretty good ride so far.