For at least one week, all is right at my alma mater. At least we got the win on national TV Friday night.
The weekend wasn’t so kind to the ACC, however. Several high-profile matchups (NC State/South Carolina, Va Tech/ECU, UVa/Southern Cal, and Clemson/Alabama) didn’t quite go as desired. But the greatest ignominy may be reserved for for the skydiving team that delivered a game ball for the UNC game to the Duke football stadium. Yup, things were definitely out-of-whack in the ACC this weekend.
Or something like that. It’s a bizarre perspective in the picture on the right, from the official photos from the half-marathon.
You can see me in my “pain” and “agony” here. I actually like the one in the middle of the top row the best (also shown at the right) — the overcast sky behind, with the sun rising in our face. I think that one was taken just before mile 2, if I remember correctly. The first photo in the list is probably the best of the three of me finishing. And the last photo from the first row is around the halfway point, as we pass through Ashland. And yes, that’s a giant freight train passing behind me as we did this stretch. It was very long AND LOUD. It was actually a bit disconcerting with the noise it generated while I tried to run that stretch.
And that fact was in doubt at one point — at least before it started. You see, I came down with a something that seemed like the flu less than 48 hours before the race. I had an aching body, a high fever, tingling fingers, and a sore throat. The fever was largely gone by the morning, however, and the rest of the symptoms (except for being a little tired) were gone by Friday afternoon. I guess it was a 24-hour bug.
So I saddled up for a 7am start on Saturday morning under gorgeous conditions (slightly overcast, low 60s, humidity not noticeable). By the time I finished almost 2 hours later, things had warmed up a bit, the clouds were gone, and you could tell I had run in the heat and humidity (shirt and shorts were soaked). I think I noticed some general weakness in my strength and energy because of the flu (I had lost 3 pounds alone just from Thursday morning to Saturday morning), but I pushed through. I took a few more walk breaks than I wanted in the last 3 miles (as I said, energy was a bit down), but I also ran faster than I expected.
I broke my goal (1 hour 55 minutes) by running a 1:54:11, even with the slowdown in the last few miles. All things considered, I’m happy about this one and I’m looking forward to my next half-marathon in November. I think I can chop a few more minutes off that time with the right weather conditions.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend. I’ll share official pictures in the future (once they are released).
OK, I think I (and anyone else who runs and/or bikes) just lost our excuses to not try a triathlon at some point. If a man can do the swimming portion without any limbs (and pass a couple dozen people in the process), then I don’t think I have any other possible excuse.
Here’s the Rick Reilly online column and here’s the original TV report (with video) out of Pittsburgh. Congrats, Craig. You are an inspiration.
Well, I ran my first race of the year last night. It’s hard to believe that I actually haven’t run a race yet this year, but it just never worked out in the schedule. Last night was the Moonlight 4-Miler from the local Richmond Road Runners club. This race is 4 years old, and I have run it all 4 years. I have improved my times the last 2 years and this year broke my goal for the race - under 32 minutes. OK, according to the offical time (go to www.rrrc.org, then Race Results, then search the results for the specific race), I was actually a 32:05, but it took me 10 seconds to get to the approximate start line, so I wound up with a 31:55 on my watch.
The other big takeaway from the race is that I finished in the top half of my age group (8th out of 17), which I normally don’t do. To me, that’s a good indicator that I’m getting the fitness I’m aiming for. I even finished in the top 100 for the race (actually the top third), which is excellent. Usually I’m about halfway back at most races, so another sign that my training is coming together alright. (Losing over 25 pounds this year so far has definitely helped.)
Now the part I’m most disappointed in was that I didn’t get a trophy. Well, certainly not in my age group, but I was in the running for the Clydesdale category. What’s that? Just for us plodders — guys who weigh over 200 pounds. After placing 5th in that category last year and 3rd in that category the year before, I placed 4th this year — 1 spot (and 15 seconds) out of a trophy. (They had no trophy the year I placed 3rd.) Grrrr! I probably had 15 seconds in me to push more on the course, though I didn’t do it. Oh well, maybe next year.
(If you don’t realize it, everything in the paragraph above is tongue-in-cheek. I’d like a trophy, but it doesn’t mean that much. Just an indication that I’m close to being somewhat competitive.)
The other nice thing about this race? No, no race shirt or anything. But they do provide Bruster’s ice cream after the race for each participant. Yum! A nice way to cool down after a warm (low 80s at the start) and slightly humid race. And the nearly full moon rising over the course at the end was a nice touch, too.
And next Saturday is another race for me — this time, a half-marathon. So look for more on the Patrick Henry Half-Marathon next Saturday. Hopefully, it will be better weather than last year, in its inaugural race - a time of record warmth, with morning temperatures already in the low 80s at the 7:00am start time. And it just got more miserable from there. It cannot get worse than that, can it? knock on wood
For one of them, it was because he played so long (20 years). For the other, I’m not sure I can explain it rationally (one site put together a 21-minute video case for why he should have been in there during the time we waited). But tonight, Darrell Green and Art Monk were inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. I guess it’s only fitting that they get inducted together, as there were one of the key constants during those Super Bowl years. (OK, Green actually wasn’t on the team for the first Super Bowl victory.)
So here’s a toast to two of the nicest guys to ever play the game — they played it hard, played it well, and played it fairly. They were among the best ever.
Check out Darrell Green’s post-football endeavors. His Hall of Fame webpage is here. Art Monk’s Hall of Fame webpage is here.
