Fall colors, Clovis style

Running with 28,000 of my closest friends...

The Sacramento Run to Feed the Hungry wants to become the biggest Thanksgiving day race in the country, and it seems like they're succeeding. Some 28,000 ponied up the $35 to run this year, myself included.

So my goal was to run under 50 minutes for the 10K. Conversely, I wanted to avoid running over 50 minutes. So of course my time was 50 minutes even. 50:00. Should have lunged or dove across the line...

Here are a few things I would say about running a race that large:

1. Be on time. We were not and as a result, we had to get our race-walk on for about a mile before the start line. Not that that mattered a whole lot, since it took about 15 minutes for everyone to finally cross the start line. Next year, we leave at 7:15 for the race!

2. Be prepared to take risks if you want to make your pace. In the first, oh, mile and a half, it is pandemonium. Chaos. Wall to wall (or gutter to gutter) people. Some walking, some running, some sauntering, some talking to their neighbor, etc. I realized quickly that getting through the throng would require me taking some chances. So I was up on the curbs, weaving through people, stopping, starting, hurtling flower beds, running through front yards, dodging Starbucks tables and more. It stunk. By the time I got to the 2 mile mark, not only was I way behind my goal pace, but I think I used up most of my energy slaloming through the masses.

3. Watch out for flying bodily fluids. Another lovely benefit of running alongside that many people is that you live with the constant specter of someone either spitting or blowing their nose on you. It's like the road is one big asphalt kleenex. Myself, I got some nasal shrapnel on my right shin at about mile 3. Nice.

The results:

Time: 50:00 (like kissing your sister...)
Pace: 8:03
Overall Place: 698 out of 5,783
Age Group: 84 out of 335
Full results here.

Here's a shot of me and the family I got to come with me. Fair warning...next year, we're bringing the whole clan, so get ready people!

What the...?!?

Could it be that our mighty Cal Poly Mustangs will march into Wisconsin and beat the Big 10 Badgers this weekend?!? Kick-off was at 12:30 and halfway through the first quarter, we're up 7-0. GO MUSTANGS!

UPDATE: a one point loss! Are you kidding me?!? Freakin' place kicker. The sad, sad tale of woe is right here.

This morning, we're still awaiting the results...

...of last night's epic iPod vs. washing machine grudge match...

UPDATE: after a thorough drying out overnight, I plugged the iPod into the computer this morning. To my relief, iTunes recognized it and it looks like we're good. I'll try it out later today.

UPDATE #2: the patient has recovered and all is well!

Fresno Famous

Lucy made the paper this morning! Turns out the Bee went to her preschool yesterday to do a piece. The full story is here, but here's the shot of our pony-tailed little girl:

Thanks Guns n Roses...

Since this is on MSNBC, it must be true...right?

Thank the good LORD for giving good gifts to his people! Hallelujah!

I paid less than 2 bucks for gas today. Sure, it was $1.999 at the Costco on Herndon. But still, less than 2 bucks! Praise him.

The tooth fairy visits the Dixons

So we had our first TF visitation this weekend. On Sunday night to be exact. Josh's tooth had been loose for a week but it had stubbornly refused to come out, even when Mommy fiddled with it. And so it was with great joy and fanfare that the little bugger finally popped out...

...in the indoor pool at the Fresno Airport Holiday Inn.

Turns out Grammy and Papa's hotel had this little gem of a pool, and what better place to recover from a half marathon, right?!? Except that our idyllic swim was cut short by Daddy needing to conduct an ultimately fruitless grid pattern search of the bottom of the pool. In the end, we promised Josh that the TF would indeed come, provided he left a note explaining the circumstances. He did, and come Monday morning, he was $1 richer.

Now the pictures. First Josh sans tooth. Then the two versions of the note he wrote. He ended up going with the second one. You might need to open them in another window to really read them.

The fact that this morning I'm walking around like an 80 year old notwithstanding, yesterday was a great day...

So yesterday was the half marathon and it was awesome. Here's what went down:

Results: I had 4 sequential goals going into the race. First, I wanted to simply finish. Second, I wanted to have run the whole distance. Third, having accomplished those first two, I wanted to beat the first marathoner (the races were concurrent). And fourth, I was hoping to break 2 hours. Guess what? Mission accomplished and I made all 4. Amazing! Here are my numbers (from this website):

Time: 1:56.46
Pace: 8:55
Overall Place: 297 out of 1387
Age Group: 26 out of 74
Our first 10K Split: 55:54
By the way, the first marathoner finished in 2:28.40. Also, the winner of the half finished in a mind-boggling 1:09.25, at which point Jeremy and I were just approaching mile 8...

Couple of things I learned:

1. Next time, start faster. In a race this size (3000 runners), the first mile is tough as you're basically running shoulder to shoulder the whole way, jostling with your neighbors. I hadn't thought about that beforehand, but because Jeremy and I were put into what's called "corral C," we were about 2/3rds of the way back from the starting line. All of this meant that our first mile was a slow 9:43 or so. We had to play catch-up from there.

2. Next time, more clothes. Man, it was cold. I don't think the temp ever got above 55, and we started (at 7am) in a light drizzle. I had gloves but not a long sleeve shirt becauseI was worried I'd get hot. Note to self...next time layer and remove clothes if you have to as you go.

3. Cheering crowds mean everything. Especially at mile 11 or so. I gotta get a crew who will just show up and cheer for me at random intersections on my training runs!

How I feel:

1. Satisfied. It's a cool thing to pick out a goal, work toward it and then accomplish it. My friend Nicole left me a voicemail yesterday and she said, "I hope you have a deep sense of personal satisfaction." Yep.

2. Like a cool Dad. So they gave us finishing medals and did that ever make me the hit in my household (for a half hour at least). And Josh has already asked if we can go running this week. I said, "Sure. Right after Daddy can walk again."

3. Ready for more. Amy and I gotta talk about marathons and all that, but I'm fired up to keep training and to keep racing. Next up is a 10K at Thanksgiving in Sacramento and then a 5K in early December here in Fresno.

Thanks to everybody for all the encouragement, text messages, voicemails, blog comments, etc. Here are a couple of pics:

5 reasons to be happy today

5. The Manchester United UEFA match is on ESPN2 at 11:30.
4. Lily is 5 weeks old today.
3. Last training run this afternoon before the half marathon on Sunday.
2. Obama won.
1. I'm still on sabbatical! 5 more weeks...

Josh won an award today for citizenship, academics and being an all around good student

In other news, Josh clearly favors his mother.

Here's the video. Sorry the sound is so sketchy.