Raleigh Rocks Half Marathon 3/28/09

I'd not done this half marathon before and, as usual, was apprehensive. First, there was the matter of getting there on time. Up at 5:30 and with a very cooperative dog I managed to get on the road by 6:30 and at the event in plenty of time to get my chip. I met a gentleman who said he'd trained for the two hills that occur behind the Raleigh Art Museum and was hoping to do a PR this day. (He told me later he had missed by just 12 seconds. He did get second in his very populated age group.)

It had rained all Friday night and was still overcast as we were between storms. A heavy thunderstorm was anticipated for the afternoon. However, it was warm. The provided tech shirt was more than sufficient. This being my 3rd half, I was doing it a bit differently. I had a modified fuel belt (as opposed to carrying a tiny bottle of Hammer Sustained Energy mix in my pocket.) which had a small pouch into which I had some energy jelly beans and threaded though the belt portion, one fuel bottle with the mix. I felt a bit dumb walking around with it, feeling like I was imitating someone who knew what they were doing or was just starting out. (Do you ever see big time runners with fuel belts? Usually you see them on runners doing the ultras etc. or on beginners who fear dropping from thirst.) I had used the mix one time before (in the tiny bottle) and it did not hurt, so why not? Maybe it helped. One nice lady in the hotel lobby helped me get the belt tight enough so it wouldn't bounce around. She was running with a bronchial cold that she was just starting to get over and planned to take it easy. Another wanted to know if there was a porta potty along the route (yep - at mile 6.)

One other change was that I planned to jog 15 minutes, then walk two and continue that trend as long as I could.

People lined up for the start on two separate blocks, haphazardly. No pace related sections. Some were on Davie street (and would turn onto Wilmingon for the start) and some on Wilmington. I think most on Davie had crossed the Start mat before I got to it. (In the end, I found I had been 2.5 minutes behind those who were right at the Start line. It took me that long after the starting horn to get to the Start mat. )

The race went up Wilmington, left onto Edenton, where a live band -- one of five or six along the route --helped us along, and then left onto I think Cabarrus, over to Wilmington again and back up to Edenton and left again. The race continued on Edenton to the merge with Hillsborough and on up to Blue Ridge Road to the Art Museum, back around the back portion and alongside or behind Meredith College before eventually returning back onto Hillsborough and down to the right jog onto Salisbury and left onto Fayetteville Street and the Finish near the Sheraton.

I did okay through the first loop but noticed that my Nike Sport Band was off in terms of distance recorded. It was short. (In the end, it was off by over a mile and half - short.) At mile one, it seemed my time was around a 10:56 pace. My 15 minutes elapsed somewhere after we had crossed Davie street again and before mile 2. I didn't feel as if I needed to walk but did so anyway. A plan is a plan until it is time to break it. One lady I encountered was doing a five minute jog with a one minute walk between. She said this was about a 13 minute pace.

I was still adhering to my plan when we turned onto Hillsborough and I skipped water stop one. By the time we got to stop two, I was already out of synch in terms of 15 jog/2 walk. I was about 3 or 4 minutes into the run part but decided to start the walk so I could imbibe some of my mix and chase it down with the water. Broke the plan and from that point on, it was about half and half as to sticking to it.

I did not find Hillsborough as challenging as in the past (maybe because I was running slower and not trying to finish a 5K!) At around mile 6, near NCSU Vet School fields, the porta potty awaited at least two women lined up outside. Fortunately, I did not need it and kept on going (I have yet to use one during an event.) By Blue Ridge Rd I could feel tightness in my hips. I slogged along. I met one young lady who asked if there were any races in Raleigh without hills. (No.) She was looking forward to seeing her children at the Finish line so they could see what Mommy had done. (I saw her afterwards and she was lined up with her kids for a photo, Happy as could be.)

When we hit the path behind the Art Museum I was in the jog mode. We passed a reclining stone statue of a pair of legs (butt to path) that some were debating as to whether it was a cow's legs or something else. Surely, the man was jesting. No doubt it was the rear view of a reclining woman's lower half. Shortly after came the hills the runner had told me about earlier. I decided to walk up them. It did not take much convincing of myself to do so. I knew I would grab some water at mile 10, and just kept that in mind. It probably was nearing 70 degrees by then, still overcast, but with an occasional peek of sun.

By the time I was on Hillsborough again, it became a mental thing, especially before the bridge where Edenton merged. I decided to try to keep jogging regardless of the 15 minute rule. It became harder to do so after passing Second Empire Restaurant. I could see the Capital aways ahead and knew I still had a jog around it and then the trek down Fayetteville still to go. I managed to slow jog my way until about a block and a half from the finish, where I increased my pace and by the Finish was in a full out sprint - well, as much of a sprint that I could do at that point.

What was great was that my breathing all along was fine and my legs did not hurt at the end. (A modified ice bath after walking the dog two miles upon return home helped keep it mostly that way. Epson salts the next day and the best of all: horse liniment starting on day 2 and ending day 3, erased any residual ache.)

As for results: essentially, I had the same time as the two preceding City of Oaks Rex Healthcare Half Marathons: gun time 2.31.56 and chip time 2.29.29. So, though the course is a bit different, I don't know if 15/2 made too much of a difference. Though, I was able to sprint end, which I had not done in any preceding Half. As far as age group: next to last.

I shall do it again next year if still around and no conflict. The bands were great and people too.

3/19 5K fun cross country run #2

Same course as last week, only muddier. 6P.M. or so. Lots of rain in the preceding days, with one nice day before the run. Rain threatened, and it was a bit warmer than last week. 41 people came out and all of us were skirting or hopping over the muddy areas. I found that I was not as fast, er, rather, I was slower than slow. I did not seem to have the same energy as last week and I attribute it to maybe having been at the gym the day before. It couldn't be the pseudo softball game earlier in the day.

Even though not as energetic, I still enjoyed the outing. At the end, coming up the muddy trail and then eventually onto the field for the semi circle trot around to the end, the wind really picked up and a few rain drops fell, preceding the forthcoming storm. It's hard enough going up the hill for me -- and that field -- ugh. Add the wind and it was a drag oneself to the end event. My time was about 33 minutes.

And the folks are great. Real runners that they are, nonetheless they tolerate and encourage the old crone.

It looks like rain is forecast for this coming Thursday. If so, I may not do run #3 because Saturday brings the Half Marathon for which I need all my energy. I have run a Half after running a 5K the day before, but for crones, that is not smart. So an excuse not to do the XC, even though I really enjoy it, will keep me home.

One buck a year for the worst job in the world

Edward Liddy took the job of CEO of AIG in September 2008, at the behest of the government. He is taking one dollar a year as his salary. No bonus, no stock options, no stock. And all the grief in the world as well as a situation that can only lead to sevcre stress. He will be lucky if his health survives this ordeal.

On top of the mess to be resolved (dissolution of AIG), he, and his family, is receiving death threats as a result of the AIGFP bonus news.

Who would want such a job?

AIG March 2009 bonuses to AIGFP unit

AIG: Another potential infusion of thirty billion (within next five years) to a company that has absolutely no regard for the people holding the safety net.

It is absolute nonsense to say that AIG had to honor May 2008 contracts with certain AIGFP employees that apparently guaranteed them bonuses. This is the very unit that was instrumental in the $99 billion 2008 loss.

Okay, so these bonuses are "retention" not performance bonuses. According to Mr. Liddy, gov. appointed CEO, these were for the task of closing the "books" on the business of AIGFP. 74 individuals received greater than $1 million in bonuses, 11 of whom have left. He says they completed the task they were assigned and therefore got the contracted bonus. He also says that it was the Credit Default Swap section of AIGFP that brought the company to its knees. Get this: it was a total of 20 to 25 people responsible for the huge loss! (they cost AIG a $15 Billion loss.) There are other units in AIGFP, such as Derivatives, that were not at fault. (AIGFP had 435 employees, now 360.) He maintains that the $165 million in bonus money is for the Derivative folk. (Another $200 Million in retention bonus is due these folks in 2010. Liddy does not anticipate this will be given out as he expects these people will have left by then.

Please! If the government had not loaned / bailed out AIG in 2008 and now 2009, these people would not have a job. Forget a bonus. It is ridiculous to say a contract must be honored when the company that issued the contract would no longer exist if not for a bailout.

They are lucky to have a job (at probably tidy salaries.)

AIG says these employees are needed to undo the mess they made. Well then, we are all in serious trouble because how can Congress modernize regulations for something they do not understand? Liddy says that the potential loss if these people leave and AIGFP fails is $1.6 TRILLION.

AIG needs to rescind those bonuses if the public is to have any faith in how the US Congress and Senate are overseeing this situation.

It's tough not to get sick over the continuing "in your face" antics of these bailed out companies. And, the government that is kowtowing to them.

Run for the Oaks

Many races, all gone by without comment. Why? Just did not get to it in time. A quick summary of a few that stick in my mind:

City of Oaks Marathon Rex Healthcare half marathon November 2008. 6 a.m. Early morning. Cold, barely light. Me in my black plastic bag, shed before the uphill race start. I tried to maintain a slow steady pace. Slow, because that is how I must jog if I want to keep breathing! I noticed right at the start people shedding clothes. This year, the course differed in its start location and maybe that is why when I reached Hillsborough near the I-64 overpass, I wasn't dying to the extent I was the year before. Nonetheless, I was mighty happy to reach the turn around on Blue Ridge Road. I dragged myself to the end in spurts. Happy to finish.

Frozen 5K Cross Country January 2009. 11 degrees. In two shirts (one tech and one cotton) and a vest, plus gloves, hat, and a cloth thing to cover mouth and nose, I almost became a frozen figure while waiting for the start of the race. I pitied the Panther Creek HS volunteers who were out manning the course. How much worse it would be for them. We ran and they stood. Ugh. Cruel. Once the race got started, the thing around the mouth and nose came down to my neck (the breath fogged my sunglasses) and I was oblivious to the cold. Only my huffing and puffing mattered. Keeping an eye out for roots, I followed the course which just about mirrored the December Jolly Elf 5K. This was good because I had an idea of how much longer the torture would last. On the last bit, with the finish in sight, I actually slowed so that a young boy would cross the line before me. Youth before Crone. This was the first year of this race and the students at Panther Creek had presciently named it, despite the fact that under 20 degrees here is unusual!

Wake Med Distance 5k (as opposed to the 10K) March 7, 2009. I dreaded this run. It starts uphill (for a short distance) then winds around downtown before returning for a long uphill stretch and the final downhill. Previous years it has been a killer for me. The weather was decent: somewhere around 65 (prior years it has been much colder). I managed to hang onto a slow jog without slowing to a walk for about half way. But, just like in prior years, I died on that last uphill. Right after the beginning of the incline and at least two or more times I dropped down to a leaning walk. Still, the whole race did not seem as bad to me as in prior years.

St Patty's Green Run 8K, March 8, 2009. Originally, I had wanted to run this one instead of the Wake Med Distance 5K , but I had a conflict. The conflict went away, so I signed up for this Sunday run, despite having done the 5K the day before. I am glad I did. There were about 800-1000 who participated, of those, 676 who had signed up for a timed (competitive) run finished. At the Start line, there were two women in green and white striped leggings and huge Moppet type hats running with a fellow who had the hat but not the leggings. It was hot, 84 degrees or so, so the hats came off pretty quickly! That is one thing about some of these races: the costumes! Such fun to observe. The race took off up Person St, eventually winding around Oakwood Cemetery and back to a finish on Blount St. I had just enough left at the end to sprint in a race with a young woman to the Finish line. Many runners and fans ate and drank at tables outside of Tir Na Nog after the race. This added to the party atmosphere. I have added this to the list of races I might do next year if still alive and stirring the pot.

On Thursday, March 12, I ran a fun non competitive Cross Country.5K Afraid of getting lost, I made sure this old crone kept a faster runner in sight. We passed an old hulk of a car in the woods which reminded me of when I was eleven and in Connecticut. Out in the woods was an old car, once belonging to some member of the family, that I would oft go and visit and look over. A friend now tells me I was lucky not to encounter any snakes there. She is right, for, once when riding a horse in those woods we did encounter a snake. Being slow in a cross country is certainly an advantage: any snakes will have long been frightened away by the time I get to where they were.

And finally, Race for the Oaks, March 14, 2009. 40 degrees. Dreary. Wet. This usually well attended race had fewer participants this year, the weather probably the primary factor. A few folks had St Patrick's Day regalia on, but most had jackets and hats, though I did spot two young guys at the award presentation who were still in their skimpy shorts, bare, muscled, legs shaking in the cold, and by now, heaver rain. The race took off up Person St (again) and followed much of the route the preceding Sunday's 8K had, except there was no circling of the cemetery. I managed to jog the entire way, a first for me, I think, and so was happy with my results. At least three or four times the temptation to drop to a walk was almost overwhelming, especially on the uphill inclines. But I forced myself to jog, no matter how slowly. I decided to stay near two guys just in front of me, one wearing a jacket with Raleigh Fire Dept. embroidered on the back. At the finish, I wasn't up to a full out sprint, but the half sprint turned out to be just the thing to edge out another competitor. One nice thing about the event is that the City of Raleigh gives out oak saplings to attendees to perpetrate the Oak heritage of the area.