Sundry and MMM Half

The other day I went on a 10-mile run and as I was coming down the ramp from the top of the dam, I see what I think are two kids sitting by the top of the man-made channel; the odd thing was that it has a chain-link fence and I just did not see how they could be sitting on that 'wall.' As I got closer the silhouette resembled a 50-lb dog. But as I got to about 30 yards I was finally able to see what it was. It was a HUGE eagle... the biggest one I have seen, even bigger than the ones in zoos... and this happened in an urban setting. The sad reality is that my eyes are going... :-(

One run of late that deserves to be noted happened on Sunday. What made it noteworthy was the fact that I did not look at my watch once during the run. I have attempted to do this several times but have failed. Not this time. It felt liberating; not bound by what pace I might have been running. I am, admittedly, a slave of time. When I run, I am in constant need for feedback, and my watch does that. I think it is insecurity. Surprisingly, the seven miles went better than I expected as I stopped enjoying running on the dirt track half a block from my house; too many loops. The splits got progressively faster and averaged on the faster side of easy pace, or about 30 sec slower than MP.

Music has always helped me through rough patches during a training run. I have been training with an ipod regularly. I don't carry one if I am to race though. I will wear one if I will use the race as a training run. On Monday, I actually left without the ipod and was a thoroughly refreshing run; it reminded me why I run. I enjoyed the sights and sounds of this mega-polis unimpeded.

I am currently in Austin as I hope (pray really) to break 1:30 on Sunday during the 3M Half. I am one of those guys who second-guesses himself quite often. In fact, I almost did not come. I had bought my plane ticket in early December, before I would be scheduled for an interview for a Structural Engineering position hours after my plane was to depart. Instead of paying for the change, I decided to standby for a later flight.

I guess the fact that I was to be interviewed and my knowledge of SE is minimal, as it has been a long time since I took SE courses, had me worried and I failed to check my registration before leaving LA. When I went to pick up my race packet today, the volunteer tells me that I am good to go. I ask: where is my chip? She said: "you're using your own chip" and looks at me like if I am retarded. I look at the envelope and realize it has the number of my personal timing chip. I had to go see the trouble desk and get a black chip; I was issued a new number; all because of my negligence... argh! The volunteer had to, essentially, re-register me. I hope that this is not a prelude of what will happen on Sunday. Better yet, I hope I am wearing shorts :-) I will be wearing my favorite shoes, Adidas Rats...