Capital 10K

This morning, I shrugged off a stiff neck and the muggy weather and ran in Austin's Capital 10,000 for the second time. The Capitol 10,000 and I have a lot in common. Both of us began our existence in Austin in 1977, and celebrate our 30th birthdays this year. After a poor showing last year, I resolved to spend more time training for the race this year...

...then I applied for grad school, went to Russia, got busy at work, and before I knew it, it was a week until raceday. I settled for 4-mile runs on Monday and Wednesday, and then took it easy until Sunday. Here are the highlights:

1) As I shuffled to the starting line, there was a really hairy guy without a shirt in front of me. He was so hairy that the DJ at the starting line asked him, "Hey, you, what do you feet that chest?" I feel like you need to know these things...

2) Two miles into the race, the course winds up Enfield Road through Tarrytown. There, the wealthy residents stood along the track and amused themselves by offering the runners Krispy Kreme donuts and Hermosas. If they had offered an Irish Car Bomb, I might have given in...

3) As the course wound under Mopac (roughly the halfway point), a high school band was playing the Bill Conti music from Rocky. I think I teared up a little bit.

4) Last year, I bonked at the 4-mile mark and walked most of the way to the finish line from there. This year, I ran past the 4-mile mark and caught my second wind and a confidence boost.

5) I managed to make it through the rest of the race without getting passed by someone wearing a paper-mache costume and crossed the line at 1 hour and 6 minutes. My current goal is an hour, and I expected 1:05, so considering the muggy weather, I was OK with it.

6) My stiff neck never went away, and since I can't turn my head, I've rubbed about half a tube of Maximum-Strength Ben Gay on it. Just thought I'd mention this...

7) Running the race today, I was outfitted with a Nike Dri-fit shirt with Steve Prefontaine's number on it, and a pair of Nike Air Pegasus with the same waffle sole that Pre's shoes had when he ran at the 1972 Olympics. I mention this because there's a chance that Pre and I may have one more thing in common starting this fall. More to come...