Texas Independence Relay

"We're Coming Sam" - the team at the start in Gonzales

In 1831, the Mexican government loaned the residents of Gonzales a small spiked cannon for protection against the Indians. But four years later with rebellion in the air 150 mounted soldiers were sent to reclaim it. The colonists however had other ideas. There were only 18 men in Gonzales, but they rallied behind their homemade "come and take it" banner and stood in defiance.

In the early hours of October 2nd 1835 the colonists crossed the river with their cannon, surprising the soldiers. The cannon fired, killing one soldier and scattering the rest, forcing a retreat. Thus began the fight for Texas Independence from Mexico.

The little cannon (forever enshrined in the Great Seal of Texas) was eventually buried in a creek until it was discovered again during a flood in 1936, and it now sits in the museum in Gonzales. I saw it this weekend and was surprised by how tiny it is. I was also entertained by the story of its history, humorously told by the charmingly eccentric old lady at the museum. You can read more about it here.

The reason for this story is that Gonzales was the starting point for our 11 man team for this weekend's Texas Independence Relay. Between us, we would run the 203.2 miles from Gonzales (where the first shots were fired) to the monument at San Jacinto - the site of the final battle.

So at 9:27am on Saturday morning a cannon blast appropriately signalled the start of our journey (start times were staggered by expected pace to allow all teams to get to San Jacinto by Sunday afternoon). We were handed several flags which we carried on a 1.15 mile team circuit around Gonzales, taking in historic mansions, monuments, churches, a courthouse and an old jail (complete with gallows) before our first runner took off on leg one of 40 individual relay stages. We would all meet up again in San Jacinto to run a victory loop.

It was a great boys weekend and I had a ton of fun....except for the running, which sucked. Most of my recent race reports have been filled with PRs, satisfying performances and enjoyable runs. Not this one. I ended up running 4 legs totalling 25 miles (including 2 of the 3 hardest ranked legs - thanks for that Tony) and did not feel good at all - it was hot, incredibly humid and windy. My legs felt heavy and I spent most of my running time wishing I was done. I posted recently about days that I struggle through 5 miles - well this was one of those days. These are the legs I ran

Leg 3
Difficulty Ranking : 1
Distance : 8.78 miles
Time : 1:14:18
Pace : 8:27/mile

This leg was ranked the hardest of the 40, with rolling hills on rocky and dusty trail and jeep roads. It was not helped by the heat (it was in the 80s), the humidity (around 90%) and the high winds. We'd already seen an ambulance loading up a runner who had collapsed from heat exhaustion, so I made sure I drank plenty of water and took both handhelds with me. I was also glad I had memorized the turns because several signs had been blown over. I took the handoff from Shawn, went out far too fast (6:40 first mile) and tired myself out battling into the wind. Then I got nasty stomach cramps at mile 3 which continued through the rest of the leg - what fun!!! Much of the footing was on large gravel which I had to pick routes through, and I was soon wishing for it to be over. All in all, I was somewhat surprised I managed to keep under an 8:30 pace.

On the plus side, we had a friendly rivalry going with another team we'd dubbed the "little hat people", and I was under orders from our team captain to catch their runner. She was smoking hot (and a damn good runner too) and had attracted several slobbering glances from our more lecherous teammates. I never did manage to pass her, but I got close enough to enjoy a great view and the envy of my teammates.

Oh, and we also passed by Sam Houston's oak....apparently.


Leg 14
Difficulty Ranking : 24
Distance : 4.69 miles
Time : 35:32
Pace : 7:34/mile

This leg was a lot easier than my first one. It began at dusk in the little town of Weimar, which had music and a great party atmosphere going. It was a shame to leave because the route was a monotonous straight shot down the hard shoulder of highway 90. The oppressive humidity and wind was still a factor, but it allowed me more of an opportunity to stretch my legs. I kept a consistent pace and passed 4 teams. No more stomach problems, but I just could not find that extra gear I usually have.


Leg 25
Difficulty Ranking : 21
Distance : 5 miles
Time : 38:16
Pace : 7:39/mile

This was about 3am and the wind had completely gone - not even a breeze - but the humidity meant I was soaking within a half mile. This was my best leg because by now we were catching and passing a lot of teams. This was another straight shot up FM1489 and I passed 9 teams on this leg - just kept concentrating on looking for blinkies in the distance and chasing them down. I passed one guy who for some reason was running in the middle of the road - I heard several cars honking at him, but he stubbornly kept going back out there.


Leg 32
Difficulty Ranking : 3
Distance : 6.69 miles
Time : 52:59
Pace : 7:55/mile

This leg was ranked the 3rd hardest and I hit it just after the sun came up on Sunday morning. About a mile in I was passed by a really fast runner and almost immediately we came to a fork in the path with no indication as to which way to go. We looked at each other but neither of us knew, so we tried the left one. Luckily, about 50 yards down that path we came across a guy who told us we needed to go the other way (he said he'd already corrected a bunch of runners) so we backtracked and took the right fork - yay. Coming over a hill at mile 2 I felt a hamstring twinge. I didn't want to let the team down, but neither did I want an injury before next weekend's marathon, so I eased up on the pace a little to where it felt more manageable and kept going - I could feel it, but it wasn't too bad unless I was running downhill. The rest of the leg was uneventful, but I was very glad to get to the exchange point and hand off to Steve. I walked around gingerly for a while as the hamstring felt really tight, but as that was my last leg, a few beers and slices of pizza helped loosen it up.


I haven't seen the results yet, but I think we finished at about 28 hours - a good hour and a half ahead of our predictions. We averaged around 8:15/mile (not counting the fact that we actually ran an extra 3 miles when two of our runners ran off course due to unmarked turns in Houston).

So that's the running part of it taken care of, now for the social side. We had a blast!!! Many beers were sunk and many laughs were had - it was a great boys' weekend. All the guys got on really well and it was a pleasure to be stuck in a van with them for two days - as stinkingly smelly as we all were by the end.

A lot of the small towns we passed through had put on music and gotten in the party mood, and we had some good banter (and flirting) going with several other teams. Rick Perry (the Governor of Texas) was running and we flip flopped with his team for the last 6 or so legs. He recognized our shirts (they have our worksite wellness and fitness logo on them) and there was some ribbing going on. He was running the last leg and warned us that "y'all know the first rule of Texas - you can't pass the governor".

We nearly did though.

The Strangeness of Walnut Creek

Walnut Creek : Nice during the day, very "Blair Witch" at night
I run at Walnut Creek park a lot. It's close to where I live, there are a maze of trails to choose from, I know it really well and my old wedding ring still lives there. It's a very convenient place to get in a nice pre-dawn midweek run, but it's such a weird place early in the morning.

It has a reputation as a gay "pick up" place. When I get there at 5am or 6am it is usually deserted, but within minutes I almost always get a car pull up next to me. I'll look over to see if it's a running friend only to find some unknown guy (and it's never the same one) giving me "the eye". It doesn't really bother me (I like to tell my wife that my "fan club" showed up), and they never make an approach (I make it really obvious that I'm there to run and nothing else), but it's still a little creepy having someone sitting in their car straining to get a better look and mentally undressing you (I can hear all my female readers yelling "now you know how we feel" at their screens). When Clea or whoever I'm running with arrives, they finally take the hint and speed off (one guy even gave me a "huff" as he drove away). I swear I must be featured on some "what's new at Walnut Creek" forum or chatroom somewhere.

This morning was a little different. I got there at 6am and saw a car parked up with all the doors and trunk open, and two bottles on the roof. Thinking it was a friend who had indicated he may show up, I pulled up a few places down only to discover that the guy was quite obviously not a runner. But what was he doing? He had unloaded most of the car and was doing something with a coil of rope in the trunk. Very strange. He didn't take any notice of me (which was fine as far as I was concerned) but I still felt kinda paranoid taking off onto the trail and leaving my car there. So much so that I doubled back to the parking lot after about 2 miles to make sure it was still there. It was, and he was gone. So I picked another trail, headed back into the maze and enjoyed a nice 6 mile run. Weird!!!

I tell you something else too - I think winter is over in Texas (70F at 6am).

Tomorrow is our Texas Independence Relay run - a 203 mile race from Gonzales to San Jacinto. We originally had a team of 12, but 3 folks dropped out yesterday and we've been scrambling to find replacements. I'm not too worried though - I'll just turn up and have a good time. Runtex sponsored us for some really nice team shirts and I think it's going to be a lot of fun. Some of the guys are going down to Gonzales tonight for the pre-race party, but my parents are leaving for the UK in the morning so I'm spending their last night here.

Birthday Boy

It was Gavin's 4th birthday today and we had a great time. Here's the day in pictures:

Fire, fire in the Night : I fired a chimney full of charcoal for the brisket last night and used a combination of hickory and mesquite wood for the smoke flavor. I got the temperature on the Weber Smokey Mountain regulated at 230F and left it to cook overnight using the minion method. I played around with the camera and got some interesting effects with the dancing sparks (click on the pictures to see more detail)

My fellow pitmaster with his headlamp. The blue stains on his face are "evidence" that he's been into the cake icing

Opening presents with Grandpa Wales and Nana this morning

Grandpa Tom "smiling" at the camera

The brisket hit 190F late this morning after 15 hours of smoking, and a hopeful Charlie lurks around hoping for scraps. I love my Smokey Mountain - it's not cheap but it's top quality and excellent at slow smoking. It has a very loyal following and is often used to great effect in bbq and smoke-off competitions

The Brisket warrior : being silly and getting ready to slice the beast	The smoke ring : sign of a good brisket. I used a cardamom and coffee wet rub which blended perfectly with the smoky flavor of the beef. The brisket was fall-apart tender

The cake : Back when we got married, we wanted to make our own wedding cake so I was subjected to "cake decorating class" (I was young and in love). Besides constantly getting into trouble for eating the icing, I discovered I was pretty good at it (it's also a great compatibility test - if you can survive spending two days in the kitchen together while baking and decorating a wedding cake, you're going the distance) and we ended up making a yummy 3 tier Italian Creme cake and a Welsh-themed grooms cake. So when Gavin wanted a Batman cake for his birthday, we decided to make it ourselves. I made this yesterday afternoon and am very pleased with how it turned out. It's a dark chocolate layer cake courtesy of Devin Alexander. The icing is from a recipe I learned in the decorating class.

Blowing out the candles

Enjoying the chocolate cake with a grin straight out of Wallace and Gromit	Eating cake "like a birdie". I have no idea what Nancy's doing

Gavin and the grandpas

Hiking at Walnut Creek : a never-ending quest for the perfect stick

"Come on fishy, Gavin wants to eat you"

Why

Why. It's a question people keep asking me about my ultrarunning, usually accompanied by lots of head shaking, sympathetic looks, proclamations of impending knee disintegration and confident predictions that all runners will sooner or later drop dead on the spot. Most of my road friends think anything longer than a marathon is crazy and my parents keep warning me that one day my legs "will fall off". Needless to say, I try to avoid the subject as much as possible. Fortunately the one person who really "gets me" and understands why I do it (other than other ultra runners) is my wife.

But the question "why" is one I rarely ask myself (unless I'm having a low point during a race, then I will ask it over and over). It's true that ultrarunners have a very short-term (or selective) memory, but why do we keep coming back for more?

The first answer that comes to mind is the social interaction, but let's debunk that right now. You can still enjoy the social side of trail running without subjecting yourself to the rigors of running ultras. A nice 6 mile fun run followed by breakfast somewhere would take care of that.

Ok, so what about the thrill. True, you do get an adrenaline surge at times during a race, but nothing that compares to team sports. In my rugby days, putting a big hit on an opponent, gliding through a gap in the defense or timing the perfect line-breaking pass (something that didn't happen too often) was much more of a rush.

The swag? Well, I do love my sweatshirts from Bandera and Rocky Raccoon, my Trilogy awards, belt buckles, shirts and all the rest of it, but I'm pretty sure there are simpler ways of getting swag than running silly distances so that can't be it either.

So here's the real reason (or at least my reason). There are some people who are natural born runners - they can turn up without any training and run fast 5k or 10k races with little bother. I am not one of them. I have to work at my running and it doesn't always come easy. There are days when I struggle through 5 miles and others when I sail through 50. But I am world class at being bull headed and determined, and I will force myself to keep going. I thrive on challenges, enjoy the mental battle with myself and above all keep a smile on my face. That is why the ultra distances suit me so well. There is something very pure about finishing an ultra event - you can't buy it, you have to earn it. It's not always easy, but nothing worth having ever is.

And like so many other trail runners I like to march to the beat of my own drum. I've never ever felt the need to follow the crowd or to "fit in", so the marginal nature of the sport appeals to me. Sure, I run marathons too but give me a small town race or a secluded trail run over a big city marathon any day. The sheer feeling of freedom that comes from running through the woods at night with only a full moon for company can be uplifting. I still remember how good I felt during the last miles of Bandera and Rocky Raccoon and I want to recapture that feeling.

One of my favorite ultra quotes is from Keith Knipling: "going for a run always clears my head, but running 100 miles distills my soul".

I know where that guy is coming from.

Win a Flip Mino HD Camcorder

Ryan McLean from Smarter Wealth is giving away a brand new Flip Mino HD camcorder. I saw a few people with these at Rocky Raccoon and they are really cool because they're so small. For the chance to win, all you have to do is sign up for Ryan’s newsletter, blog about the competition and leave a comment to that effect. Here's some of the blurb:

The Flip Mino HD allows you to shoot one hour of video in High Def, and you can even edit your footage right on your device. This device is so small that it will fit in your pocket so you will never miss capturing a moment ever again. It comes with 4GB of internal memory.

I wonder how well it works with Linux?

Anyway, to find out how you can win one of these cool gadgets, click here. Hurry up though, the winner will be announced on March 5th (the website says 2008, but that's an obvious typo - unless you're Michael J. Fox).

Happy St. David's Day

Today is St. David's day, the patron saint of Wales. Back home there will be parades and celebrations, and many people will don traditional Welsh dress or wear leeks or daffodils. Back when I was a kid we would have a school concert in the morning and then have a half day holiday. Sweet.

Back in Austin I had a very pleasant weekend. Yesterday I did a hilly loop around Stratford Dr, and then met up with some of my TIR teammates to do a social run around Scenic. It was super windy and we had fun messing around and trying to "draft" behind each other. The highlight of the morning was running into Henry - my "Yoda" and the guy who originally got me into running. I don't see him very often since he retired, so it was fantastic to see him and I'll always be grateful for his friendship and advice.

Another thing that run showed me was that I badly need a haircut!!!

Then this morning I met up with Roger, Joe and Joyce to run the trail at Bull Creek. Now that the upper trail has been blocked off, Ken's loop is no more (it's barricaded with chopped down trees, barbed wire and notices warning of horrific repercussions for trespassers) but we found other trails off the lower switchbacks that will still give a good run. It's a shame the scenic overlook is no longer accessible though - that was my favorite spot to sit and think.

But the absolute best part of the weekend was going hiking at Walnut Creek with Nancy and Gavin later this morning - we had a great time. I wanted to explore the front section of the park (where I rarely run), and Gavin and I investigated some unmarked trails between markers 302 and 314. The entrance was a technical drop to the creek and it was a really nice secluded trail with some great canopy cover that looped around like a crooked lollipop back to the main trail. Gavin surprised me - he moved up and down some of the hilly rocky sections like a sure-footed mountain goat. He must get that from his mother.