Geeks With Blogs
Welcome to
Geeks with Blogs
Login
Russell Ball
My Other Recent Posts
Look What Santa Brought Me!
On Communal Douche Bags and My New Business Model
Puzzling Issue Involving Reflection and MbUnit
Vil: Dead as in Doornail?
Are You Mocking My Code?
The Hundredth Monkey Effect
An Open Letter to a Certain Delusional Canadian Blogger
Friends Don't Let Friends Use the Start Menu
Ten States Down...Forty To Go
A Touching VSS Moment
Post Categories
BizTalk
.net 2
TFS
MsBuild
Kerberos Adventures
BizTalk Testing
BizTalk Build & Deployment
BizTalk Wishlist
blogdoc
BizTalk 2009 Migration
SBUG
NServiceBus
Caching
Patterns and Anti Patterns
RabbitMQ
Azure
Azure Service Bus
Architecture
API
Windows Azure
BizTalk Services
Archives
January 2008 (7)
December 2007 (16)
November 2007 (18)
October 2007 (22)
September 2007 (16)
August 2007 (13)
July 2007 (12)
June 2007 (11)
Caffeinated Coder
A Grande, Triple Shot, Non-Fat Core Dump by Russell Ball
<< A Touching VSS Moment
|
Home
|
Friends Don't Let Friends Use the Start Menu >>
Ten States Down...Forty To Go
Comments (2)
|
Share
Last weekend I ran in the
WhiteRock marathon
in Dallas, Texas and was thus able to check off the tenth state in my quest to run one marathon in each state. This race was much bigger and better supported than my
ninth marathon
in Iowa earlier this year and my friends and I had a great time despite the abbreviated time frame and cooler than expected weather.
Now I can finally sign up at the
official club website
and get myself yet
another T-Shirt
that my wife will pressure me to throw away. Why am I doing this again?
Here are some race and trip highlights:
Near Felony:
Apparently
Texas state law
prohibits taking more than three sips of beer at a time while standing. However, I was still running when I guzzled a small plastic cup full of brew that a kind spectator provided around mile nineteen so I think I am safe. I also have a pretty strong alibi for my second and third beers which I consumed immediately after crossing the finish line since I was definitely in no shape to stand by that point. I won't admit it in a court of law, but those Michelob beers tasted damn fine by that point. I had no idea that marathons damaged a person's taste buds on top of everything else.
The Stairs of Death:
Have you ever seen a person who has just run a marathon try to walk a flight of stairs? It is more fun than
a clown on fire
. In their infinite wisdom, the race organizers decided to locate the post race festivities on the floor of a basketball stadium, thus forcing the famished finishers to hobble down a gajillion steps immediately after running 26 miles in order to get food. I didn't think it was so funny while I was doing it, but after I was full and rested I got a big kick out of watching everyone else do it.
New Innovative Training Breakthrough:
Due to a tenacious cold, bad weather, and some general laziness, I was probably the worst prepared I've ever been for a marathon. Against all odds, I somehow slipped into a running zone and managed to finish in 3:49 and pull off my second negative split ever (running the second half faster than first half). As a takeaway lesson, I'm going to skip the heavy training from now on and instead focus on doing some quality tapering right from the start.
New Innovative Dating Techniques:
There were tons of funny costumes, signs, and T-Shirts, but my favorite was a cardboard sign with the word "Single" on it that was held up by a female spectator. Apparently
match.com
just isn't what it used to be. I also saw a woman who ran with fake butt cheeks strapped on her back-side and a sign that read "I'm running my butt off".
The Youngest and Flattest Marathoners Ever
: Francy, one of my running cohorts, also ran in the marathon this weekend despite being five months pregnant!
I can't tell you how amazed I am by that. As a preemptive move, she had someone in our group write "Yes, I have my Doctor's Permission" on her shirt, but I think everyone was much more distracted by the "Flat Scottie" she had strapped to her back. Flat Scottie is the cardboard cut-out of her husband who is currently stationed in Iraq.
I think the military encourages the cardboard cutout to help families better cope with the father's absence, but we mostly just enjoy photographing him in a number of compromising positions like this one. I'd show my favorite one, but I'm afraid it might get him thrown out of the military. Good thing he has a great sense of humor.
With
my own little one
due to show up early this spring, I'm afraid I'm going to have to put off my eleventh state until late next fall.
Don't worry. I'm still on pace to complete the 50th state before I retire.
Posted on Thursday, December 13, 2007 12:59 AM
Non-Techie Interests
|
Back to top
Related Posts on Geeks With Blogs
Matching Categories
Seven Ways to Transform Yourself from Geek to Mara...
Non-Techie Interests
He Likes to Run for Fun in the Hot, Hot Sun
Non-Techie Interests
Nine States Down...Forty-One to Go
Non-Techie Interests
Comments on this post: Ten States Down...Forty To Go
#
re: Ten States Down...Forty To Go
Well done Russ! At least one geek in this country needs to be in shape...
Left by
Max pool
on Dec 13, 2007 12:36 PM
#
re: Ten States Down...Forty To Go
I find that running helps keep my stamina up for all those long refactorbation sessions.
Left by
Russell Ball
on Dec 13, 2007 8:26 PM
Your comment:
Title:
Name:
Email: (never displayed)
(will show your
gravatar
)
Comment:
Allowed tags: blockquote, a, strong, em, p, u, strike, super, sub, code
Verification:
Copyright © Russell Ball | Powered by:
GeeksWithBlogs.net
Popular Posts on Geeks with Blogs
0
Code Monkey Projectiles - Index
Geeks With Blogs Content Categories
ASP.Net
SQL Server
Apple
Google
SharePoint
Windows
Visual Studio
Team Foundation Server
Agile
Office
Design Patterns
Web
Azure
Brand New Posts on Geeks with Blogs
0
How do you run multiple instances of Microsoft Teams?
Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar
Shaking down the Raspberry Pi 400
Blog is Moving
Pop!_OS Linux 20.10: Review