On Sun, March 11, I raced in the Blue Norther Du, in Seguin, TX (which is about an hour south of Austin).
There had been severe thunderstorms for a few days leading up to the race, and there was a real possibility of cancellation, or at least cancellation of the bike portion. I was really hoping that would not happen, as I wasn’t too enthusiastic about driving an hour away just to run a 10k in the rain. I can’t say I was really looking forward to racing in cold and wet conditions on the bike, either, but luck was with us. The rain stopped and it was just cool — not cold — on race morning. I got my clothes right for the temperature — always a challenge when it’s anything other than “hotter than blazes” — so I was happy about that.
You can see from the fairly empty racks in the above photo that a lot of folks didn’t show up. Of course, this meant that the people who did show up were the really hard core athletes who are really fast. As I have said before, I may be placid, but I am not super fast, so I knew this would mean likely getting crushed by much of the competition. (There was at least one former Danskin tri overall winner in the field, for example.) There were just over 100 competitors in the race overall - 8 in my age group (I came in 6th).
The run course was two loops on the Texas Lutheran University campus. The bike course was on country roads nearby — pretty flat, but with some rollers. The second run was a repeat of the first run on campus. We had some misty moments, but no real rain while on the course. The sun even started to peek out during the second run!
Going into the race, I was quite concerned about how my right foot would fare, given that plantar fascitis has still been plaguing me. This race was a bit of a test. It’s much better than it was last November, but still pesky and hanging on. It didn’t hurt during the race, but I felt the effects for a couple of days afterward. Still a work in progress, without a doubt. This has to be the most annoying injury ever.
After the race, there were baked potatoes, which beat the usual bananas and bagels.
Some people ask what I think about when racing. It varies a bit. This time, while on my run, I did the breathing/counting thing that I do, where I breathe in for 3 counts, and breathe out for 2 counts. The bike was another story. Often when I am on the bike, I listen to music in my head. As luck would have it, I had “Unpack Your Adjectives” stuck in my head. I have been working with my kids on writing, and we have been focusing on the parts of speech lately. To help with learning the parts of speech, I’ve pulled out the old Schoolhouse Rock DVD. Luckily, I am a big fan of Schoolhouse Rock because I could not stop singing to myself: “days are sunny or they’re rainy!” and “He was a hairy bear; he was a scary bear!” — “…’cause I’d unpacked my adjectives.” Overall, the race was wet, cool, late (to start), but fun!
Here are the lyrics in case you’ve forgotten this classic (and I apologize if you get it stuck in your own head):
Got home from camping last spring.
Saw people, places and things.
We barely had arrived,
Friends asked us to describe
The people, places and every last thing.
So we unpacked our adjectives.
I unpacked “frustrating” first.
Reached in and found the word “worst”.
Then I picked “soggy” and
Next I picked “foggy” and
Then I was ready to tell them my tale.
‘Cause I’d unpacked my adjectives.
Adjectives are words you use to really describe things,
Handy words to carry around.
Days are sunny or they’re rainy
Boys are dumb or else they’re brainy
Adjectives can show you which way.
Adjectives are often used to help us compare things,
To say how thin, how fat, how short, how tall.
Girls who are tall can get taller,
Boys who are small can get smaller,
Till one is the tallest
And the other’s the smallest of all.
We hiked along without care.
Then we ran into a bear.
He was a hairy bear,
He was a scary bear,
We beat a hasty retreat from his lair.
And described him with adjectives.
[Turtle, spoken:] Whoah! Boy! That was one big, ugly bear!
[Girl, spoken:] You can even make adjectives out of the other parts of speech, like verbs or nouns. All you have to do is tack on an ending like “-ic” or “-ish” or “-ary”. For example, this boy can grow up to be a huge man – but still have a boyish face. “Boy” is a noun, but the ending “-ish” makes it an adjective – boyish. That describes the huge man’s face, get it?
[Sung:] Next time you go on a trip,
Remember this little tip:
The minute you get back,
They’ll ask you this and that,
You can describe people, places and things…
Simply unpack your adjectives.
You can do it with adjectives.
Tell them ’bout it with adjectives.
You can shout it with adjectives.
