Recent Race Results

Not even considering anyone's training mileage, members of the Mid-Texas Symphony running team logged some pretty good race mileage over the past couple of weekends, totalling 78.6 miles. Dorian and Fred Ramirez both ran the Chevron Houston Marathon on January 17th, while Liz Pittel and James Baker ran the 3M Half Marathon in Austin on January 24th. Fred ran a 4:32:17 in Houston, while Dorian turned in 4:53:36. In Austin, on a rather windy early morning, Liz ran 2:06:18 and I ran a PR of 2:08:51. I'm letting my sneakers cool off for a day or two before getting after it again with the TIR now less than 6 weeks away. I hope everyone's training is going well and I look forward as always to our team experience on the roads of Texas.

We are still short one runner, preferably a female to maintain our 50/50 balance. Any leads would be much appreciated. I am also giving consideration to this year's team shirt. Anyone want to nominate a favorite color? My plan for a 2010 slogan is based on that spectacular sprint finish which Alan turned in on his final leg of last year's race. "What'cha got left?"

The topic of training for the TIR has been discussed previously and I believe we could conclude a consensus that integrating multiple daily runs into our overall regimen is invaluable. I never get around to doing this as much as I intend, but with still a pretty good lead time we all might consider setting aside a day or so each week for two 4 or 5 mile runs. This, of course, will give you a feel for the race weekend experience of running 3 or 4 legs within a (less than) 30 hour span. Hmm....maybe we should also carry our smelly running clothes around in the car as preparation for the 6 sweaty runners in a car experience of race weekend.

Brenda the Wrunner Wrangler has mapped out preliminary leg assignments which I will publish here in a few days. We are also still looking at reserving a few motel rooms along the route which the team can use for mid-race showers and a short napping period. Brenda predicts there would be a potential 6 hours down time per van, focusing the rest area in Sealy. I think this is probably a very good solution which will allow us to avoid the congestion of the gymnasium experience, but I would love to get some feedback. Thanks.

All for now.

Please Welcome Arturo Aldama

I just received an email confirmation from Arturo Aldama that he will be joining our team for the upcoming TIR. That is great news! Arturo is a very good runner and also has a great enthusiasm for classical music. Please join me in welcoming Arturo to the Mid-Texas Symphony running team.

This still leaves us one runner short in replacing Brian and Denise. Holly's sister will not be able to run with us, so let's all continue to seek one more female runner. I have sent an email appeal to Shelly Campbell, an accomplished triathlete and important coach in the region. It would be great if Shelly would run with us - we could all learn so much - but I'll be happy as well if she can recommend a good runner for us. In the meanwhile I encourage each of you to check around and see if you might help find our 12th runner.

I ran a 6 miler last week in the rain, partly because I had been a couple of days on the road and was antsy to pound some pavement, but also to explore the remote possiblity we might run out of the dry running we've had so far with the TIR. I don't really own any wet weather running gear, but I found an old windbreaker I bought many years ago which proved serviceable. Under the windbreaker I wore a couple of layers of good wicking t-shirts, a long sleeve worn over a short sleeve. My cotton sweat pants are far from state of the art, but they functioned. It was socks which proved to be my best tool. Puddles were frequent and deep. There was no avoiding getting my feet wet. But the socks, the nice Sock Guy socks which the TIR passed out in the first year, proved to be extremely effective at wicking moisture away from my feet. My Nikes also did a pretty good job of shedding water on the run. The point of all this, of course, is a reminder that come race weekend we should always keep an eye to the weather and, if necessary, pack several pairs of good wicking socks and maybe even a spare pair of shoes.

Continued happy running all. I am off to Austin this weekend to run the 3M Half Marathon. Liz will be there too. It's a great course and the 3M goody bag is still very generous. Wish us luck and good weather.

Oh yeah! We are all still cheering the good news from Steve that he is once again allowed to extend his distance and the agressiveness of his workouts. Take that(!) Achilles tendon.

2 Months to TIR 2010

I got my first poke of the season from Jay and Joy Hilscher, race directors of TIR, reminding team captains that this year's event is 8 weeks away. Let's all make certain we have our calendars marked. The 2010 TIR is the weekend of March 6-7. As with last year, I would like to make this blog our principal point of communication, though I will continue to send out emails to remind everyone of the essentials, but mostly to nudge you to browse over to this blog for the fullest updates.

As you all recall (I sent out an email when I got the news), Brian and Denise Renaghan have relocated to Germany. In fact, I got an email just the other day from Denise saying Brian is training to run the Rome Marathon. Good luck to Brian. The bottom line here is that we need to fill those two vacancies in our roster. Holly's sister is interested, though not confirmed. I am courting a San Antonio runner to join our little band and he is interested but, like Holly's sister, has not yet cleared his calendar so he can make a firm commitment. Arturo Aldama is from Mexico, where there is a great running tradition. He lives here in San Antonio, works for Mexicana Airlines and is an experienced marathoner. Arturo is not a musician but he's an avid fan of classical music. Let's cross our fingers that both he and Holly's sister can join us for this year's race.

Now would be the time to let me know if any of you are uncertain of your own availability. Steve has been rehabbing his sore Achilles. Let's all cross our fingers that he will have his mileage up by early March. Just let me know, Steve, and we can adjust your mileage to suit your situation. And Maeve, can you let me know if we will need to bend our runner rotation to accomodate your schedule, as we did last year? I can't tell you how important it is to me that we keep the team together. I also think carrying the full complement of 12 runners works to our advantage.

Here's the roster I am counting on for 2010:

Liz Pittel

Dorian Ramirez

Fred Ramirez

Steve Hager

Jon Hager

James Baker

Holly Murphy-Brackin

Marie Pekarik

Alan Pekarik

Maeve Goetz

????Holly's sister????

????Arturo Aldama????

Last year we went with runner/drivers, but this year Brenda, the Wrunner Wrangler, is hoping to be back on the physical scene as driver of Van I. How about Van II? Alan, are you cool with the same arrangement as last year? You rented a van in Houston and I rented a van in SA. Of course, with Brenda back with us (and if you choose to have a dedicated driver for Van II) I will need to shop for the next size up van. Last year's vans carried a driver and 5 passengers fine, but I'm not sure they would work for 7 total.

Something new I am proposing for this year is that we procure a couple of motel rooms which we would use as a place to stop for showers and naps Saturday night. This would be instead of using the gymnasium at Wallis. I need a show of hands from those who would like me to seriously explore this option. I have talked to a runner from another team who reports the motel room option as their preference. If we decide to go forward with this logistical adjustment I will ask Brenda to determine what our options might be and how we can make the best use of this logistically. This will push our individual costs slightly higher but I believe it might well be worth it.

Finally, I believe Brenda has already made some motel reservations in Gonzales for Friday night, March 5. Brenda, can you confirm that?

OH! One more thing. The starting line organizers are inviting teams to specify a particular song or piece of music to be played when the team starts on Saturday. Consider the floor open for nominations for team song.

Happy running, everyone. I know we've got ahead of us 3 M Half Marathon and the Houston Marathon. Good luck to all of us with races between now and the TIR.