Bayou City Classic 2009

I ran Bayou City Classic Saturday morning. Andrea, Tori and Gwen walked it. Jakeb sat it out this year because he had spring break plans that had him out of town.

When I woke up Saturday morning I was cold. I had felt like I may be getting sick and I was a little tired. The combination of all of those factors made me want to dress warm. I put on a long sleeve cotton shirt with a tech shirt over it. I put on tights and shorts and brought my gloves along. I was warm by gosh and I was not going to be cold during the race.

We got there about 45 minutes early and sat in the car for a while. When we finally decided to get out the wind was brutal and I thought I had made a good decision by wearing all of the layers of clothes. People around me were just in shorts and shirts and were shivering at the start. But not me, I was warm and comfortable … until I started to run.

The crowd started moving and I took off at a good pace. I felt like I could run a good race, maybe not as fast as last year but it would be a good time. Then I started sweating. I had to take off the gloves. I hit the first mile in 7:45 and thought to myself, “Tommy you are stupid. You are wearing way too many clothes and you know better.”

So slowed down. I watched the people around me run. I ran for fun and a t-shirt. And I finished in 49:22.

Immediately after finishing I started shivering. So after getting a t-shirt, a Saint Arnold’s spring bock and a breakfast taco I went to the car and changed into warm dry clothes.

Tori came across the finish around 1:20ish and Andrea and Gwen finished a little later.

I am glad I ran. It is the first time in a long time I did not push myself to finish as fast as I possibly could. It was a cold hot cold day.

Texas Independence Relay 2009

Jakeb and I had a great time running the Texas Independence Relay. I feel the same as last year where there is so much I could write and yet I could never fit it all in. Here are some highlights though:

I ran with some good people. This race makes you so stinkin exhausted and delirious that you have to have some laid back people to make it through two sleep deprived days without killing each other. It was really good to hang out with old and new friends and to meet even more people I only knew from reading their blogs - like Jessica.

Everyone ran hard. You run not just for yourself but for a team of people who are counting on you to do your part.

Last year Cassie and Manny were on my team but I did not feel as if I knew them very well because the were in the other van. This year our team rotated vans and it was good to be able to hang out with everyone. Cassie you make a great captain.

Jon is an organizational genius. TIR for two teams of bloggers would not happen without him. He puts together personalities that gel and sets up who runs what legs by knowing every runner and the way they run so well. Jon you amaze me and I appreciate what you do.

It was good to talk to Wes on the way up to and back from the relay.

The highlight of the whole weekend was running with my son. Everyone was very complimentary of Jakeb and it made me proud that he is my kid. For Jakeb’s take on the weekend check out his blog.

I hate that we will miss this event next year since we will move to Singapore. I really appreciate Jon slotting me in the last leg and letting me run to the finish. It means more than it would otherwise.

Texas Independence Relay

Jakeb and I are running the Texas Independence Relay this weekend. We will run a lot, sleep very little, hang out with old and new friends and be exhausted at the end - but glad we did it.