Ft Worth Turkey Trot

This was the first year that I have ever done a Turkey Trot other than Austin. The Austin Turkey Trot is HUGE. There are games for the kids, music, people in Pilllsbury suits walking around....it is a Turkey Day Festival in and of itself. So, I was sure what to expect from Ft. Worth.
Getting there wasn't hard and finding a parking place was fairly simple. I think we ended up about two blocks from the actual start, parked in front of someone's house. We had about an hour to kill but still had to pick up our packet. The packet pickup lines were no where near as long as the Austin lines but there were few volunteers and they were not doing a good job of keeping folks in their correct alphabetical lines. So, we stood in line, drinking our coffee, eating our Clif Bar breakfasts, people watching. Oh, and BIG bonus points, here, as it turns out dogs are allowed and the Ft Worth canine population was well represented.

When we finally made it through the line, we were told they were out of shirts and we would have to sign up for them to send a shirt to us. Also, the chip pickup was at another table so, as Kent had a chip and I didn't care if I was timed or not (let me point out that normally I would run the Trot with one or more of my dogs and this was the first year I had not done that. I missed my Eden and we almost went back for her.), we skipped it and went to find the start of the 10k and to do our 2 mile warmup.

When we had first arrived there seemed to be about 3,000 people milling around, listening to the band play, eating free yogurt and doing warm-up exercises with Jane Fonda. As we headed towards the course, we noticed that more than half the participants were gone. We concluded that most of the folks were doing the 5k which started about 50 mins before the 10k or the 1 mile walk which started with the 5k. As we took off on the course, for our warmup, we noticed that the 5k'ers were making their way to the finish (quickly, I might add) and were having to dodge around the walkers, many of which had their pooches or baby strollers. That probably could have been better planned. So, deduct points for possible collisions or dog bites.

We finished up our warmup, headed back to the car (which was conveniently close) and took off a couple of more layers of clothing. By this time it was probably in the upper 60's low 70's. We headed back to where we thought the start was located. Turned out we weren't completely right. As it got close to time, they herded all 500 or so, of us, into a parking lot where there was a white line drawn on the ground. As Kent handed me his gloves, camera and shirt, which I wrapped around my waist with my own long sleeve shirt (not very aero dynamic at this point) I heard a faint 8...7...6....5... I yelled to Kent, "GO...GO...GO" and pushed him the direction of the start. With no starting mat to run across Kent needed to be as close to the front as he could get when the gun went off. Correction here, when the guy yelled, "GO". (most of the racers couldn't believe we had started as it was 2 mins early and not many people had heard the countdown). So take off points for an unorganized start and double negative points for no National Anthem. (how do you know a race is about to start without a national anthem?) First mile was down hill...then, from there, it was up, down, up, down, up, down. I mean, I thought Ft. Worth was flat. You basically ran up and down a hill on one block, took a corner another corner and paralleled the same street with the same hills in it. There were water stops about every 2 miles, however, at some of the water stops there was a total of two people working. There were not too many people out on the course, cheering, but the ones that had come out of their houses, coffees in hands, were all smiles and cheers.

The last 200 meters was totally down hill which provided a strong finish, if you have anything left in ya, and a great picture as you churn your way over the finish line.

The after race celebration was on, with the "We only know one melody" country band and the awarding of giant trophies to the winners of the different age groups and races. The results were posted within 15 mins of our finish so add points for efficiency. However, turns out that the normal standard champion chips were not used at this race so we had to go convince the results guy that Kent came in 4th in his age group and 10th over all. For some reason the woman who promised him she had written it down when he crossed the mat never conveyed the information to anyone that matter. Whatever, it was the principal of it cause, in the end, you only get hardware if you get top three in your age group.

So, with no tshirt and no trophies, we loaded up ourselves and headed to a 7-11 for drive home coffee.

2006 Tour De Habitat

I'm not sure whether to review the ride or my nice, new winter cycling shirt. I think I might write a totally different review if it weren't for that shirt.
The ride started out at the decent hour of 9am. Just enough time to get a real breakfast (something other than a Clif Bar) and make a coffee stop on route. So, A+ for start time and many, many 7-11 stores, on the way.

It was pretty cold, about 50 degrees and as windy as a day in March so we weren't too surprised that the turn out was small compared to last year. That's ok, just meant we extra attention from the incredibly nice volunteers and more cookies on the route. I even noticed a huge tub of Super Bubble so A++ for the nice volunteers and their thoughtfulness in handing out my treat of choice, Bubble Gum! Oh...and they all loved Eden and even offered to watch her while we rode. These folks are tops in my book.

On to the ride...
Kent was cold. The volunteers were cold. Everyone was cold but, me, I was nice and warm in my new Sugoui riding jersey. I'm not 100% sure what it is made out of but I think it is a mixture of fleece, cool max and Eskimo all rolled into one snug-as-a-bug shirt.
If it had not been for the 20mph winds, this ride would have been fast and smooth. Most of it didn't have a hill to speak of and the scenery, though not so scenic, was better far better than any ride up Palmer or towards Buda (both normal Austin routes). The other riders were polite if a little too cold to carry on a real conversation. The volunteers, however, are what made this ride so nice. I think there was one volunteer for every rider and each rest stop (one about every 10 miles) had cookies (some homemade) and fruit. There were even cops stationed at every crossing to hold the traffic as we went by. I felt like I was at the Ride for the Roses but for less than 1/10th of the cost. There was one stretch of about 2 miles where the road was grated and was so hard to ride I almost got off and walked. Other than that, they were your normal country back roads. A few pot holes to keep you on your toes but not so bad beyond that.





We got back, and unlike the Ride for the Roses, there were no bands or roses being handed out. That's ok, though. For $25 I was not expecting bands. There were hotdogs and chips (knock off some points for no turkey legs). We left the hotdogs to the other riders, loaded our bikes and said farewell to our fellow riders and headed off to find more coffee and another 7-11.


Race Schwag Shirt.

2006 Gulf Man Festival in Galveston

More like a impromptu practice tri than a real race....


I think I was the only one that had not heard the news, of how the
race was given up by one race director and picked up by another, just
weeks before the event. There was somewhere in the realm of 50 people
that did not show because they heard it was going to be a TOTAL
CLUSTER.
The day before the race nobody knew
1. how many laps around the lagoon we would have to do. It looked like
a mile, with the bouys, but we heard it was 2 laps around. We were
scared.
2. where the race dinner was. We ended up at some bar that didn't even
serve food. Wrong advice or a bad April Fool's joke.
3. How the transistions were going to work. We had to place our bike
at T2 with the expectation of riding our bikes, the next morning, with
all of our wetsuits, goggles, helmet, sunglasses, race number, shoes,
to T1, 2 miles away. (I didn't bring a bag so had to use a trashbag). swim/run
Day of race
They are running behind. I ask the race director (THE DIRECTOR) how
many laps around the lagoon. He still doesn't know. I don't find out
till I am about to enter the water that it is 1 lap. whew!
We ride our bikes, me with my trashbag, everyone else with duffles,
trashbags, semi-suitcases...whatever they could find to stuff their
crap in, to T1. I stuff myself into my wetsuit while they are sending
the 1/2 group off on the swim. We are running about 30 minutes late.
(which you think is no big deal but you have to realize the longer you
wait to start the hotter you can guarantee the finish to be)
I notice that the 1/2 group is struggling to swim the first 50 meters
because the water is so shallow. So, when I get in and the horn goes to bike transition
off, I run the first 50 meters. Let me just say I was almost in first
place when I finally started swimming. I have never almost been in
first place in any swim. (of course it didn't last long) It was funny
to be running alongside the chick who was swimming out front.
The swim went great. (Thanks Ryan and Lauren).
Got out of the water, stripped down to my tri-suit, shoved everything
back into the bag and took off on the bike. Crappy thing bout this
race is they add the transisiton times to the swim and run so I won't
really know how I did on my swim.
The bike was great. The wind was more from the side, so I never got a
head or tailwind and the roads were smooth and flat. The only thing of
note was the turn around. We had to ride off the road, onto Beach run
kinda-sorta sand, under a bridge, where there was standing water, and
then back onto the road. My back tire slid out twice. I kept
repeating..."don't fall little bike...don't fall little bike".
Got off the bike feeling great and took off on the run. That is when I
found out, for the first time, it was a beach run. Beach runs are only
romantic and cool in books. In reality, the sand is too soft for good
purchase, there are sandcastles and children building sandcastles, to
dodge and holes (dug by those same kids) to jump over. Oh...and there
was no water. They had water stops ever 1.8 miles. That aint much on a
hot beach. We did run off the beach, through the RV park and then back
onto the beach. There was one waterstop the whole time. I looked at my
watch and it was sitting at 12 minutes, when I hit the first water
stop. I asked one of the volunteers what mile he was and I got
back..."oh 3 or 4". Wow! I was flying! (yeah right)
Heading back to the beach, one kid had told me to go over the bridge
and take a left (or was it a right). I run up to this girl, who is
going in the opposite direction, and ask her....have you seen any
runners going this way. She assured me that, "yes, she had". I took
off again. At minute 22 I see the finish line and I am thinking...ok
we run past it and up the beach and then will turn back around. This
guy is waving to me....Your done! Your done! I run up to him and stop
and tell him, "I can't be done...I missed a turn"! I am so upset. He
then informs me that they decided to turn it into a 5k. ugh
I finish and then use all of my mental will power to turn around and
go do the loop, again, so that I get the right distances for my
training tri. (Ruth...I hope you are proud of me for that)
I spend the next 5k playing Santa Clause and telling all the tired
people that, instead of a 10k, they are only having to run a 5k. I
have never been the cause of so much happiness.
There was hardly any water at the finish and a few bananas and
oranges. I want everyone to say thanks for the many well run tris,
here in Austin, that we might take for granted (and the beers, and
bands and hoopla that can make em so much fun)
Results were posted a month later and they were iffy at best. I won 2nd woman overall and was told I would receive my medal in the mail. I'm still waiting.