Greetings from Charlotte

Really, they should change my job title. I don't know any "helpdesk coordinator" senior or not that gets to travel to Los Angeles for support of a new office; Raleigh, London, or Brussels for new software rollout; or Charlotte for supplemental support. I just think my resume would look better with something other than Senior Helpdesk Coordinator.

So yeah, I didn't get to go to the beach yesterday for an autocross, instead I drove through a monsoon to get to Charlotte. I listened to Into the Wild audiobook on my way. I'm half-way through it and like it more than the movie.

Back to work now.

Busy weekend

For the second weekend in a row, I raced. This time it was behind the wheel of Team ahamos Spec Miata at VMSC's 2nd autocross of the season. It seems that our new tires, Hankook Ventus Z214 C71 compound (the autocross/time trial compound), were a wise purchase. I finished 14th of 77 RAW and 16th of 77 in adjusted (PAX) time--my best finish since starting to drive the Miata. And we've still got brakes and a cat-bypass pipe to upgrade. Like I said before with respect to others, I'm faster behind the wheel than on foot. It's more exhilarating, too!

Also, I was an instructor at VMSC's Spring Autocross school on Saturday. Not too exciting, but made me feel pretty good to teach others.

Something I've been meaning to mention, but suck at blogging too much to do it: Into the Wild. Put it on your Netflix Queue and watch it. I warn: its long. So either devote 2.5 hours straight or be prepared to split it up. You'll likely want to go camping afterwards--this is natural. And while I'm commanding you watch things, take a look at Youtube for the Last Lecture. I haven't watched the whole thing yet, but I saw the 10-minute version that showed on Oprah and was moved, to say the least.

Again, I suck at blogging, so haven't mentioned: I've recently re-upped my Unclehood. My brother and sister-in-law had their 2nd boy, Evan William G. Evan because they like it, William because it's my father's middle (because it's my grandfather's brother's name). Cody, my first nephew is taking it pretty well and shows him a lot of affection. It'll just be a few years before he starts bitching that his brother gets everything in the world handed to him... Oops, I let of my own feeling out--but its true. That's how families go, as I've come to learn.

Friday night the lady and I saw Ben Folds at The National. zomg... He rocks. What I like most about him is what you hear on the CD is what you get live--amazing. Oh and the National is really cool, and is cooler than Toads! Think Byrd Theater with no seats downstairs and a bigger stage.

Wow, this is posted just 6-days after my last (content-based) post. Strange. Now back to work for me.

Prayers

I'm not too sure the etiquette here, but I wanted to publish a request for prayers and well-wishes for Amanda. (more details)

Monument Ave 10k

So along with 24,000 other people, I actually ran the 10k. In short, I'd do it again--but hope for better weather. My 6-week training schedule started with 1 mile 3x week 1, 2 miles 3x week 2, and 3 miles 3x week 3. Over the last couple weeks I changed it up a bit. I ran 4 miles twice on week 4 and ran a 5k that weekend. Seeing how terribly beat I was during the 5k, I thought I was in for some trouble for 10k. That is until the weekend between the 5k and 10k. I set out to run ~5 miles, half of which was to take place on Monument Ave. From the bottom of The Boulevard, I ran up to Monument, down to Belvidere (just past where the 10 will end) and back. I took my time and ran at my pace. It turns out my pace is slow, oh well. I finished the 5 mile run and decided to add 0.5 miles and run around the tennis courts in Byrd Park and back up Shepperd St. Not once during my run did I overheat, feel fatigued, or want to stop. Hell, I even felt good enough to do more. So this assured me that I could do the 10k, just not at my 5k pace. And so I did.



In the week leading up to the 10k, I listened up anytime Jim Duncan, Segay Galindo, Tom Patton, or Andrew Freiden were on the tube hoping one of they would tell me I'd have sun on Saturday. Fat chance; didn't happen. Thursday I had a nice pasta meal (thanks to the in-laws) at O'Garden, and Friday had Chanellos Pizza for dinner. I figured that was enough carbs for energy. Saturday AM, I woke up, had a light protein/carb breakfast, prepared for the race and left. Now, since 20,000+ other people were descending upon the fan district, I thought it would be best to ride my bike there. I chained it up (front wheel too--I'm not dumb anymore) out in front of the Cathedral and walked to the start line sipping on my energy drink. I queued up in the back of the J group. To future potential participants, don't sign up in J. There were 3,000+ people in this group, thinking they're going to run in exactly 1 hour. Many people, myself included, didn't really have an idea so just put down 1 hour. Next year, I'll run in the group before or after, but not in the J group again--just too many people in general, and way too many people that should have been further back (points to myself). It didn't precipitate until about 20 minutes before my group started and even then it was just barely drizzling. By the time we started it graduated into a light rain. The light rain got heavier and heavier, and by the time I finish it was almost pouring. Upon finishing, I grabbed a snack and drink, and set out on my way back home via bicycle. I was cold and tired, but felt accomplished.

My final time was 1:08:05 with a sub 11-minute mile average. A bit off of my eventual goal, but certainly a starting point and good training for the Muddy Buddy.