Mission Accomplished

The Mid-Texas Symphony running team had an extraordinary weekend of relay fun this past weekend as participants in the Texas Independence Relay (TIR). This was our third year of racing from Gonzales to the San Jacinto Monument, and the most successful of all in terms of the overall finishing performance. Last year, after we finished in 30 hours 18 minutes, one of our runners, Alan Pekarik, said "under 30 hours next year." I have to admit it sounded daunting, but on the other hand this largely non-competitive ensemble of A and B personality types, thought only for a brief moment before unanimously buying into the goal. Under 30 hours became a sort of battle cry.

So the 12 runners assembled to run this year took on the competitive challenge of finishing in under 30 hours of continuous running, and they did it. For the most part every element of the race was improved upon compared to previous performance. Runners trained better, a couple of new runners were added to boost the team's pace slightly, and then we had a terrific weekend of racing weather. Finish time: 29 hours 42 minutes.

As is often said, "there is no I in team." Team Mid-Texas Symphony consists of team captain James Baker, Liz Pittel and Dorian Ramirez, both cellists with the Mid-Texas Symphony (MTS), Steve Hager, who plays horn with the MTS, and his son Jonathon, who has a history as a violinist with MTS. To this mix is added Marie and Alan Pekarik, Holly Murphy-Brackin, Maeve Goetz, David Horne and Arturo Aldama. Go Runners, Go Team, and thanks for the wonderful work we all did together.

Hello From Wallis, TX

With spirits high, team Mid-Texas Symphony started its 203 mile run across a substantial and historic part of Texas at 6:36 Saturday morning, to the sound of cannon-fire. This is a lesson in how small increments can add up to big distances and in how a group of 12 runners, determined to have a good time, can exceed the wildest of expectations. In prescribed legs of 4, 5, 7.8 miles and everything in between, 40 in all, we run one by one, playing leap-frog and gradually accruing mileage. We crossed the Colorado River around 8 pm and reached the half way mark by 10 pm. The 6 runners in van 1 (of 2 support vehicles), myself included, are now in our down cycle after covering just over 42 miles. Our second group of runners is now on the road, giving van 1 a chance for showers and a few winks.

We are moving steadily towards our goal of sub 30 hours for the race. Doubtless tomorrow will hold some surprises, but for now we are exhausted but thrilled. More later about what we hope will be a fantastic finish at the San Jacinto Monument.

On Your Mark

On your mark, get set, go! Of the three familiar commands which start a race, my Mid-Texas Symphony running team is just about to take our marks. We are 12 runners, 8 of us now arrived in Gonzales, to be joined by the rest of the team in the early morning. Our team starts at 6:36. From that point until we hit the finish line just over 203 miles later, feet will be on the ground, morning, noon and night. This is the Texas Independence Relay, the third running of the race, and our third time to be a part of it. We run as the team Mid-Texas Symphony.

Crazy, you say? Insanity? Maybe so, but we look forward to this like some look forward to Thanksgiving or Christmas. You see, we love the challenge, we love cheering on our teammates and the other teams. We may even like that giddy feeling that comes at about 6am the second morning, after we've been in motion for almost 24 hours. For us, it's only another 6 hours to the finish line and then we can celebrate in exhaustion. Love it!

12 runners: 4 from San Antonio, 2 from Corpus Christi, 3 from Houston, and 1 each from Caldwell, San Marcos and Austin. Six of us are active musicians and the others have at one time or another played an instrument or they just love music. But the bottom line is that we all love running, and over the years we have found ourselves loving team running. As I heard Willie Nelson say the other night on Soundstage: "We're enjoying this a lot more than we thought we would."

Wish us luck.

Give Yourself the Gift of Exercise

I can already hear the grumbling of some who regard exercise, or rigorous activity of any kind, anything BUT a gift. To some degree we are all in that boat. It IS difficult to get going. It IS difficult to keep after it when 10 minutes into your run, or any other aerobic activity, your mind is saying "Enough already!" And YES, it is usually your mind, that persistent trickster, which speaks for your body. Convincing yourself to keep exercising often involves an inner conversation and plenty of negotiation between the voice which says "stop" and the other which says "keep going." Actually, I think there are abundant lessons on the faces of the endurance athletes of the recent winter olympics in Vancouver. When I see the cross country skiers in that final push of 100 or 200 yards, I know which voice is loudest in their minds. It's that same voice which got them into the sport and punched their ticket to Vancouver. It's all about quieting the negative voice.

One of the persistent observations made on modern life is how little time we seem to have. It's almost all spoken for, mapped out when we rise in the morning, a constant sequence of one obligation after another. We go to work and then bring work home with us. Those with families have the responsibility of making time for the partner and for the kids. And then there are those emails, not to mention the traditional paper mail which stacks up on the desk. Is it any wonder we are increasingly a stressed out, out of shape society?

They say that the best way to save money is to pay yourself first. It works. In fact, it works so well that I have begun to regard my 45-90 minute jogs as paying myself first. It feels great when thought of in that way. First, you know you will feel better for having exercised. You also know that this all accrues in the form of longer life expectancy and even canceling out some of the damage we have done to ourselves during those sedentary, careless periods of physical neglect. But here's the best kicker - you're finally getting your priorities right. How often do you really make time just for yourself? No, this isn't being selfish. If you really have to think about it, consider this: a fit you is a better husband, wife, parent, you're a better employee too. Some employers are even beginning to realize this as they offer employees opportunity to slip out of the workplace for an hour at the gym, or a run around the track. I get a little nervous in this area since I want my exercise time to be really mine, not something given me by someone else. Nevertheless, this does give us all an idea that if the BOSS thinks his or her employees are going to perform better if they are more fit, then this is likely a good investment.

So, for now walk away from those unanswered emails, that stack of homework from the workplace, those other demands which will knock you down if you allow it. Better yet, don't just walk away. Run away! You'll find you are a much better match for those other challenges once you have made that important investment in self. And one more thing. Once you acknowledge the workout ahead as a gift, you will be much less bothered by the naysayer within, that voice which demands you stop just as your heart rate is getting into that aerobic zone. Take the gift and go to the fitness bank. You'll be glad you did.

Texas Independence Relay Updates

At last check with Jay Hilscher, co-director of the Texas Independence Relay (TIR), there were approximately 150 teams ready to run this year's edition of the TIR. Jay was somewhat sheepish about giving a hard number of entrants, saying it had yet to be finalized. I expect there is a certain fluidity as teams struggle with last minute roster adjustments and other logistical issues. The TIR is unusual in that it allows teams which have paid their registration but then are unable to field a team to apply their registration to the next year's race.

My team, which runs as Mid-Texas Symphony, is surely wondering about their leg assignments and my mileage expectations from each runner. This will all come together as the myriad details of being the Captain are dispersed and ticked off my to-do list. Why do I do it? It really is a lot of work and delegation of authority can only go so far in spreading things around. Thank goodness for my sister Brenda, whom I affectionately refer to as the team's Wrunner Wrangler. She has made hotel reservations, van reservations and will eventually plot the movement of each of our runners and their assigned vans. Meanwhile, I continue to look for that last missing link in our 12 runner roster. At that point I will rest a bit easier and be reminded, as I always am, that my team and I do this because it is a heck of a lot of fun!

As you might expect from a team calling itself Mid-Texas Symphony, there is a musical connection. Almost everyone on the team is, or has been, a musician. It's no prerequisite, but interesting nonetheless that our core of 5 musicians who play, or have played, with the Mid-Texas Symphony have been joined by an ex-fiddler who is daughter of the orchestra's librarian, by an ex-band booster mom who just recently took up the piano, and by two chemists from Houston, husband and wife, who used to play clarinet and guitar. In fact, Alan tells me that if his wife Marie is goaded into it, she can still play a mean harmonica. Another of our band once played in the Longhorn Band at UT-Austin. I'm not sure if he can still play March Grandioso on his baritone, but he sure can "hook 'em Horns."

For this year's running of the TIR, team Mid-Texas Symphony will take the music on the road with them. Listen for our starting line music, Rimsky-Korsakov's Procession of the Nobles, at about 6:45 Saturday morning, March 6. We will then perform a couple of impromptu concerts along the way. Come listen to Moon Over Moravia and Texas, Our Texas on the main street of Flatonia. Yes, we have come to run 203 miles, but music will accompany us across miles and miles of Texas (no, that song's not in our book). Mid-Texas Symphony on the road, and the Texas Independence Relay - how much better can it get?

Runner Needed!

In addition to running individual races and writing this blog and its accompanying podcast, I organize teams for relay runs. The two principal ones are the Beach to Bay Relay (B2B) which is run every May in Corpus Christi, Texas, and the Texas Independence Relay (TIR), a 203 mile relay in early March. In exchange for organizing these teams I get to call myself Captain. Woo-hoo! B2B is a relatively modest team of 6 runners. The TIR requires more runners. Teams consist of anywhere from 8 to 12 runners. In 2008 my team (Mid-Texas Symphony) ran with 10 runners. Last year we went to 12 runners and the goal is to field 12 runners again this year.

We are now 2 weeks out from this year's race (weekend of March 6-7) and I find myself one runner short. If you are interested in joining the team as our 12th runner, click here and let me know who you are. I'll get right back to you.

To listen to the two part podcast about the TIR, go here.

Runner Finds Strength Against Cerebral Palsy

Here's an inspiring story of how running marathons has helped one young man (Andy Sullman) overcome the debilities of Cerebral Palsy. BTW.....Andy will be running on one of the teams (#100 Texas Forever Free!) at the upcoming Texas Independence Relay.

Network of Care for Developmental Disabilities - St Louis