Keys to Success

As with most everything in life, it is important to stay within the moment. That certainly applies to running and also to the weekend of extreme racing accomplished this past weekend by the running team which represented the Mid-Texas Symphony (MTS) at the Texas Independence Relay (TIR). This is a race which is ever in motion. Once the starting cannon is fired (it is a jolt!), feet are on the ground and moving forward until the finish line, over 203 miles away, is reached. There's no point in reflecting back, not can a runner look any further ahead than the next step, the next few feet ahead. Be here now could well have been coined for just such situations. Contrary to the notion often expressed by those who detest running, every step is not an endless repetition of the previous. The course ebbs and flows in what runners call rollers. And then there are other runners, strung out for seemingly endless miles. Now and then there are encounters and a race might occur within the race. I am infinitely satisfied by these competitive bursts and must fight back emotions when I see the runners congratulate each other at the ends of these footraces. "Great running," they will say to each other. The sportsmanship is incredible.

Running is largely a solitary activity, at least for many runners. Yes, I encounter quite a few runners who have running partners and there are even instances of running groups which go out together once a week on the "long run" which is part of every distance runners regimen. Nevertheless, the concept of running as a team, especially within a relay structure, is quite different than an individual runner competing against a marathon, or half, or a 10K. Admittedly, when I first formed the Mid-Texas Symphony running team I thought it might be a one event experiment. First, someone has to take the proverbial bull by the horns and organize the darned thing. That first team of 6 runners came together as an easily built team of 5. Getting the 6th runner was a challenge. In the end we fielded 6 runners, but only 5 bonded into a team. It's an experiment in evolution and chemistry. Three years ago, when we were challenged to expand the team to 10 for our first TIR, we were plagued by recruitment problems which almost doomed us from the start. A scant week and a half before the race I had only 7 confirmed runners. Others had said maybe, but had then dissolved into the ether. If not for miraculous intervention, I would have pulled our Mid-Texas Symphony team out of the inaugural TIR. That miracle came in the form of a couple of runners from Houston signing with the team and then another last minute email from a runner in Caldwell. Bingo - 10 runners. But of the 10, only 4 of us had ever run together. How much trust could one put in strangers known only via email?

We gathered part of our ragged team at a motel in Seguin the night before the first race. Holly, from Caldwell, was a band mom and a devoted, if sporadic, distance runner. Marie and Alan, from Houston, were chemists who liked to run and welcomed the adventure of an ultra relay. Liz, one of our original MTS runners, myself, and my sister Brenda (brought on as the designated Wrunner Wrangler) met Holly, Marie and Alan for the first time over dinner. Ready or not, we were about to be thrust into a weekend of running which would require not only endurance but also a great deal of trust. It seemed like it would work, but only the rigorous days ahead would truly prove whether we had a team, or not. We met our other runners the morning of the first race. Brian and his wife Denise were new and unknown to me. I knew their cousin Maeve only by reputation as a fine runner and the daughter of the Mid-Texas Symphony's librarian Ethne. Rounding out the team were Steve and his son Jonathan. They were part of the original MTS racing team. So.....here's what we had: 5 old friends (including Brenda the Wrangler) and 6 perfect strangers. We would get acquainted over the next 32 hours and see if we had a real team when we crossed the finish line at the historic San Jacinto Monument.

Anyone who has ever been part of team knows there are a lot more things which can go wrong than can go right. Thankfully, we got it mostly right that first year. By the end of the race, we were 12 friends, 10 runners, one wrangler and one other driver, Dorian, whom we knew as one of our original MTS runners. "Was the chemistry right?" I asked of Alan and Marie. "He's making a joke," said Marie and we all laughed while pledging to be back the following year to renew our newly made friendships.

In 2009 I added 2 more runners to bring us up to the maximum size of a 12 runner team. The "new" runners were Dorian and Fred, the husband and wife who were already part of the core MTS running team. Once again, the chemistry was great. Although we hadn't been together as a complete group since the year before, it was like a reunion of old friends. We laughed together and cried joyful tears together when Holly revealed at the end of the weekend that she had just beat an horrific brush with cancer. Let's do this again in 2010! It was unanimous.

The 2010 team had to be revamped slightly when Denise and Brian moved to Germany. Like the first year, finalizing the new team came to the last minute. I called on Arturo, whom I knew only through mutual friends and from talking to him on the phone about classical music, which he loves so deeply. David, a bassoonist who has played in the past with the Mid-Texas Symphony, finally became the 12th runner on the new team. Again, we had a group which was untested as a team. Would it work? We had set for ourselves a goal of breaking 30 hours in the 2010 race. On paper, it looked possible, but as every General Manager will tell you, the proof is in the pudding (strange phrase, isn't it, said to have been stated long ago in Cervante's Don Quixote as "the proof of the pudding is the eating"). Amazingly, we navigated around a couple of speed bumps and complications as the team gelled. The rookies quickly took to the challenge and in the end we achieved our goal of a sub 30 hours race. Our official finish time was 29 hours, 42 minutes, 48 seconds. "Shall we do this again next year?" I polled our ecstatic if weary team at the finish line. "Count on me!" came the unanimous response. It's times like this you are glad to be the captain.

So.....embedded in this narrative are a few keys to success, not only in building on fitness goals and achievements, but also in cementing friendships which will last long after the lactic acid has settled out and the muscles are no longer sore. What we do in keeping ourselves fit should be part of a whole life process, and that includes friendship, trust and respect annealed by the fire of accomplishment.

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.