Wildlife Trail Classic and Obama Basketball

Workout notes 4 miles; 1 mile run/walk warm up, 5K trail “powerwalk”) in 29:20 at the Wildlife Prairie Park Trail Classic race.

I said “powerwalk” as my walking form wasn’t even remotely legal; my knees were bent as all get-out. But legal walking on a trail race is all but impossible anyway, so I didn’t worry about it.

I drove there with Tracy and found that it was indeed chilly (39 F, or about 3 C) and windy (a spandex day! Thanks, ladies! ); this would have been a warm day by February standards, but it was cold compared to what we were used to.

After doing a walk jog warm up (and intending to run) I decided to fast walk it instead; I hadn’t run a step in months. So I lined up near the very back of the pack and ended up passing like crazy on the first mile, which took about 10:00. It was an uphill mile but I felt good; but no way was this a legal walk. We had a mix of dirt/rock/gravel trails and wide grass trails here.

I kept picking up the pace while trying not to trip; it was a joy passing people though. Mile 2 came 9:20 later (mostly wide grassy trails and gravel) and I thought “ok, only 10 more minutes or so) as the course turned into a mix of gravel roads. I saw the trail end to the parking lot and now some of the runners got me back as I attempted to clean up my walk a bit; no excuse for bent knees now! Still, I was happy to finish under 30:00 (29:20 by my watch; probably 29:35 official) and, though I wore shorts and a long sleeved technical t-shirt, I was dripping with sweat.

I went back for Tracy and jogged a bit with her as she finished in 36:45 (sort of a walk/jog/trot/”move forward without falling down”). She took 3′rd in her age group (55-64).

Afterward, we picked up her award and then saw some of the animals.

She is looking at the bobcats here and here:

It is hard to see them, but they are here.

(you have to click the above link) and look past the small tree in the middle of the photo; they are hard to make out as I don’t have a telephoto.

Ironically, I was only about 3 minutes slower than last year, when I “ran” the race.

Obama and Basketball
This is sort of a fun, fluffy Obama article by turneresq.

Short video about his playing in Indiana

A longer one which discusses his history in basketball:

Of course, it is a good thing that he is not running against Bill Bradley.

Note that “Dollar Bill” has endorsed Obama.