I suck, even at 49 years old (no politics)

Well today, I “ran” our local version of the Nike Human Race 10K. Since the race was free and ran past my front door twice, how could I not?

I warmed up by walking to the start, doing some yoga, and then walk-jogging for 12 more minutes. I lined up way in the back and we were off.

I made a conscious effort to bend my knees when I ran; I understand that I was still very “bent forward from the waist” (wife’s observation).

Mile one felt easy and it should have been: 9:09. Mile two felt ok 9:03 and mile three was a bit of a strain 9:03 again. By then I was all but whipped (no, it wasn’t that warm) and so I started to walk. No, I wasn’t aerobically challenged; my legs just ran out of energy. And so I walked the next two miles: 11:28 and 11:16.

Dang, I can’t walk either. So, I “ran” it in; by then my legs had recovered a bit and the last 1.2 miles took 10:38 (8:52 pace). I tried to catch those who had passed me during the walking phase but couldn’t.

Final time: 1:00:39, or just under 9:50 a mile.

I then walked it back home (another mile) to record 9 miles for the day.

But do you want to know what is crazy? Back in 2001, I ran 10K in 44 minutes. I also swam the Barton Springs 3 mile (5k’ish) course in 1:52. This year I swam the same course in 1:49…3 minutes FASTER.

In short, I am swimming faster now than I was when I was running my 10Ks 16 minutes faster; that means something but I am not sure as to what.

Football:

Well, the Big Ten took in on the chin this weekend: Oh yeah, there was a rout of Coastal Carolina here, and a stirring comeback win over Northern Illinois there, and blowouts of Akron, Youngstown State, and Maine. But the scores that matter:

Utah 25, Michigan 23
California 38, Michigan State 31
Missouri 52, Illinois 42
Northwestern 30, Syracuse 10.

Let this sink in: NORTHWESTERN had the best Big Ten win of the week.
Oh don’t let the final score of Missouri-Illinois deceive you: it was Mizzou 31-13 at the half and they had built the lead to 45-20 in the third quarter.

As far as Illinois goes, be prepared for the following BS: they play two out of conference “directional schools”, then two overrated big name teams (Penn State, Michigan), then two conference doormats. After these games, look for screaming headlines on how the “Illini have “turned it around”, etc., etc. They go on to finish 9-3, thump their chests only to get blown out in another bowl game.

The dirty secret: the Big Ten sucks in football. Sure, the universities are top notch research universities, with world class scientists and mathematicians in their faculties. Scientific discoveries and cures for diseases abound!

But forget football.