a lesson in heat

I feel like the only thing I've been saying lately is "It's so dang hot!" But, it's just that - so dang hot. On Thursday we reached 110 degrees* on my car thermometer. With the humidity and the heat index, I'm sure it "felt like" at least 115. On Friday, I got into my car at 6pm, and it said 110 degrees. Six in the evening is supposed to be on the cool slide of the scale, in my faux-reality at least. I walked into my apartment where the AC was set to 80 degrees. I did the quick math, 80 degrees inside is 30 degrees cooler than the 110 degrees outside. Since when, in the history of anything normal, is 80 degrees thirty degrees cooler than anything?!

Let me just explain a bit what happens when you get into your car and it's been 110 degrees. First, you can not breathe in, for fear of passing out instantly. You must quickly open the windows, and leave the car door open. Now here comes the tricky part. You must use one pinky on one hand to move the shifter from 1st to neutral. Don't risk more than that, its not worth it. Now, using the fourth finger on that same hand you release the emergency brake. Why the fourth finger? Obviously because you can not re-use your pinky, it's on FIRE. About now you will have to shut the door, and using your first and second fingers you can turn the key. I'm sure you wonder, why is the key hot, it wasn't in the car the whole day. It's true, it wasn't, but it has now been in the car for 5 minutes and is also hotter than hades. Now with the car on, you have to buckle up. For this I use my opposite hand, and you have to first locate the metal buckle part - do not attempt to put on your seatbelt without being aware of where the buckle is, that thing is currently a leathal weapon. You must quickly grab the strap and then at the last possible moment, grip the plastic near the buckle and buckle it in. If you still have use of your hands, and if you have not branded yourself in the shoulder with the buckle, you can now drive off. Obviously using only one finger for the steering wheel.

And, that's just starting your car. Let's not discuss the pitfalls of running. The short version is, it sucks. I ran yesterday at 630am, it was already 85 when we started, and it was about 93 when we finished, and 4 miles has never been so difficult in my entire life.

Moral is, it's so dang hot!

*My apologies to those of you stuck in the darkness that is the northeast. I know you all want to say "blah blah blah...what I wouldn't give for sun....blah blah blah", but seriosuly, I'm going to go out on a limb and ask you to be careful what you wish for. There's a happy medium, and I'm ok with concluding that neither of us are experiencing it currently.

rock 'n' roll

The day started at 5am, we were both up easily and quickly getting ready.  On top of our normal running gear we pulled on some hospital scrubs*, skull caps, and $0.72 gloves to combat the frigid morning temperatures.  The hotel we were at was full of other runners and the lobby was already bustling with camera crews, runners, fans, and volunteers.  We grabbed some tubs of frozen OJ and headed to what we hoped was the closest shuttle to the start line.  My nerves kicked in while we waited for the shuttle, and RO'D tried to chat with me, but I was mostly non-responsive.

We boarded the shuttle and headed for the StartLine Village.  It was crazy.  The heb was there with bagels and water and bananas, UPS was there for gear check, and about a bazillion other booths and tables (by the by, this is perhaps the best thing ever and should get filed under 'gifts for Jenni'!).

Technically we were in different corrals, because RO'D is super speedy and I...am not. But he was super generous and started back with the slowpokes so that we could start together.  The gun went off somewhere in the distance, and we didn't move.  We stood around in the cold waiting for a full 38 minutes.  By the time our corral started I had to pee something fierce.  Our first mile was good, about 11 minutes, and we were pumped by the very first band at mile one.  Shortly after I made a pit stop to the port-a-pottie, and we were back on the road.  RO'D pulled ahead at about mile 3 and I was left to my own.  I was amazed at how quickly the miles went by.  There was a small clusterf@*$ at the water station at mile 5, it was the one and only time I was met with anything less than the greatest of sportsmanship.  A whole bunch of guys pushed me out of the way to get to the last three cups of cytomax, leaving me seemingly empty handed.  One of the cytomax volunteers saw it, and got me the first cup of fresh COLD cytomax - take that karma-punks drinking hot cytomax!!

During the race I ran into a few of the women I trained with - it was nice to see them on the course and run a bit.  I think we did the 5th mile together.  Then I plugged in the iPod and started to jam out.  If we could look at a breakdown of the individual miles, I think mile 7 might have been the fastest.  Mel made a few CDs for me and it was about then that 4 minutes was followed by Low, followed by Kiss Kiss - well how can you not run that whole time.  I loved having these CDs, made especially for me, while I was running.  It made me feel like there was someone there cheering me on, it really helped!  

Mile 10 was hard, and I walked more than ran.  Mile 11 was better.  And, I wasn't nearly as mad about the people at mile 12 who were yelling "You're almost there!"  The entire course was flat, except for a hill they placed nicely after the mile 13 marker - bastards.

At 2:49:28 (chip time), I crossed the finish line.

The finish line was well stocked with snacks, drinks, stretching areas, and free beer.  To put into perspective how I was feeling it took me 25 minutes to eat one banana, and another 25 minutes to finish one chewy granola bar.  You can imagine how long we sat on the ground starring at some band while we enjoyed our free beers.  After which we got up and walked (uh-huh, WALKED) back to our hotel.  It was a slow walk, a disorganized, non graceful walk.

I plan to do the half marathon in Austin, but more importantly, I plan to volunteer for other marathons and halfs.  I was blown away completely by the number of volunteers who were there just to pass me a cup of water, or make sure I had a warm aluminum foil blanket and a towel to keep me warm and dry when I was done.  They were everywhere, doing everything, and really - more than anything else - I don't think we could have done it without them.

*borrowed

Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby

I drove by Zilker Park today, there was a group of people playing soccer, a pretty typical scene.  Although not even a week ago that spot was where the AMD stage for this years ACL festival was located.  Looking at an empty Zilker today I was really in awe of the transformation it underwent.  

Last weekend a record-breaking crowd* poured into Zilker for three days full of music.  NH has done a better job than I will of detailing the three days.  I will say, it was a fun time.  Despite the heat, the crowds, the invasive dust-bowl, the too much beer, the not enough water, and the growing grumpiness that being hot and tired brings, I had a blast.  I was glad to spend the few days with some friends who had come in from out of town, and with some Austin friends who were totally down for hanging out (as opposed to the other crew who hid indoors for three days!)  

The natural question is to ask what my favorite show was, and it's hard to say.  I can break it down better this way...

favorite show to collect recyclables to (simultaneously saving the planet and earning a free t-shirt): Hot Chip

favorite new show that was highly recommended: The Black Keys

favorite non-stop party: Manu Chao

favorite female artist: Gillian Welch

favorite group to sit on the ground to listen to: Blues Traveler

favorite strung out on heroin goup: The Raconteurs

Although, there were so many others.  I'm tired just trying to remember them!

*I heard someone say 300,000 people, but then I'm fairly certain the had no idea what they were saying.

eighty-dollars later...

I'm registered for my first half marathon, and what a marathon it looks to be. We get admission to a concert after the race, and there are promised to be 70 live bands along the route - it is the San Antonio Rock n' Roll after all!

new plan...

...stay up all night to finish fMRI proposal that is due after spring break, so that tomorrow I can kick off SxSW festivities right!

I've got a steady supply of Diet Coke, and an immaculately cleaned apartment. Inspiration here I come...

UPDATE (10:53pm): Thanks to Sash for the external motivation I needed - experiment one, fully contrasted, on to experiment two. Shout Out Louds, here I come.

vote early, vote often!

When I was home for Christmas one of my friends asked me if Texas voted on Super-Tuesday, and I was embarrassed to say "I have no idea". I knew I wouldn't miss it when the election happened, but I was unsure if we were a Super-Tuesday state or not. Turns out, no. A few weeks after I was home I remember insinuating that Texas was strange for having some crazy "primary-caucus hybrid" and being pissy that we voted a full month after Super-Tuesday. At that time, it was suspected, that perhaps the candidates would be chosen by then - some wondered whether the race would still be competitive in Texas at that point.

Well, it is.

A few weeks ago UT hosted a debate between Obama and Clinton, it was amusing for the most part - particularly when they began to fight. (My personal favorite was when Hill burst out with a "But, Baaahh-Raaahhck!!".) In my opinion she looked foolish during much of that debate, except for the very end. Bill Clinton was at UT on Wednesday, and I was there to hear him speak. He truly is a great public speaker. He was there to tell us that Hillary is the best "agent of change" he knows. That while Obama touts himself as the change, Hillary is better able to make the change. On Thursday, Obama held a town-hall meeting in Austin. This is the first time that I've had this much personal attention from candidates, other than when we were electing our senior class officers in high school.

And while there can be much debate into how to choose which candidate to back: do you support women, or african americans? Are you more impressed by experience than promise? Does youth prevail? Education? Environment? Health care? International policy? IRAQ? There are many reasons why this democratic primary will be memorable. For me, the biggest reason may not be who I vote for, but how I vote.

Texas has an early voting system, which begins 17 days before an election and ends 4 days before an election. There are specific early voting polls, and anyone can vote at any location. It seems odd, and yet so simple. Why not open the polls early, give people more chances to be able to make it out to vote. I'm not sure how Texas is able to handle this and other states aren't, but they do it and it seems to work. To further confuse things, for the primaries we have what is referred to as the Texas Two-Step, a phrase so beloved by the state it is actually used to describe any number of things.

Two-thirds of the delegates are decided by the vote of the primary. The remaining one-third are decided by the caucus held 15 minutes after the polls close. In order to participate in the caucus, you must vote in the primary. You must be present at the caucus at precisely 7:15 for your participation to count. As it has been described to me, everyone gathers in one room and "signs-in" according to the candidate they choose. It sounds strange to me, but I'll be there to caucus for the first time.

What disturbs me the most about this whole system is, no one knows about it. I thought that I was the one who had caught on late - but truly, no one that I've spoken to knows anything about this. So I've been making it my personal mission to inform everyone I know. Vote early, vote often, long live Texas!