2008 Houston Half-Marathon and Marathon
Oh, my tired eyes! I should not complain too much since I know some of you were out there running the half-marathon or full marathon today. But, my eyes are very tired today and I can only assume it is because I spent all morning trying to spot friends during the races so I could take their photos. After that, I was off to Hobby airport to take a short flight with my dad (our way of celebrating his birthday). All during the flight I was busy looking for other traffic. At one point Houston Approach alerted me to “traffic at eleven o’clock, 2 miles out and three hundred feet.” I looked and looked but nothing. Then I noticed something moving – it was gunship flying low and fast! Of course, it was a challenge to spot the olive gunship against the green fields.
Running
I still have not been motivated to run another marathon and with my knees acting up, I don’t think that is going to change any time soon. Still, I did make it a point to attend the expo on Saturday. I was a little disappointed in that there were not any good running gadgets to play with and purchase (like waterproof headphones – important for someone that sweats as much as I do). Maybe I just missed this. On the plus side, I did attend a talk on knee pain. After hearing the talk and later having a one-on-one with the doctor, I am very optimistic about a recovery. (I may not need to replace the old knees after all!) One thing I will have to do (in addition to taking 4 Aleve a day and starting therapy) is cut out running down hills.
I strained to spot everyone I knew would be running but in the end I only captured a handful of people I knew. Some I spotted at mile 7 but never saw them again. Others I spotted too late and I was only able to snap a picture of them running away. (At one point I tried to catch up with two people I knew but they were moving fast – it did not help that I was trying to run with one big SLR and lens in hand plus a backup with more lenses and water.)
I was expecting to see a lot of people I knew out there but in the end I only spotted a few. I even signed up with the event website to get updates on a few people. I was expecting to receive these updates on the runners’ progress during the event but I only received notices after they had completed their events (and hours after they had completed their run).
Congratulations to all that ran!
