Friday, January 15, 2010

The Five Dollar Shake


Vince:  "Did you just order a five dollar shake?"
Mia:  "Ummhh."
Vince:  "It's a shake.  That's milk and ice cream."
Mia:  "Last I heard."
Vince:  "That's five dollars?  You don't put bourbon in it or nothin'?"
Mia:  "No."
Vince:  "Just checking."
I just signed up for my first race of 2010.  The Dallas Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon on March 14.  The entry fee was $100.  Upon seeing the price, I immediately thought of the above scene from Pulp Fiction (the second best movie ever made), which takes place just after Mrs. Mia Wallace orders the "Five Dollar Shake" at Jack Rabbit Slim's.  Vincent Vega cannot believe that anyone would pay $5 for a milkshake.  And I cannot believe that anyone would pay $100 for an event that lasts less than 90 minutes.  But I did.  And I'm sure I will again.  And it will cost me approximately $1.15 a minute.  Hopefully my response after running in what I am now calling the "Hundred Dollar Half" will be similar to Vince's after he tried the "Five Dollar Shake."  (Look it up.  I'm not posting it because I was censored the last time I went above a G rating!).

The plan for the first part of this year was to spend time in the water.  I owe AC (i.e., New Coach--AC are his initials)  a 12 week swimming block, and we'll get to that.  But first things first, I need a solid qualifying time from a half marathon in order to get into a good starting coral for the Chicago Marathon this Fall.  I planned on just taking it fairly easy and going under 1:35 to make sure I'm at least in Coral B.  I have no worries that I can do that without missing a beat in my training.  To get into Coral A, however, I need to go under 1:25:59, which will require significantly more effort without moving me up that much further to the starting line in Chicago.  When I explained this to AC, he responded with:

"If you're going to race, then let's RACE!"

That sounds fun!  And a little scary, since I haven't done any really hard work for him yet.  And I've been complaining about how easy he's making me run and ride.  I've been warned that my time is coming.  And I'm guessing my days of complaining about easy workouts are quickly coming to an end.  Oh boy?!

In the meantime, today marks the halfway point for the 30 Runs in 30 Days challenge.  So far it has been easier than I thought it would be.  Leading into this, the most days in a row that I had ever run was probably five, and that would have been in college.  In the past few years I haven't even run a lot of back-to-back days, much less 30 of them in a row!  This had me a little apprehensive about how my body would hold up.  But once the first week was out of the way, I felt a lot more at ease with these runs.  Rather than getting more difficult as the month goes on, I'm finding that the runs are actually getting easier.  I feel like just 15 days of consistency has already made me more resilient.  Probably because I wasn't allowed to run hard, thus injuring myself. 

Thanks, AC.  I'll try to save my complaining for the whip instead of the leash.

1 comment:

Michael Bowen said...

Barry - an interesting commentary. I scream in horror at the thought of spending $100/half, too. But working intermittently with the (NOTC) club liaison to the Rock n' Roll people (Competitor Group), I've begun to learn where the money is going. These guys have it down pat. Every possible logistical problem or nightmare which could happen on race day (especially when it comes to participant safety) has been worked through, a comforting thought when seen through the eyes of a club worker/race director.

As an RRCA rep, we're constantly talking to clubs about managing risk on and leading up to race day. The mantra which we've taken up is: 'are you willing to lose your house over this decision?' Sometimes well-meaning race directors place undue risk on their clubs by doing stupid stuff...which often means the need for legal eagles like you to remind them...so we don't have to look foolish when the lawsuit comes.

I think of it as the difference between buying a $200 aluminum Cannondale and buying a $2000 carbon fiber Kuota. Yes, you have a bike, but you DO get what you pay for.

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