We won the championship, once again. Unfortunately I missed the final this time due to travel commitments.
Well done, team.
Category Archives: Keep Austin Weird
Things I do or feel like talking about around town.
Cap10k 2018 Results
Another year, another Cap10k. I trained hard, and I kicked ass. Well, I kicked my own 2013, 2016, and 2017 ass. But I couldn’t kick my 2014 and 2015 ass:
- 2013: 53:12
- 2014: 48:33
- 2015: 48:22
- 2016: 50:59
- 2017: 50:53
- 2018: 49:17
I trained really hard using the RunKeeper app’s subscription only training programs which asked me to run an insane amount of miles. I ran more miles in the last few months than I had ever run in a similar time period before. And yet… it wasn’t enough to beat my own record which I thought I could and was a little disappointing.
The weather was perfect. I slept well the night before. What could have possibly slowed me down? Possible factors:
- I’m old
- I skipped my traditional pre-race porta-potty visit
- A week of Passover food binging and run skipping the week before the event
Alas, it was not to be.
But here are the positives:
- A great result
- 140th place in my category
- Had the race been a month later, I would have been 108th in my category!
- I won the famous Cap10K Kirsch Challenge. Take that, Fin!
Will I run again? My legs, at the moment, say no. Ask me again in a few days.
Cap10k 2018 starting line
Barton Hills Farms
Two weeks ago we headed to Barton Hills Farms at the suggestion and accompanied by the Aguilars. I was skeptical: what the hell do you do in a farm in the middle of nowhere?
Turns out there’s much to do. Besides photo ops with pumpkins, which people seem to really like, they have lots of games and activities including Ilan’s favorite: little trains you can ride.
This post is a bit late: they’re closed since November 5th. Make a note for next year.
Eclipse
Due to recent life circumstances I didn’t plan to go see today’s total eclipse. I did manage to borrow sun filter, check it out and snap some iPhone photos.
Lame.
Austin, TX
Masacotes 2017
2017 Cap10K results
I ran my fifth Capitol 10K this morning. Right after I crossed the finish line someone asked me: “How did you do?”. “I don’t know, haven’t checked” I replied. “But how did you feel?”…
“I felt like crap”
Which is not a bad thing, in my opinion. If I didn’t feel like crap, wouldn’t that mean that I didn’t push myself hard enough?
My results:
- 2013: 53:12
- 2014: 48:33
- 2015: 48:22
- 2016: 50:59
- 2017: 50:53 (link to MyChipTime)
That’s right! I’m a year older but 6 seconds faster.
Thank you to my family, my coach, and to all my sponsors for their support.
Cap10k pre-race
T-5
SXSW 2017: The I’m a loser edition
This year I only went a single Sunday morning to check out Capital Factory’s AR/VR Megalounge. And get me some swag.
They had a good amount of mostly unfinished games for the HTC Vive. Best of all: no lines. Bonus: free food and drinks.
I was pulled into a demo by Groove Jones in which you play a Tron-like disc game in a Tron-like environment against your opponent. I won several matches in a row. Unfortunately, my old body didn’t handle the intense activity well and I ended up with a torn hamstring.
Regardless of my injury, they found us graceful enough to get me on their Twitter:
Battle a friend in a friendly game of #lightstrike by @groovejonesvr! Come play now! @htcvive @metaglasses pic.twitter.com/jiGNobbwhc
— CF Virtual Reality (@CFVRLab) March 12, 2017
Since I was already downtown, I decided to walk around a little bit to see the sights and get some free toys. This in spite of my leg pain.
As I strolled down Sixth Street, I saw a large crowd of barely clothed good looking people walk towards me. I had to double check: it wasn’t Halloween nor Mardi Gras. What could it be?
This is SXSW, so of course it was an advertisement for something. However, just to make sure, I decided to stick around and pay close attention to all details in order to make sure.
It became obvious that I wasn’t going to get a free t-shirt from this crowd (maybe a free trash bag), but luckily Panasonic gutted out Parkside and turned it into a giant booze and t-shirt dispensing advertisement.
Mission accomplished.
Austin Zoo Review
The mighty Austin Zoo.
I knew it existed, but in 15+ years of living here I never went. I had heard too many times that “it’s just some rescued animals, like goats and stuff”.
It’s true, but the place is a lot nicer than I had pictured. And while there were some goats, they also had some pretty good animals: bears, lions, a senile tiger, wolves, alpacas… and by far the most enourmous, impressive, mutant pig I’ve ever seen. That alone was worth the 45 minute drive (yeah, it’s far from my house).
And for those of you who have two year old kids obsessed with trains: there’s a little train you can ride!
Two thumbs up.
