It was my second 5K, and I have to admit I was dreading it.  For some reason, in the two weeks leading up to today, I thought I was going to do worse than I did when I ran the Shamrock 5K over a year ago.  Even this morning, I was talking myself into wanting to come in around the time I did during that race–a little over 30 minutes.  I was worried I was going to get to the halfway point and slow down or stop.

Something strange happened when I got to the starting line.  It is a bit difficult to describe, but I used to get the same feeling in my brief–infinitesimal, really–time playing football.  As I was there, waiting for the race to start, I actually started getting kind of pumped.  The feeling was the same, and the energy was there.  Once the race started, I felt the same way.  I was excited, and the adrenaline was coursing through me.  The burst of excitement for the race was not quite like getting on the field and exploding, and I would say it was much more of a slow build-up.  I never thought I would say this about running, but the feeling as I started was indescribable.  I was so pumped up to get going, as though all the tension, worry, and training I undertook to get here was the right thing.

I wound my way through the masses going north on Paca Street–and there was a large throng of humanity bobbing northward for the 5K.  I went at my own pace, but I wound my way through people.  Even better, I was able to listen to a playlist on my iPod I created–a rather eclectic mix of music that only a nerd like me could love.  My time as I reached the 1 Mile marker was just over 8.5 minutes–I do not recall the exact time.

As I turned around at the halfway point, I felt pretty good.  It was a clean shot south on Eutaw Street, all the way down to Camden Yards and the Ravens Walk between the two stadiums.  As I came down this stretch of the race, it was here that I ran into fellow Pigtowner, blogger, and friend Anger Hangover.  I did not think it was her at first, but as I got closer it was easy to make a positive ID.  I gave her a quick wave and a nod, then continued on my way downhill.*

I tried to pour it on a little at the end, but I continued at my pace for fear of the mass of humanity I would soon be meeting.  I certainly did not want to hurdle my sweaty body into that of another, potentially slighter runner.  It was pretty invigorating to hear random on-lookers cheering as I passed them on my way to the finish line.  As I crossed Lee Street, I felt pretty good.  The clock was off to my right as I crossed the finish line, and I took a quick glance at it.  I did not recall the exact time it had, but I thought it said about 30 minutes.

After I crossed the finish line and slowed my pace, I made a quick turn to the Runner’s Village.  I grabbed some water, a banana, and stretched out a little.  From there, I went and grabbed my free beer tickets and made my way to the other side of the village.  I picked up my bag from the bag check and milled about enjoying my beers, trading texts with friends who knew I was running.

As I finished my second beer, I headed over to the Results tent to see if they had my time.  They printed out my label, and I was surprised at the result.  28:57. The official results are also here.  (The results link is a little finicky, so it may take a couple of refreshes to actually see it.) Below is the fancy image they present.

All in all, I did better than I thought.  I am proud of myself, but I also realize that it pales in comparison to those who ran the Marathon and Half-Marathon.  I will stick to 5K races, but I am pretty proud that I bested my last race. The improvement was incremental, and I am going to strive to do better in my next one.

Strangely, I think I have grown fond of running 5Ks.  There is something I never thought I would see myself write or hear myself say.

* After passing AH near the end of the race, we exchanged post-race results via text.  I then read her post about what she has been through to get to this point, and I am pretty proud to have run with someone who has overcome much to get to this point.  AH, my hat’s off to you on one helluva job.  Let’s do another one in the Spring!

My favorite has to be the f@#$tard vote.

I need to drudge up some props, but this is a look I can pull off.

My immediate thought was that the problem must be with a device driver, as that tends to be the case.  A quick search on MSDN turned up a list of bug codes contained in the Windows Driver Kit.  One specifically calls out the hex code in the System Log entry above--0x000000ea.  To quote the article:

This indicates that a thread in a device driver is endlessly spinning.

This usually indicates problem with the hardware itself, or with the device driver programming the hardware incorrectly. Frequently, this is the result of a bad video card or a bad display driver.

I have cranked up the debugging options on my machine to try and capture a full dump of this event.  For some strange reason, my machine is not capturing the actual dump being generated by the "Blue Screen of Death" I know is occurring.  It just reboots.  In my quest for more knowledge, I may just start hooking debuggers into my system and seeing what I can find out.

In the meantime, though, I have two plans that will bear themselves out in the near- and long-term, respectively.

1. Visit NVIDIA and download the latest drivers available for my card, a GeForce 8600 GT.  DONE
2. Revisit moving to Windows Vista on my desktop, especially now that SP1 is available and resolves a lot of early problems.

Ravens LosS to the Titans

While I was able to take my grandfather and uncle to their first Ravens game on a beautiful day, I was unable to ensure they saw a win.  While I do think the roughing the passer penalty was a bit specious at best, a loss cannot be laid at the hands of the officials alone.  The defense stopped pressuring the quarterback late in the game, and that hurt them.  Now, the tough road stretch begins.  I still am surprised at how the Ravens are doing considering most folks thought they would suck.  Ray Lewis is truly playing like a man possessed (and 10 years younger). 

Red Sox and Rays in the ALCS

While I sincerely wanted the Angels would defeat the Red Sox in their Divisional Series, the fates and playoff history conspired against me.  The Rays, on the other hand, easily handled the Ozzie Guillen-managed White Sox.  (Aside: My hatred for Ozzie Guillen is a deep-seated one, and I find his managerial skills to be highly over-rated.)  Now, my allegiance swings to the Rays.  I would like to see them go from worst to first--even a World Series win.  If they do it while beating the Red Sox, even better.  Anything that slightly reduces the smug nature of most of the visiting Red Sox fans when they visit Baltimore brings a smile to my face.  Besides, I now have a night of drinking riding on this.  Go Rays!

College hockey begins

Important only to me, but my alma mater is ranked 2nd in the Hockey East preseason Coaches Poll and ranked 9th in the Division I Men's Poll.  I miss watching college hockey. 

The weather should be good, and our seats are in the west end-zone.  We will be heading off to a tailgate in short order, and I know this will be a good time.

I am personally looking forward to seeing my grandfather there.  He went to--and was a season ticket holder for--many Baltimore Colts football games.  He was also the person who took me to what was my first (and at the time) only football game when I was a little Jason.  Consequently, this event has a bit of emotional significance for me.

Here's hoping for a good football game and a Ravens win!

I will have to play with it later this evening, but it looks like I may need to look at a replacement battery.  More on this effort later.

So, I will be thinking of all of you toiling in the cube farms while I am out chasing a tiny white ball along long fairways. 

Now that I am up and about, I need to figure out what I want to do with my day.  I need to do some stuff around the house and hit the gym later this afternoon, but I want to do something this evening.  Maybe I'll go to the movies.

Nice part of this is I get to head into the office a little later this week.  Additionally, I get to enjoy a longer workout at the gym since I am not pressed for time.  Definitely a good thing.

Saturday, though, will mean lots of sleeping in for me.