weekend « Kenny Smith | A remarkable thing happens …

weekend

adventures / I do not know what is happening. / photo / running / weekend — Comments Off
1
Nov 14

Callaway Twilight 10K

I got to hug my lovely bride today, and it was the most wonderful feeling in the world.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

As is now apparently our way, we find things to do online and then convince each other to do them. That’s how we started doing triathlons and that’s why we did a half ironman relay recently and that’s why we ran a 10K today.

There’s a 5K we did on campus a month or two ago with a friend. She said she liked it. The Yankee liked it. So I looked around for other races, being wary of how far I’m wiling to drive a car to run a distance I can do in my neighborhood. There it was, the Callaway Gardens Twilight 10K, held just over the border into Georgia.

The premise is you get to run around the pretty place and see the Fantasy In Lights Christmas show before it is open to the public. Twilight is a misnomer, but who cares. So we signed up, our friend bailed out because “Brrr it is cold and I’m from New Jersey.” So it was just the two of us, which was fine.

We made our way to Callaway after lunch today — and by after lunch I mean I ate in the car.

We got there just in time. Here’s the scene at the race start:

And here we are, probably less than a mile in, looking strong and having a nice time:

We’re not winning anything, this is just an excuse to exercise some new, pretty place. And, also, to have roadside support like this guy:

We ran through a lot of interesting light decorations that I’m sure pop nicely in the dark. There were speakers blaring thing from the trees — and of course the 12 Days of Christmas section was the one that wouldn’t end. We ran under giant decorations like snowflakes and wreaths and barns and this Santa’s Workshop kind of thing:

And then after six miles you found yourself trotting up the last little hill, turning right and running with Robin Lake on your left and the finish line ahead of you. We pronounced the course is relatively flat and fast. I’d like to really run it and see how slow I am. Ren did really well. It was her first 10K, ever, and she was very pleased with her performance and her time, as she should be. After the run:

It was windy and a little chilly, Somewhere between there and the finish line I got a full, complete, laughing, joyful hug of pride and pleasure and accomplishment. I could write a lot more about that, what that means or what it felt like, but the most important part is this: Don’t ever let go of those too early.

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26
Oct 14

Catching up

The update featuring holdover photographs that refuse to be held over any longer. Let’s get on to the things that are worth more than all of the words above them.

Went for a run this afternoon. She’s fast!

I don’t often have the opportunity, or good fortune, to capture a good butterfly shot. I got a few yesterday, and I’m sharing all of the best ones here:

From one flying thing to another, here are two shots of Nova, the golden eagle:

The thumbnail imprint of the moon hanging over the last tendrils of sunset, in Auburn:

A slightly closer view of that thumbnail of the moon. I moved the planet for this:

F. Page Seibert Hall, on the Samford campus:

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25
Oct 14

A day in the sun, night under the lights

Just a perfectly lovely day. I spent some time in a lawn chair with the sun peering through this tree. My head tilted back, aviators on and my eyes closed. Everyone thought I was sleeping. I could have been. I’m tired enough. But I was just enjoying the barest of breezes and that tinkling dance of the sun through the thinning shade.

A perfectly lovely day.

Two private school kids, separated by 800 miles, telling the same private school jokes to one another. We public schoolers can only pretend to know:

Penguin mascots make little sense anywhere, but certainly not in October in Alabama.

Spent the afternoon with friends. Football was played this evening and we watched it. Late into the night we enjoyed the company of friends and made it home in time for pizza at around 11 p.m. and more football.

No wonder I’m still tired. Tired, but pleased.

A perfectly lovely day.

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19
Oct 14

Talladega 500

We received tickets to the big race at Talladega Superspeedway. It was a great day. Everything worked out perfectly, the weather was grand. We were on time. We did not get sunburns and were entertained by a little bit of everything.

We drove up, fighting no traffic, walked a far shorter distance than we’d anticipated, waited in the shade for a few moments at the Will Call window and then walked a few hundred yards to the gate and to the proper section. We were sitting about 100 feet off the finish line. It was a perfect afternoon to be outside and we had a grand view of everything.

There were pre-race interviews, a parade of antique military vehicles, driver introductions and there was something called sky-typing:

Then eight retired military service members jumped out of a plane with flags attached to their rigs:

We saw a flyover synched with the military band playing the national anthem:

And, of course, the race fans:

Here’s the pace car for the day’s race:

Brian Vickers had the pole, he would finish 20th:

Dale Earnhardt Jr lead the most laps throughout the race, but his day ended with a disappointing 31st, which eliminates him from the championship race.

For a time it seemed that we would see a little history. Danica Patrick had a strong run toward the end of the race, but caution flags and the last pit stop worked against her:

Brad Keselowski won the Geico 500, advancing in his championship chase:

But, really, you’re hear for the fans. Here are a lot more of them:

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18
Oct 14

A fine Saturday

Lovely day, beautiful weather. Perfect sun. It would be great to sleep in. We woke up early to go to the Syrup Sopping. They estimate somewhere around 20,000 people roll into the tiny little village — really, it seems to small to call it even a village — for arts and crafts and friends and music and syrup and biscuits.

We stroll around for a while, looking at the things we don’t need to purchase. Usually we see the puppies and I wonder how we’re going to walk away without adopting one. We did not see them today, though. They have, we decided, all found good homes.

We heard the musical performers from a distance, but did not see them play. We saw a few people we knew. We watched students working on a video package. I had a biscuit dipped in freshly made cane syrup.

We bought a few bottles of the good stuff and some local honey. We picked up two bags of kettle corn. The syrup and honey will last the year. The popcorn might survive the week, but don’t bet on it.

We also saw cyclists this morning. As ever, I wished I was on my bike:

Instead we went home and watched football, which was fun. We played with Allie, which was better:

I visited Walmart for supplies. Picked up a few snacks and some Ibuprofen and greeting cards. I stood in line and marveled at how people struggle with the self checkout system and, simultaneously, the hands on technique provided by the disinterested staffer tasked with monitoring their progress. There should be a certification test for the self checkout. And there should be some customer service training for the non-cashier.

But the odd delays of the slow older gentleman who did not understand UPC codes and struggled mightily with how to pay the articulate machine, compounded by the diminished capacity of offline self checkout stations and the helplessness of it all since the express lane was stocked full of people who didn’t understand the concept of the number 20 got me outside and just the right moment:

And then more football, followed by more football. It was a fine Saturday.