TIR Countdown: 11 Days!

It is really hard to believe that it is getting so close to race day!

Yet, unfortunately, we are back at 11 runners.

Barbara's son on Friday broke his femur from his hip to his knee and has had to be immobilized in a cast that covers his leg and protects his pelvic area and lower midsection. But the good news is that a couple of pictures that Barbara posted on her blog found him smiling!

Therefore, as any good mom would do, Barbara just couldn't justify being away from home that much - and we all certainly understand and appreciate that. (As I told her, if it were Waverly, I'd be doing the same thing.)

So the dilemma: Add a 12th runner or go with 11?

For the time being, we're going to go with 11 runners.

It could change, though, if I have a runner that would significantly help us (and that's a possibility based on one e-mail that I received) or if we have a runner who won't hurt us in meeting our time goals - to make the downtown cutoff by 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.

With 11 runners, seven (7) runners run four legs and four (4) runners run three legs to get to 40 legs. The only person's miles that are a little out of whack are Edwin's with 25.01, but I'm going to play with possible combinations throughout the week on this 11-person setup to see what I come up with.

Cassie, Sarah and I are going to take the three shortest distances and Joe will be in that group too with just three legs that equal 16.57 miles. His legs are spaced an equal 12 legs apart (10-22-34).

Where I have a little bit of advantage over the other teams (not that we'll compete for a win in the Open Mixed division) is that I've done the course before. Therefore, I can suit my team's legs based on how I know the course is.

After leg 35, which is the captain's leg that goes from Memorial Park into downtown, here is where our team will be mileage-wise per runner:

Edwin (19.7), Tommy (19.64), Katy (17.59), Jon (16.69), Joe (16.57), Sarah (15.62), Holden (15.57), Karen (14.87), Cassie (14.33), Keith (14) and Dave (13.54)

At this time, I'm electing to pull the trigger with Karen, Keith, Dave, Holden and Edwin - with Edwin getting the honor of running the last leg.

However, we'll have some flexibility in that if Tommy, Katy, Sarah or Joe are feeling a bit more fresh-legged than any of those five: we can change. (Only Cassie and myself will have run 4 legs at that point and can't run anymore.)

And I only have two runners - Edwin and Keith - having to change vans the entire trip.

This can all change today or tomorrow; however, if it does, it won't be a bad thing.

I turned in our projected time last week - using conservative 10K paces - as 31:53:42 with a projected start of 7:45 a.m. This would put us in downtown Houston by 11:42 a.m. (48 minutes before the cutoff) and at the Monument at 3:38 p.m.

Bill had e-mailed me this morning saying that he turned in his with 31:47:57 - and he hasn't put his strategy into trying to get Andrew Perry free from having to work at Luke's - the race sponsor - that weekend since the store manager now isn't running.

Right now, with the same conservative 10K paces, we're at 31:40:14 which changes the target times to 11:37 a.m. and 3:25 p.m., respectively.

But, if he springs Andrew free, which isn't likely, I do have to say that one of my favorite George Strait songs goes like this:

You've got to have an ace in the hole
A little secret that nobody knows
Life is gamble, a game we all play
You need to save something for a rainy day
You've got to learn to play your cards right
If you expect to win at life
Don't put it all on the line for just one roll
You've got to have an ace in the hole

The question is: Will that "ace in the hole" be a magical 12th runner? I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. :)

Continental's motto is: "Work Hard. Fly Right."

Ours will be: "Run Hard. Have Fun."

The TIR website said about us, "So, the bantering and “pressure” has been mounting ever since. The time is nearly at hand in which the question of who has moxie, toughness, and Texas Pride will be answered."

Well, we do. Of course.