The Quad City Times Bix 7: A Review
I ran in my sixteenth Quad City Times Bix 7 on Saturday, July 28th.
Based on my checking the Quad City Times website yesterday afternoon, and today's issue of the newspaper, I got 1:25:29.
I woke at 5:48 am. Showered and dressed at my townhouse. Shaved and brushed my teeth at my parents'. Slipped on the tab that gives chip time, and pinned on my number. Based on the weather report, I knew that it would be only 61 degrees at race time. So I threw on the Hunger Games Catching Fire shirt over my undershirt. But since I pinned my race number to that shirt, I was stuck wearing it for the duration of the race.
I picked Ian up at about 7:13.
This was slightly earlier than last year. But we had to reckon with the Iowa side traffic. I had seen that RAGBRAI would be ending in Davenport this year, such that the families of the bicyclists would be waiting for them not so very far from the starting line of the Bix.
We were lucky to get 5 dollar parking in the Davenport Central lot, proceeds going to their cheerleaders. But that was a seventeen minute walk from the starting line, not going at a brisk pace so as to save energy.
Thankfully, I did have time to apply sunscreen. And leave my wallet in a safe place. But I forgot to stretch. And I would pay for it.
We heard "God Bless the USA," and the National Anthem. The singer, as expected, attaches "America the Beautiful" to the beginning of the "Star-Spangled Banner."
Mile one wasn't bad. I took a water break on Kirkwood, the first available, during Mile 2. I had Paul Davis' 1981 album "Cool Night" playing on the iPod, hence the cool weather. Since Ian and I entered right at 2nd and Brady, we were pretty far back. In fact, I don't think we even crossed the starting line until 8:09.
But we were there at the beginning of the race.
Brady Street took a long time. I was stuck behind the St. Patrick with the red beard and the Irish flag. Once I got around him, I kind of had to bob and weave to maintain a steady speed. And I had done enough conditioning and running over the course of the last two months that I wasn't out of shape for this.
As mentioned, I didn't even stop running until the first water break, which is pretty close to Kirkwood Boulevard and Bridge Avenue.
I started to get fatigued right as we got to the turnaround. I'd had my breakfast as a late dinner... mixed greens with a cut up tomato, some ranch salad dressing and croutons. All I had the day of the race was a little water and Peace Tea, green tea.
Breakfast and stretching might have helped me run better.
By the time I was thinking I was in over my head, I had reached McClellan Boulevard (McClellan was a monster this year, as was Middle Road, tried to jog the whole thing but couldn't). So I figured even if I waited for a right, I could get back to the finish line on foot just as easily.
I didn't want to waste time fiddling with the iPod. So I just kept it on "Cool Night," and glad I did. I really needed "'65 Love Affair" to give me both a first and second wind.
The water sprinklers were appreciated.
I got a lime popsicle while running down Brady Street Hill. It really is commendable that they have volunteers passing out popsicles before you reach the finish line.
Once I made it to the finish line, and saw for certain I would not be beating my 2009 record of a 74 minute chip time, I threw my hands up and at least took heart that I had the excuse of being 36, crow's feet, varicose veins on my left ankle, speckle of gray hair on my temples, a schoolteacher, and nursing two dandy blisters on my right foot. Also, I almost vomited in my mouth.
It is always a beautiful sight to see that you're heading back down Brady Street. That, coupled with the women's gospel choir outside of St. John's Methodist, and the Funktastic 5 performing underneath a canopy near the Palmer Chiropractic parking lot.
I made some nice friends this year during the run! For example, the guy from Bettendorf who chided me for trying to run faster than him, the other guy from Bettendorf as I was rounding Jersey Ridge back from Kirkwood, the guy wearing no shoes on McClellan, and the guy who ran into me, apologized, and I quickly reassured him "no worries."
The Bix is the most crowded race of my running season. Makes the Race for the Cure seem quaint.
One of the first faces I saw at the finish line was my nephew Mason. And thank God for that. Because I practically collapsed on to him. Glad that he is as tall as I am now, and that I am only about fifteen pounds heavier. Because he had to half-walk, half-carry me out of the way of the oncoming finishers.
But my sister was coming, and she was in worse shape.
After Carrie crossed the finish line, she promptly went down on her belly and gasped for air, underneath one of the trees on the Quad City Times lawn. Carrie's only a year and a half older than I am. So this is what I have to look forward to in the Bix 7 in 2020. :)
I of course was concerned, so at her request I ran to grab them popsicles and water. Only problem is that with the Bix, you can move only one direction at the finish line; forward.
There was an open, unobstructed area behind the people at the last water station, the one at the finish line. Volunteers were telling people they couldn't turn around and retrieve people. When you see a family member fall ill, though, you kind of have a disregard for authority. I started going towards her with the waters and popsicles. Volunteer stopped me. Yes, I'll grant you it would have been entering the volunteer area. I claimed I just needed to drop off the provisions. He said I still couldn't go. I protested that my sister looked unwell. I gave him the popsicles and water, and asked him to bring them to Carrie and Mason. Then I looked at them and shrugged.
Now for an unpopular opinion.
Volunteers are great. At every water stop, I told them we couldn't do this race without them. We need lots of volunteers at the Bix for hydration, medical care, law and order.... but.... there may be too many of them. If they have time on their hands to police every damned runner for turning around to reunite with a family member, maybe they've saturated the market. Maybe we only need so many in proportion to the runners. But if we reduced the volunteers, then the ratio would be too small to meet our needs, somehow.
Even so, I found Ian near the Prairie Farms truck. He had finished in an hour and five minutes. He texted me while I was still running Kirkwood. I didn't check the text, but I knew it was him. Ian knows how fast I run, even when I train. He probably could have thought ahead and brought a book to read on his phone, haha. Happily, in 2018 we have cell phones and can find or locate each other rapidly.
I grabbed Chips Ahoy, Oreos, Fig Newtons, a bag of Cheetoh's Puffs, and some Austin Peanut Butter Cheese Crackers, as well as an orange popsicle and grape popsicle from Whitey's. Maybe I was overdoing it with the popsicles. But given what I had gone through in the hour and a half before, my metabolism caught up rapidly. Also grabbed a Deja Blu water and a Canada Dry gingerale/lemonade to slam down later.
Late breakfast at the Ross' up on 53rd and 18th. Scrambled eggs. Vegetable sausage patties. Hash browns. Rye toast. Lemon water. Grabbed same thing for Mason, subbing in the patties for actual bacon, and a chicken sandwich for Carrie. I was sore. It was my fault, I knew it, I loved to stretch. But Ian had earned the right to preach to the choir, admonishing me for not stretching as my creaking body reluctantly climbed out of the car and walked into the restaurant.
Another Bix in the books. Up next; perhaps the Silvis Family 5k, the Gabe's Gift, or the Run With Carl.
Based on my checking the Quad City Times website yesterday afternoon, and today's issue of the newspaper, I got 1:25:29.
I woke at 5:48 am. Showered and dressed at my townhouse. Shaved and brushed my teeth at my parents'. Slipped on the tab that gives chip time, and pinned on my number. Based on the weather report, I knew that it would be only 61 degrees at race time. So I threw on the Hunger Games Catching Fire shirt over my undershirt. But since I pinned my race number to that shirt, I was stuck wearing it for the duration of the race.
I picked Ian up at about 7:13.
This was slightly earlier than last year. But we had to reckon with the Iowa side traffic. I had seen that RAGBRAI would be ending in Davenport this year, such that the families of the bicyclists would be waiting for them not so very far from the starting line of the Bix.
We were lucky to get 5 dollar parking in the Davenport Central lot, proceeds going to their cheerleaders. But that was a seventeen minute walk from the starting line, not going at a brisk pace so as to save energy.
Thankfully, I did have time to apply sunscreen. And leave my wallet in a safe place. But I forgot to stretch. And I would pay for it.
We heard "God Bless the USA," and the National Anthem. The singer, as expected, attaches "America the Beautiful" to the beginning of the "Star-Spangled Banner."
Mile one wasn't bad. I took a water break on Kirkwood, the first available, during Mile 2. I had Paul Davis' 1981 album "Cool Night" playing on the iPod, hence the cool weather. Since Ian and I entered right at 2nd and Brady, we were pretty far back. In fact, I don't think we even crossed the starting line until 8:09.
But we were there at the beginning of the race.
Brady Street took a long time. I was stuck behind the St. Patrick with the red beard and the Irish flag. Once I got around him, I kind of had to bob and weave to maintain a steady speed. And I had done enough conditioning and running over the course of the last two months that I wasn't out of shape for this.
As mentioned, I didn't even stop running until the first water break, which is pretty close to Kirkwood Boulevard and Bridge Avenue.
I started to get fatigued right as we got to the turnaround. I'd had my breakfast as a late dinner... mixed greens with a cut up tomato, some ranch salad dressing and croutons. All I had the day of the race was a little water and Peace Tea, green tea.
Breakfast and stretching might have helped me run better.
By the time I was thinking I was in over my head, I had reached McClellan Boulevard (McClellan was a monster this year, as was Middle Road, tried to jog the whole thing but couldn't). So I figured even if I waited for a right, I could get back to the finish line on foot just as easily.
I didn't want to waste time fiddling with the iPod. So I just kept it on "Cool Night," and glad I did. I really needed "'65 Love Affair" to give me both a first and second wind.
The water sprinklers were appreciated.
I got a lime popsicle while running down Brady Street Hill. It really is commendable that they have volunteers passing out popsicles before you reach the finish line.
Once I made it to the finish line, and saw for certain I would not be beating my 2009 record of a 74 minute chip time, I threw my hands up and at least took heart that I had the excuse of being 36, crow's feet, varicose veins on my left ankle, speckle of gray hair on my temples, a schoolteacher, and nursing two dandy blisters on my right foot. Also, I almost vomited in my mouth.
It is always a beautiful sight to see that you're heading back down Brady Street. That, coupled with the women's gospel choir outside of St. John's Methodist, and the Funktastic 5 performing underneath a canopy near the Palmer Chiropractic parking lot.
I made some nice friends this year during the run! For example, the guy from Bettendorf who chided me for trying to run faster than him, the other guy from Bettendorf as I was rounding Jersey Ridge back from Kirkwood, the guy wearing no shoes on McClellan, and the guy who ran into me, apologized, and I quickly reassured him "no worries."
The Bix is the most crowded race of my running season. Makes the Race for the Cure seem quaint.
One of the first faces I saw at the finish line was my nephew Mason. And thank God for that. Because I practically collapsed on to him. Glad that he is as tall as I am now, and that I am only about fifteen pounds heavier. Because he had to half-walk, half-carry me out of the way of the oncoming finishers.
But my sister was coming, and she was in worse shape.
After Carrie crossed the finish line, she promptly went down on her belly and gasped for air, underneath one of the trees on the Quad City Times lawn. Carrie's only a year and a half older than I am. So this is what I have to look forward to in the Bix 7 in 2020. :)
I of course was concerned, so at her request I ran to grab them popsicles and water. Only problem is that with the Bix, you can move only one direction at the finish line; forward.
There was an open, unobstructed area behind the people at the last water station, the one at the finish line. Volunteers were telling people they couldn't turn around and retrieve people. When you see a family member fall ill, though, you kind of have a disregard for authority. I started going towards her with the waters and popsicles. Volunteer stopped me. Yes, I'll grant you it would have been entering the volunteer area. I claimed I just needed to drop off the provisions. He said I still couldn't go. I protested that my sister looked unwell. I gave him the popsicles and water, and asked him to bring them to Carrie and Mason. Then I looked at them and shrugged.
Now for an unpopular opinion.
Volunteers are great. At every water stop, I told them we couldn't do this race without them. We need lots of volunteers at the Bix for hydration, medical care, law and order.... but.... there may be too many of them. If they have time on their hands to police every damned runner for turning around to reunite with a family member, maybe they've saturated the market. Maybe we only need so many in proportion to the runners. But if we reduced the volunteers, then the ratio would be too small to meet our needs, somehow.
Even so, I found Ian near the Prairie Farms truck. He had finished in an hour and five minutes. He texted me while I was still running Kirkwood. I didn't check the text, but I knew it was him. Ian knows how fast I run, even when I train. He probably could have thought ahead and brought a book to read on his phone, haha. Happily, in 2018 we have cell phones and can find or locate each other rapidly.
I grabbed Chips Ahoy, Oreos, Fig Newtons, a bag of Cheetoh's Puffs, and some Austin Peanut Butter Cheese Crackers, as well as an orange popsicle and grape popsicle from Whitey's. Maybe I was overdoing it with the popsicles. But given what I had gone through in the hour and a half before, my metabolism caught up rapidly. Also grabbed a Deja Blu water and a Canada Dry gingerale/lemonade to slam down later.
Late breakfast at the Ross' up on 53rd and 18th. Scrambled eggs. Vegetable sausage patties. Hash browns. Rye toast. Lemon water. Grabbed same thing for Mason, subbing in the patties for actual bacon, and a chicken sandwich for Carrie. I was sore. It was my fault, I knew it, I loved to stretch. But Ian had earned the right to preach to the choir, admonishing me for not stretching as my creaking body reluctantly climbed out of the car and walked into the restaurant.
Another Bix in the books. Up next; perhaps the Silvis Family 5k, the Gabe's Gift, or the Run With Carl.