The Quad City Times Bix 7
I ran the Quad City Times Bix 7 for the twenty-first time (counting the socially distanced 2020 Bix 7, for which I registered and paid) on Saturday, July 29th.
My nephew Mason was the only person really close to me with whom I ran. And technically, we didn't meet up until the very end. He drove himself, and I got a lift from my mom.
I had registered Mason to run the race only just two nights before, after watching him participate in the Brady Street Sprints in the men's high school relay. He carried the baton up the first portion of the hill.
It was forecast to be a high of 93 degrees on the day of the race. This gave me pause. I actively considered bailing on the race. But it was overcast on race morning. And it stayed in the seventies for most of the run.
This year, since my iPod was down for the count, I decided to rely on Amazon Music for the tunes. And that was a good call. There's a feature on the app where you can pick your playlist. The computer aggregates your taste from previous searches, streams, and purchases. I didn't have time to fiddle with albums I've bought to listen to, so I let the AI do its work. And work it did! It had some pretty decent song choices!
Chicago. Billy Joel. The Steve Miller Band. Simon and Garfunkel. Stevie Wonder. This artist named Michael Tomlinson from the 1980's who was new to me. A new to me Toto song! Carly Simon. The list was random. It was scattershot. But that's me. That's my taste in music. It is so uneven, such a smorgasboard of varied arists, one of whom having nothing in common in the least with the next, very well defines my proclivities in music. There were some hits, and there were some deep cuts. A few times I had to slow down from my run to turn the phone on and examine the touchscreen, to see just which song I was listening to, and in some cases, to which artist I was listening.
I was easily distracted this year on the run. A little girl was handing out popsicles. I picked a grape one. Needed it as I was heading back up Kirkwood Boulevard.
A little boy was handing out jell-o shots out of a cooler. I needed one of those too, it turns out. I guess I thought to myself, "they wouldn't have an eight year old boy handing out alcoholic jell-o shots to runners with his family in front of his house on Kirkwood Boulevard, would they?" Yes, I innocently thought it was plain jell-o.
Although deep down, in my heart of hearts, I sort of not-so-innocently hoped that maybe it was more than just grape jello I was pouring down my throat. I tasted the vodka, or whatever it was, pretty much immediately.
Now the short-term reaction was I got a little drunk while running the Bix 7. There's gotta' be a first time for everything. And this indeed was a first. But it did alleviate some of the fatigue and pain that I normally feel while making the turn from Kirkwood to Brady. And maybe the fact that I was taking advantage of every single water break at my disposal, plus carrying my Hunger Games water bottle full of water, meant that I was too hydrated to really get all that drunk. I never blacked out. I remember the entire race as it happened. But it was enough of the good stuff in that jell-o shot that I wasn't in as much discomfort as usual.
Ultimately, I ran the Bix 7 with a chip time of 1 hour, 27 minutes and 10 seconds. The snack situation was fine but not revelatory. I know that I didn't have the world's fastest finish time, but I was a bit surprised that I could only get my hands on an Austin peanut butter crackers, a granola bar, a bag of Lay's potato chips, a fruit snacks, and a Teddy Grahams. Oh sure I got my Whitey's Blue Raspberry popsicle.
I got myself a drink at the Bent River Brewery. There was the Blueberry Uncommon Stout that I tried, and it was not that bad!
Then Mason called and said he was interested in getting dinner. So I polished off the one drink, closed the account, and went over to Davenport. The two of us went to the Iowa Machine Shed.
Even with a stomach cramp and a headache, I was still eager to order a turkey with mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing, and cranberry. It doesn't have to be Thanksgiving to have a Thanksgiving feast with family.
I had kicked around the idea of trying to make it to Into the Woods on the night of the race. I thought that I would feel well enough to make it out to Eldridge to see Sara and my voice teacher Megan perform as the Baker's Wife. It was not to be on Saturday, as I explained to my mom that I was not feeling well. I went ahead and laid down on my bed for a couple of hours, not feeling really well enough to do anything. I was sound asleep by about 8:30 pm, so I wouldn't have lasted the whole show. I was too tired to even do game night with my Jackbox Party Games friends from Mike Scimeca's church.
I did make it to Into the Woods the next Saturday, by the skin of my teeth.
The Bix 7 is the longest foot race of the year for me. I don't tackle marathons or even half-marathons.
My nephew Mason was the only person really close to me with whom I ran. And technically, we didn't meet up until the very end. He drove himself, and I got a lift from my mom.
I had registered Mason to run the race only just two nights before, after watching him participate in the Brady Street Sprints in the men's high school relay. He carried the baton up the first portion of the hill.
It was forecast to be a high of 93 degrees on the day of the race. This gave me pause. I actively considered bailing on the race. But it was overcast on race morning. And it stayed in the seventies for most of the run.
This year, since my iPod was down for the count, I decided to rely on Amazon Music for the tunes. And that was a good call. There's a feature on the app where you can pick your playlist. The computer aggregates your taste from previous searches, streams, and purchases. I didn't have time to fiddle with albums I've bought to listen to, so I let the AI do its work. And work it did! It had some pretty decent song choices!
Chicago. Billy Joel. The Steve Miller Band. Simon and Garfunkel. Stevie Wonder. This artist named Michael Tomlinson from the 1980's who was new to me. A new to me Toto song! Carly Simon. The list was random. It was scattershot. But that's me. That's my taste in music. It is so uneven, such a smorgasboard of varied arists, one of whom having nothing in common in the least with the next, very well defines my proclivities in music. There were some hits, and there were some deep cuts. A few times I had to slow down from my run to turn the phone on and examine the touchscreen, to see just which song I was listening to, and in some cases, to which artist I was listening.
I was easily distracted this year on the run. A little girl was handing out popsicles. I picked a grape one. Needed it as I was heading back up Kirkwood Boulevard.
A little boy was handing out jell-o shots out of a cooler. I needed one of those too, it turns out. I guess I thought to myself, "they wouldn't have an eight year old boy handing out alcoholic jell-o shots to runners with his family in front of his house on Kirkwood Boulevard, would they?" Yes, I innocently thought it was plain jell-o.
Although deep down, in my heart of hearts, I sort of not-so-innocently hoped that maybe it was more than just grape jello I was pouring down my throat. I tasted the vodka, or whatever it was, pretty much immediately.
Now the short-term reaction was I got a little drunk while running the Bix 7. There's gotta' be a first time for everything. And this indeed was a first. But it did alleviate some of the fatigue and pain that I normally feel while making the turn from Kirkwood to Brady. And maybe the fact that I was taking advantage of every single water break at my disposal, plus carrying my Hunger Games water bottle full of water, meant that I was too hydrated to really get all that drunk. I never blacked out. I remember the entire race as it happened. But it was enough of the good stuff in that jell-o shot that I wasn't in as much discomfort as usual.
Ultimately, I ran the Bix 7 with a chip time of 1 hour, 27 minutes and 10 seconds. The snack situation was fine but not revelatory. I know that I didn't have the world's fastest finish time, but I was a bit surprised that I could only get my hands on an Austin peanut butter crackers, a granola bar, a bag of Lay's potato chips, a fruit snacks, and a Teddy Grahams. Oh sure I got my Whitey's Blue Raspberry popsicle.
I got myself a drink at the Bent River Brewery. There was the Blueberry Uncommon Stout that I tried, and it was not that bad!
Then Mason called and said he was interested in getting dinner. So I polished off the one drink, closed the account, and went over to Davenport. The two of us went to the Iowa Machine Shed.
Even with a stomach cramp and a headache, I was still eager to order a turkey with mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing, and cranberry. It doesn't have to be Thanksgiving to have a Thanksgiving feast with family.
I had kicked around the idea of trying to make it to Into the Woods on the night of the race. I thought that I would feel well enough to make it out to Eldridge to see Sara and my voice teacher Megan perform as the Baker's Wife. It was not to be on Saturday, as I explained to my mom that I was not feeling well. I went ahead and laid down on my bed for a couple of hours, not feeling really well enough to do anything. I was sound asleep by about 8:30 pm, so I wouldn't have lasted the whole show. I was too tired to even do game night with my Jackbox Party Games friends from Mike Scimeca's church.
I did make it to Into the Woods the next Saturday, by the skin of my teeth.
The Bix 7 is the longest foot race of the year for me. I don't tackle marathons or even half-marathons.