Running Goals

I was asked the other day what my running goal was. For the first time in about a year I do not have an active running goal. I went from running my first 50k at the end of January to pulling my back out during my recovery in February and now with it being the middle of March it's time to work something out. I am not sure I want to take the next step distance wise to run a 50 miler, so I guess that sort of leaves me with maybe working on improving my race times. My PR's are starting to look a little stale, well except for that 5k PR at the ABB 5k in January. Maybe it's time to finally bring my Half Marathon time down under 2:30. I guess I need to figure out which race this fall/winter season I want to work that towards so this goal gets time bound. 

I wear a VivoFit2 by Garmin and it has a feature where it will set your daily step goal. For the month of March my goal has been to reach this step goal everyday. Today is day 11 and so far so good.  Today is the first day the step goal has reached over 10,000 steps, it's not a very challenging goal to reach on runs days but on non-run days I find myself doing hourly laps around the office, sometimes around the entire building, and I have now made the stairwells my friends again. I am looking forward to the up coming time change so I will have an extra hour after dinner to get those last few daily steps in. 

Does anybody have any tricks they use to get their steps in? All suggestions welcome.

The Woodlands Half Marathon

I actually ran two races this past weekend. I headed up to The Woodlands for their marathon weekend. Friday night there is was family 2k run/walk. It started at the marathon start and finished at the marathon finish line and was really kind of a hoot. I conned my husband into joining me for it and we mostly walked but he actually did a little running with me. For such a small distance I was surprised at the fact that there were t-shirts and medals involved, and I do mean real medals. 

With my back still not quite 100% I had come up with a plan for to run the half, run for the first 6 miles and the walk to the finish. I had done a few test runs using a 1:1 interval so I stuck with that and had hoped to finish in about 2:50.
At the start I ended up behind the 2:45 pacers. Kind of a blessing. These two girls were fantastic. Plan A immediately went out the window. I decided as long as I stayed close to them, even tho I probably would have run passed them early on with all that start of race adrenaline, I didn't. I'm glad I didn't just blow my plan and go all out, it would have been so easy to do. The weather was perfect, 50 degrees with a slight breeze. The course, although it was quite hilly was more than manageable and beautiful. The streets were lined with large trees on both sides until the final mile. It isn't one of those courses with tons of turns, just a few and long stretches of open road. The aid stations were great! Every mile and a half as advertised, well manned with cheering volunteers and fully stocked. By mile 8 I was still feeling really good, I was still right behind the pacers. By mile 11 I was questioning if I should stop and walk for a mile and then run the last mile, but I didn't. At mile 12 I realized course had rounded back to where the startline was. It was starting to warm up, but what ever I was going to finish my first half for the year. I lost sight of the pacers but oh well. I finished in 2:46:05. That's only about 2 minutes slower than my road half average time. 

Big round of applause to the management of The Woodlands Marathon, they put on a really great race. This may not be an every year race but it is definitely worth a repeat. 

Coming up I'm heading back to Seabrook for the Lucky Trails race weekend. Saturday and Sunday Half Marathons. 

Can't believe it's March

I am not sure what happened to February. It really seems like the month just started. 

Let me catch up since my last post. I RAN MY FIRST 50K, the Miracle Match! and then fell off the face of the earth. At the end of January I took a much need runcation, leaving my family behind and just spent the weekend working on me. I went to the glorious town of Waco, TX. I actually had a friend say "not the place I would go, and I certainly wouldn't be that excited about it." Truth is I had a blast. I had the entire weekend planned. Friday after a 2 1/2 hour drive I picked up a restorative yoga class at Yoga Bar and since it was my first time with them it was a free class. This is really more of your hippy mothers yoga place, incents burning, light down low, heat up, calm yogi. I would totally go back. The outside doesn't look like much, mainly because of the crossfit place next to it but it could not have been a more enjoyable class. 

Team RWB cups for the 5k.

Saturday morning I ran the 5k (yes, it's a double race day weekend, what could be more fun!) which was a really good for getting my legs loose. The 5k is run along the Brazos River which was extremely beautiful at dawn. There was no medal for the 5k and since I was running both days I was running with the same bib. Still totally worth it. 

Sunday I choose the early start option. I am really thankful that I did. They actually allowed runners to start as early as 4:30, but 5 am was early enough for me. I was really enjoying the race until 2 things happened. My knee came loose on the down hills at about mile 8. I spent the fall season learning how to power up hills, and then walked down them, now I'm thinking I should walk up them and learn how to power down them. This is twice that downhill running has effected my knees, so it's time to learn a bit more from it. I kept at it. About mile 13 I called my husband and I am glad he didn't answer cuz I was a mess. I left him this long "How stupid am I for doing this, I just want to quit now" type of message that in reality once I had said all those thoughts out loud, letting them leave my head I was good again. I kept at it. The view in Cameron Park was fantastic! Yes the hills were rough but so worth it.  Mile 24 I came to the Jacob's Ladder challenge. I took a good minute to stare at it and decide if I were up to it and then went for it. At the top was a guy serving up shots of Coors Light. 

Jacob's Ladder 100 steps to the top.

About a mile from there is where things got crazy! I came to the point where the marathon and 50k split. Left for the 50 and right to the finish. Well, to the left was a 2 loop course that since it was now getting to the early afternoon was not really in the shade and it was reaching 80 degrees out. In January! I persevered the first loop and about 1/4 of the second before I realized I had a monster blister on my little toe. I stopped in the shade to change my socks and get a real good grip on what I was trying to do. The running in the heat was doing me in, if I was going to finish I would have to slow down and slowing down meant walking. Now a month later I have come to grips with that but it was a rough decision to make on race day. At the 3 miles to go point I stopped running and did my best to walk it in. I crossed the bridge and got my medal and hobbled to the middle of the road, stripped off my socks and gave my feet the best ice bath they ever had!

Would I do this race again, looking back ABSOLUTELY! The aid stations were plentiful, the race crews were fabulous.  The RD was there from early start to final finisher. The race jackets were late but to their credit they mailed the to us with in two weeks of the race. When my only complaint is the weather, it was a well run race. 

Yoga Pod Waco had just recently opened and partnered with the race and offered runners a free yoga session, so guess where I was Sunday night. That's right, second free yoga session of the weekend. This is more of your trendy yoga studio, bright lights, modern music, quirky yogi. Still good. I felt so good when I left I signed up to come back to their 6 am class before I head back to Houston. 

I really think the 2 post run yoga classes were the best way to start my recovery. Yes I was sore but I did not have issues with walking or stairs as can be the case with really hilly races such as this one in Waco. A day or two later I was back running. A week later I was back out at the races. 

Beginning of February I ran the Katy Half's 5k. Perfect timing post 50k. My running life is now measured by pre and post 50k standards. That is until I threw out my back on Valentine's Day. Now it's when I had a good back and now. I ended up only walking some miles a week in and then threw my back out again. After another week, I had become gun shy about doing too much so I walked 4 miles and then followed the next day with 3 miles running at a :30 to 1 interval. During this time I also had to DNS the Millican 25k, much to my disappointment. I thought about walking it, but I have so many other races on the deck I decided on another week of walking. Ironically, on the day of Millican I joined the CYfit group for miles and Rob Goyen with Trail Racing over Texas was speaking to the group and raffled away two race entries, one of which I won. In my head Karma was letting me know I made the right choice. Now I am running Brazos Bend again! 

My only real goal for March is to reach my step goal everyday. I have 4 races in March, The Woodlands 2k and Half Marathon and then both days in Seabrook. 

Happy Running!!

Kingwood New Year's Day 2016

WOOO HOOOO!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Ok, I know that's a tad bit late but you know....whatever. 

I have a great race to report about. 

Marathon Manics photo credit Hoang Hung

I ran the Texas Marathon in Kingwood on New Year's Day 2016 and what a blast it was. 

First off the RD for the race is Steve Boone (who also runs in the race), who in case you don't know is one of the Big Dogs over at the 50 States Marathon Club. Their club as well as the Marathon Maniac's (I'm #10767) were well represented at the race.

It's run on private paved trails so it is much more scenic than many races out there. This also gives it that trail race type of feel, as it winds out with a path that is very well tree lined until it comes out at the lake you run around before heading back to the start line turn around.

The race is 4 loops for the marathon and (obviously) 2 loops for the half. Here's the thing even if you sign up for the marathon and decide 2 loops were enough for you, you are able to drop down to the half and still get a medal. This sort of messed with my head. I wasn't really in the mood to run after being up so late, it being New Year's and all, so I spent the last half of the 2nd loop debating if I kept going would I even finish and then the first half of the 3rd loop debating if I made the right choice. This is why they tell you running is really a mind game. Some where in that 3rd loop I righted my thinking and began enjoying the race again. Switch from 2:1 to 1:2 probably helped my attitude also.

At this point the runners really started thinning out. Most of the half field had finished, I think there many have been a few half walkers still out but not many. So what was left was us die hard 5 1/2 hour - 6 hour plus runners. As I came to the turn around aid station it was starting breaking down, they don't need so many people with so few runners left. Mind you they did not step down on their enthusiasm as runners made their way in and out of them. I finished my 4th loop actually passing two other runners, well they were finishing their 3rd loop but who cares, that sort of boost does wonder at the end of any race. 

The race has good swag, a really good size bag (my yoga mat fits in it), long sleeve race shirt and matching hat. Along with your medal you also get a squishy toy that has your place number on the bottom of it. For all you bling whores at the finish is a medal that is only rivaled in size by the Little Rock Marathon, except this year the Texas Marathon medal out weighed Little Rock by 3 ounces.

I would do this one again. 

Coming up is the Houston Marathon weekend followed two weeks later by my goal race the Miracle Match 50k in Waco. 

Happy Running