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

Last race of 2015

I finished out 2015 by running the Santa Hustle Half marathon in Galveston yesterday. Not going to lie it was rough. I'm sure I am not anywhere fully recovered from the BCS Marathon the week before but I really think the weather played a bigger part in my struggle yesterday. It is really hard to stay acclimated to any type of weather when it is constantly changing. Saturday it was a cool 40, beautiful for running, Sunday it was 60 with 90 % humidity, icky conditions and currently it's 70 and raining. The plan was to be festive and run in the long sleeve tech shirt the race provided and be all "Santa'ed" up but there was no was I would have survived if I had. However if I had I wouldn't have a slight sunburn right now. 

It was a really cool race. One of my favorite 10'ks The Toughest 10k Galveston allows runners to run over the causeway heading onto the Island. This is the first time I have run actually on the Island and Galveston did not disappoint. 10 miles or so of the run are on the seawall. What does that mean to you, fantastic view of the Gulf of Mexico and the gulf breeze. The course is not shady so December is probably the correct time of year to run this course, any time after April and it would be a "found dehydrated on the side of the road" kind of race. Eeven with the unexpected warmer day it was worth it. Always being leery of enough on the course water support, I did bring my own but for those who didn't there was only one 2 mile stretch it might have been an issue. Otherwise there was more than ample hydration support for the day. They also had cookie and candy stations along the course which I felt was very festive.

2015 total race count: 1- 1k, 1- 3k, 4- 5k's, 1- 5 miler, 4- 10k's, 5- Half's, 1 - 25k and 4 Marathons. 

Total racing miles for 2015 230.48. Total all miles for the year (with 9 days left to go) 753.59. 

Almost 200 miles fewer than last year. I am going to have to take that into consideration when I make my goals for 2016. 

Until next time, may all your runs be merry and bright.

I'm still here

I know it looks like I may have abandoned my blog and maybe running since my last post BUT...I'm still here. It's just been a rough year. A few weeks after Little Rock, my boss of 8 years, my mentor, my pseudo-father killed himself. As you can imagine all of this, this blog and my running and what ever goals I had for the year were put on hold. I was going thru the motions but not really connecting to anything.

By the end of March I had pounded out so many miles trying to make sense of what happened I managed to give myself quite a knee injury. I would like to say I took enough time off to heal it properly but I didn't. In fact in April I ran the Hog's Hunt 25k and ended up face down covered in mud on the trails wondering how I had even gotten there. I guess you have to move on. I pushed thru running a little here and there until June came when I started back up running with the Cyfit group. My little group of me and 4 other dedicated runners saved me. Week after week they were there, in the heat, mile after mile. Our coach, bless her she's one of a kind, told me after I spilled all that had been going on since we last ran together said to me, "I'm not going to give you my number, that way you can't skip runs on me." She knew being out there with them was just what my soul needed. 

Nutrabolt Half medal.

So now this season I have set a goal, my first 50k. The Miracle Mile Match in Waco on January 31st. Along the way now that racing season hit Houston I have run 3 half marathons, the Buffalo Stampede, the Nurtabolt, and the Harbor Half (which ran out of medals and still owes me one) and the BCS Marathon last weekend. Still on the schedule before Waco, I have the Santa Hustle and the Kingwood Marathon January 1st. 

I would like to mention a few things about a some of the races listed above. The Buffalo Stampede is a nice small home town race, it was a repeat for me so nothing new to report on it. The Nurtabolt race is put on by the same folks who do the BCS Marathon. In fact if you plan on doing BCS I would do Nurtabolt as a warm up since. It will give you a good feel for how to run the hardest parts of the marathon. The Harbor Half was a beautiful run along the Corpus Christi bay water line. Only complaint is that they ran out of medals and promised they would send them out to those who didn't get them. They said they were shipping on Dec 3rd but I have yet to receive mine.

As for BCS, I have now run both the half and the marathon they put on. This years race was in horrible weather, again, rained pretty much the entire time. I couldn't feel my toes, pretty much the entire time. In the end, I really had quite a fantastic time. It's a marathon so yes there were some rough spots but keeping going is the name of the game and that's what I did. One of the head coaches for the Cyfit group told us this story about how the Navy Seals have a 40% rule, your mind gives out at 40% effort but your body still have 60% more it can go, and it stuck with me throughout the race. In the tough moments, even if that 60% was me telling myself I could do anything for a minute and then running for that minute, it helped me get to the finish. 

 Looking forward 2016 is going to be a big year. I have booked the follow, so far:

Kingwood Marathon Jan. 1
Abb 5k (part of Houston's marathon weekend) Jan 16
Volunteer Houston marathon Jan 17
Miracle Match 5k Jan 30
Miracle Match 50k Jan 31
Katy 5k and hopefully volunteer Feb 6
The Woodlands 2k March 4
The Woodlands Half March 5
Seabrook Half day one March 19
Seabrook Half day two March 20
Clear Lake 10k June 5
Cypress Half Nov 13
Route 66 Marathon Nov 20

I'm tired just reading that.

Happy Running

Little Rock Marathon

A few months back I won entry into the Little Rock Marathon via a Twitter trivia contest. Before that Little Rock was just another bucket list race for me. And now I am happy to say I have crossed it off my list. I am so glad I made the journey to run it.

First off the weather. I would be driving up from Houston where it was cold and drizzly but still extremely tolerable. Unfortunately a storm was heading south and I was driving up into the storms drive line where not only was it in the 20's but there was a good chance of frozen rain or some sort of rainy icy mix.  I made good time, making the 450 miles in 6 1/2 hours. I was lucky there was snow on the ground in some spots but the roads for the most part were clear and I was able to drive fast enough to keep ahead of it.

Bib, shirt and swag

My first stop, of course, was the expo. No issues getting my bib, checking my chip and switching to the early start. Houston's expo is my gauge (only because it's my home town) so I would say that Little Rock's expo is about half it's size with about the same number of speakers. Later in the day as the weather became a bigger issue for runners traveling in, the RD's made the decision to keep packet pick up open to 10 pm and then worked things out for those who still wouldn't get in by then. I love when races make these last minute concessions. It shows that they really care for their runners and want everyone to have the best experience possible.

In the morning, I was lucky that my hotel was only 1/2 mile walk to the start. It was fantastically cold

Flat Joules, all the gear 

and drizzly out and warmer than it would be later in the race. We started with Bart Yasso on the mic and a recording of the National Anthem. It was a bigger crowd than I expected for an early start. The race wound snake like thru the Little Rock downtown area before branching out towards the Governors mansion and then on to Central High and then just after mile 11 we ran back into downtown into the crowd of regular start runners who were on their way to mile 3. The first time thru here I read the signs, right to mile 3 straight ahead to mile 12, it was an unfortunate split for at least one guy who asked somewhere on the way mile 13 which mile I was on when he realized he missed his turn and was only at about 4 1/2. This is the point where the route takes the major up hill climb. My feet were beginning to burn due to a combination of cold and rain soaked socks so I ducked into a bus stop and changed them out with some dry ones. That was better for the time being. 

The course up to this point has been rather boring but on the back side of the hill it turned into a small street that wound down along a bayou on one side and interesting old houses on the other. The lead runners began to pass us along this point. We headed to the a long stretch that would be 3 or so miles out and then back. As part of the rules for the early start crowd we not allowed to go any faster than the 6:00 pacers but at this point in the course with regular start runners coming passed us they were allowed to let those who wanted to run ahead of them go. So I went. These miles from 16-23 were really nice, it was along side the water in a park setting and probably the best part of the course. When we popped back out of here the course once again became an up hill battle and my feet once again began to revolt on me. On the last up hill around mile 25 I swapped out my intervals and instead of running 1:1 I ran 1:3 so I more or less walked the last mile until the final turn where I could see the finish. I was able to run to the finish where once again Bart Yasso was on the mic and giving high 5's to runners as they finished. Officially 5:57:47. 

Highlights from the race. The course was fully open for the early start crowd, some races don't have support for the early crowd until the regular runners start. The course aid stations were fantastic, this seems silly but there were more than 2 port-a-potties (more like 6-8) at every other aid station. The support from spectators in between the aid stations made it really no more than a 1/2 mile with out a cheer section. There are a few more notable in between spots on the course, such as the couch potato mile, the runners blessings and the lollipop stop. The full medical tent at mile 20 which was covered and dry. Also the super (no longer secret) secret hush hush boozy aid station handing out bloody mary's and "adult" fruit and moon pies. The lipstick spot on the way to the finish is something new for me too. 

Replica medal

This is not a race I would do for the Half distance. Unlike the Louisiana Marathon just running the Half distance would be worth doing, on this course I think you would miss so much just running the Half. The course doesn't really get interesting until that 3 mile/12 mile split and the part before there is really nondescript. I am giving this race an 'A'. I am not even really disappointed with the replacement medal. Sure the real medal would have been great but the fact the weeks before the race we were notified it wouldn't be there and the CIC's got the medal company to come up with something was really better than nothing. In all honesty it's better than some race medal I have earned. 

Coming up a few the Bayou City Classic, Law Week 8k and the San Felipe Shootout.

I should have updated this months ago. I did finally receive my actual Little Rock Marathon medal and it was all they had promised. 3 pounds of I can't wear this thing around my neck for very long. As you can see it dwarfs every other medal I have earned this year.

February so far...

So the month has been crazy!

Starting with the Sugarland Marathon and now 2 weeks later I am have run 2 more races.

The first one was the Katy 5k. It was put on in conjunction with the Katy Half Marathon put on my

ONUR Mark. They are a very well know race group in the Houston area. And as I  always say if you want more local races you have to come out and support and for me that meant not only running but volunteering prerace.Yep if you were there that was me along with two other girls manning the volunteer check in/let's fix your issue tent. Which honestly was a lot of fun. You get to be at the race site extra early, 4:00 am, you get the best parking, because there aren't too many people there yet and you get to see all the behind the scenes action. Well I would have gotten to see all the behind the scenes stuff if it weren't for the fog. It started out slightly foggy and before the Half started you could no longer see the start line arch from the 100 feet away from it our tent was. At one point you could barely see the lights that were at the startline, it turned out to be a crazy foggy day, in fact it cause about a 10 minute delay to the start. It was a good morning, I managed to PR my 5k time so no complaints. 

My 3rd race for the month was more of an impromptu decision to run. I needed 15 last weekend and am training for the San Felipe Shootout (5k, 10k, and 13.1 all in the same day) so I decided to run 2 miles and then run the Rhythm & Blues Half Marathon. Ok. So I ran the 5k of this race the first year it race, that was 4 years ago so I figured they may not be so disorganized this go round. I was kind of wrong. The Pros A) there was a bonus medal option and I happened to qualify, B) 2 loops this year instead of it's previous 3 C) the on course cheering groups and bands were FANFRECKINTASTIC!

The Cons A) It's a double looped course on the worst part of Allen Pkwy, the dreaded "underpasses" which meant hills not just out and back but out and back and out and back again. B) late start I know it's February but an 8:30 start for a half marathon is kind of crazy any time of year in Houston C) it was more humid than normal for February and the finishline ran out of water and so did the beer distributor D) the food was at the bottom of the hill (which after that hilly mess was dreadful) and all that was left for us back-of-the-packers was warm water, bananas, and stale mini bagels. I got dizzy so I left. Always. ALWAYS bring what you need to any race.

Would I do them again, Katy Half next year HECK YA! Rhythm & Blues, Nope.

Coming up Little Rock Marathon is 2 weeks away.

USA FIT Sugarland Marathon

Yes that's right marathon #2 for 2015 already!

First off after training with USA Fit Cypress for most of 2014 I have to be honest and say that signing up for this race was a no brainier. Seriously. Everything you are about to read is totally bias.

Since I just ran the Louisiana Marathon 2 weeks ago I decided to not shoot myself in the foot time wise and switched to the early start for this race. How early is early? How about 4:30 am early. But since I was looking at a 6 hour finish it was warranted. I expected a no frills start and I didn't expect as many people there as there was, maybe around 100. We got the full start line treatment, National Anthem and all! 

Having read previous reviews of the race I knew we were on our own until about 6 miles in. Which was ok for the first loop. The sun was still hours away and it was warm than usual but we had a real funky fog keeping things cool so by the time I got to the first set up water stop at mile 4.5 I was still ok. I would like to give a big shout out here to the crew at this stop, these were my peoples. So many runners and family members of the USA Fit Cypress group came out and put together a really AWESOME aid station. They seriously had the best energy and much needed encouragement, not just for me but for all the runners out there. My hats off to them. Volunteers really can make or break (as I will get to later) a race and this group, as well as the others out there really did amazing! So a HUGE THANK YOU to all the volunteers out there on Sunday.

The first loop up until I ran into the 5k turn around was great. I don't think the 5k group realized that they might encounter marathon runners while they were on the course. Those who did get in my way seemed quite startled by not only me but the few runners I was grouped up with. At this point had I known what had happened to the 1st water station I would have stocked up on water before I came to the end of my first loop but I didn't so....So miles 12 1/2 to about 16 were without support. The thing is someone put the supplies out for the aid station but the group that was manning it never set it up so as things were getting hotter and the sun came up there was a long stretch without any water. Next thing I knew I was out of water but still had my Tailwind but at mile 15 I needed to GU and for me it doesn't mix well with Tailwind so here is where my day went to shit. 

I was still doing better that day than I was in Louisiana. I hit 15 miles in 3:15 and still had no leg cramps. As I continued I finally reached an aid station refilled all my bottles. About mile 17 is when the problems started. My legs began to cramp, I popped two Motrin and continued on...on to rumblings of Tailwind and GU hitting my stomach. It's all a blur from there. I tried to hit some port-a-potties but another thing this race lacked was toilet paper. I had to skip two set because there was no toilet paper in either of them. I stuck the mantra "Don't poop your pants" in my head and kept at a  good pace until I hit the last set of port-a-potties. I think I lost about 4 minutes there. I did  manage to make it to the 25 mile marker and then ran in short bursts to the finish. Finishing my second marathon in 5:54:57. 

Injuries, other than my pride, I now have 2 hurt toes. My little toe on the right foot has a huge blister on top of the blister it got in Baton Rouge. And the toe next to it, which I call my mushy toe since I mangled it in Seabrook last March, the same one I thought I broke when I dropped a 3lb weight on it a few months ago, is back to being nothing more than a mushy hurt mess. Other than that so far so good. The 2015 goal of making it to the end of March on two feet is still in the works.

Things I learn this go round. Don't take GU's with Tailwind. I already knew this lesson and should have stuck to it. Stick to the plan, as in the reason I run with water and Tailwind is so I don't take GU's with the Tailwind. I am not sure if the Morin at mile 17 worked or if my GI issues kept my mind off how my legs felt but it is something I am going to keep in my race pouch for Little Rock, that and some chewable pepto. I am thinking about switching to PowerGels since I have had better luck with them mixing with Tailwind. I am going to use February training to see if this works.

Up next just a few races for February, the Katy 5k (I am also volunteering at) 2/7/15 and the Rhythm and Blues Half 2/15/15. This will be my first half marathon for the year. Then of course 2 weeks after that is the Little Rock Marathon.

And to top my weekend off I am anxiously awaiting my Marathon Maniac number. 2 races in 15 days. I am proudly adding Maniac/Fanatic Double Agent to my running resume.

The Louisiana Marathon

This race was so much different than any other I have ran. Why? 

First off it would have been easy for this experience to have gone the same way as my first half marathon. What a fiasco that was. In the past few years I have learn a lot from it. Like over training is bad and tapering even if just for 2 weeks is good. And sometimes going at things alone isn't the best idea. 

A year ago when I set my goal to run a marathon in place I knew it wasn't going to be easy but in the end it was a lot of fun. I am really grateful for the coaches at USAFit Cypress for their support and just general "you can do it" attitudes. 

So the race: 

The expo had a good amount of vendors and the packet pick up was very smooth. Being a Half Fanatic, our group packet pick up was held by the Marathon Manics/Half Fanatic pace team. These guys are amazing and if you every get a chance to run with their pacers DO IT!

Front & back of the 5k medal

I ran the 5k the day before the bigger races. I am so glad I did. The route to the finish is the same both days so I got a preview of what I needed to have left in the tank for the marathon finish. The last 1 1/2 included one serious up hill via highway overpass and then some smaller rolling hills to the turn for the downhill finish.

But let's go back to the start. We started on time with a rolling wave start, every 3 minutes or so. I hung back behind the 5:30 pace group. The first 1/2 mile was a bit unfortunate since the roads were torn up but the announcer was really good and letting us know about it. The first turn to the left lead us up our biggest hill for the day and then some gentle rolling hills on tree shaded roads that lead to the highway over pass at mile 2 (the downside of the finish hill). I noticed right at the top the 25 mile marker. This point of reference became a good visual on my way back.

The course continues on to the LSU campus, thru the Greek Houses, around Tiger Stadium, passed Mike the Tiger and then around the lakes, still on tree shaded roads. As the course ran the winding road I was able to keep the 5:30 pace group in sight helping keep me on task to my goal of an under 6 hour finish. In this area you got a real glimpse of what is to come. Every few house there were people out cheering on the racers, offering water, fruit, beer, tequila, whiskey, bloody marys, all kind of stuff. The locals are really what made this race. Music blasting from house to house, signs everywhere. Some towns (BCS) treat runners more like we are a nuisance, but Baton Rouge really turned on the Southern Hospitality. This kind of support lasted the entire race! AND it was on top of the truly amazing aid stations the race had put together. All of them full stocked and manned.

I was rally enjoying the race until about 18.5 miles in when my hip began to give me a bit of an issues. I kept on. About the 19 mile mark I switched from running 3:1 to 1:1. I was still able to maintain about the same pace during my run portions and truth is the walking parts began to hurt more than the running ones. At mile 20 I took my last GU and a pair of Motrin. By the time I hit mile 22 and it kicked in I was back running 3:1. As the miles ticked to 23 I started to really get into it. 5k to go. I made a right had turn and I knew that down at the end of that road was the left that would lead me straight up that overpass to mile 25. I went for it. 

At 25 on the way down I caught myself ready to let loose with still more than a mile to go. I wasn't ready I told myself you still need some in the tank. It's mostly up hill at this point until the last right turn, the finish line is then right in front of you, as is the Louisiana State Capital building. Still about 1/2 mile to go. Time to give it a little speed. Block by block the crowds came back. The shouts, the "YOU GOT THIS", I start to be able to see the clock. My eyes welled up and just as the clocked clicked the 6 hour mark I crossed the finish line of my first marathon!

OH MY!

The Green ribbon is 5k medal
The Purple is the Marathon Medal
The Blue and Gold is my Half Fanatic Medal
And the Crawfish platter is for running a race on both days

Immediately after I crossed and I was out of the photographers view I was scooped up by this guy at the finish line. The race had "finish line angels" as I like to call them. He grabbed me and then I really let loose. The tears, oh my how they flowed. "Is this your first?" he asked, all I could do is nod. He put his arms around me and let me have my moment in his shoulder. He walked with me the 100 feet or so to get my medal, asking me all those important questions, are you hurt?, do you need medical attention? are you here alone? and then "You did fantastic" and they put that medal around my neck and as quickly as he came to me he was gone, long gone before I could thank him. I have never seen that kind of after care at any race I have run. 

The finish party was good too. Jazz playing, happy runners everywhere, tons of food. If I had run the Houston Marathon I would have been treated to soggy eggs and sausage but not here. Their was so many different food options, I wish I was in a better condition to actually eat something at that point. 

In the end it took 4 Gu's, 40 ounces of Tailwind and 40 ounces of water, along with 7 months of hard work and dedication to get me across that finish line. My new marathon PR time 5:50:41.

If you get a change to put The Louisiana Marathon, Half Marathon, Quarter Marathon or 5k on your schedule DO IT! You will not be sorry. 

Up next for me USAFit Sugarland Marathon and Marathon Maniac status.

MERRY NEW YEAR!!!

I know we are bit into the New Year but I have finally found the time to reconcile how well I did on my running resolutions for 2014 and set some goals for 2015.

So how did I do?

I think I did well. My main goal of getting out and being more social of runner was very successful. I ended the year with 2 really good running partners. Both have rather busy lives but I know when time permits for all of us I can message them and they will be willing to run with me. Having company really makes the miles go faster.

I also cracked open my runner's shell by joining a running group. The USAFit Cypress group has done some much for me. It really gave me something to look forward to besides just adding on more miles as I trained for my #4 goal for 2014. And how about that marathon goal...I not only have 1 on tap for 2015 but 3. By the time the beginning of March rolls around I will have qualified for the big leagues, the Marathon Maniacs.

My goal to get my family involved was a bit more challenging. I did get my eldest daughter out for 3 5ks. And I have roped my husband into running the Advocate 5k, as part of my first marathon weekend.Yes, my first marathon. YEA! I am running the Louisiana Marathon on Jan 18th. A week and a half from now I will be a marathon runner.

So now what, going forward in 2015.

#1 I am going to volunteer more. I have already signed up to help out with the Bayou City Classic. (look for this race to go on sale Houston Marathon weekend, Jan 16th-18th use code BCCEXPO during those days to roll the price back to the early bird pricing.)

I am also looking into helping out with the Green 6.2 or the 4 the Park races in April. I loved helping out at the Houston Half in 2014 so much I will do it again in 2015.

#2 I'm going to stick with the Cyfit group thru the winter 2015 season. I am not sure what I am going to be running yet in the fall/winter but I think I would really like to get to know this group better. I have learned so much from them and I know there is so much more for me to learn.

#3 this one is simple a sub 2:30 half marathon. I mean if I can get to 2:31 in Beaumont in May...

Here's the line up so far for 2015:

Jan 17 Advocate 5k, Baton Rouge La
Jan 18 Louisiana Marathon, Baton Rouge La

Feb 1 USAFit Marathon, Sugarland Tx
Feb 7 Katy 5k

March 1st Little Rock AR Marathon
March 14th Bayou City Classic 10k, also volunteering in some manner
March 28th San Felipe Shoot Out, 5k, 10k, Half Marathon all on the same day, some state park in TX.

April ? volunteering for either the Green 6.2 or the 4 the Park race.
April 25th Brazos Bend 25k? (new course, same medal as last year only w/a different ribbon)

What are your goals for 2015?

Limbo

I find myself in an odd runner's limbo.

As races are opening registration for 2015 I am finding it hard to decide on what my next move is. I am not sure if I want to keep training to run at the Marathon distance level or scale back to the old comfy 6-8-10 Half marathon routine.

I know I should wait until I the 3 marathons I have on tap have been run but I sort of feel the need to begin looking beyond that to a the winter goal for the 2015-16 winter season.

I would LOVE to go back and run BCS again but not sure what distance. I would also like to add the Kingwood Marathon to my list of accomplishments. And now that the lottery has been removed from the Chevron Houston Marathon decisions about it have to be made pretty much on race day 2015.

As always I am also struggling with finding new races to run. We all have our handful of go to's but I really am looking for races that have me running where I haven't run before.

So far 2015 looks like this:

Jan 17 Advocate 5k (part of the Louisiana Marathon weekend)
Jan 18 Louisiana Marathon
Feb  1 Usa Fit Marathon
Feb  7 Katy 5k
Feb 28 The Woodlands Half   (although I may defer to 2016 due to having to get to LR before the Expo closes)
March 1 Little Rock Marathon
March 14 Bayou City Classic 10k
March 28 The San Felipe Shootout

In April I am looking to take a break and am hoping to volunteer for the Green 6.2 and then maybe do the 25k out at Brazos Bend again.

May - August become all about the 5k and 10k, with maybe a trail run of a bit longer distance. These are the months in Houston that are hot and humid and if you can make it through them without giving up you can come out on the other side in mid-December feeling like a champ.

UGHH what is a runner to do?

Sugarland FLS 30k

WOO HOOO!! The marathon training train runs on as I run the Sugarland Finish Line Sports 30k.

Sugarland City hall

The race docs say to be there by 5:30 or risk not being able to get parked before the start. So naturally I got there at 5 am. Yep that was me, wondering around taking random pictures of the start and finish areas. By 5:30 I was back in my car and set a timer for 6 and fell back to sleep. Normally race morning has me keyed up that just plain relaxing wouldn't happen. When I woke I went out for a quick 1/2 mile warm up.

December is unseasonably warm this year. It was 58 with 93% humidity at start time, which itself was a good 30 minutes before sun up. Things only got worse as the morning went on.

I think I did pretty good for this being the first time I have "raced" at this longer distance. I stuck more or less to my plan. Hydration-wise I brought 1 bottle of ready to drink Tailwind, 1 bottle of Tailwind in concentrated form (2 scoops in a 8 oz bottle) so that I could mix on the course as I go, and 1 bottle of just plain water. The plain water I have found is a must when taking Gu's. And yes I know the theory of using the Tailwind is that you don't necessarily need the Gu's but that is not the case for me. I don't need to Gu nearly as often as I previously did. I use to need them every 4 miles but now I use them every 6. I was able to stick to that for this race. 

In total I went thru 4 bottles (32 oz.) of Tailwind (5 if you count me absentmindedly chugging the last 2 oz of premix when I was cleaning out my FuelBelt), not sure how much water but I would bet a good 12 ounces, 2 Gu's and one honey packet.

Now as far as my race plan went, I didn't really have one, only to try and finish under 4 hours. The first mile was a little fast. The second mile I settled down keep pace behind a guy walking the course. By the time the sun came up I was a good 2-2 1/2 miles in when I began noticing GU packets. Just random full GU packets on the ground. This became a theme that got me thru what was coming ahead. I think I managed to pick up every other one I came across.  The 3rd mile as it came into the loops I had to remind myself to keep things settled, it is really easy for me to get hyped up and over-exert. By mile 4 I was were I wanted to be, nicely settled in easy going pace 13 m/m while running 3:1.  The looped part of the course is marked miles 4-16. 2 miles up and 2 miles back for 3 loops. 3 not so dramatic loops. So the first loop I spent time looking for GU's, I picked up 2 more and left 2 more. 

The second loop I spent looking for the Gu's I left the first loop, both stomped on and squirted across the road in perfect run over ketchup packet fashion. When I came around to my potty break somewhere between miles 6 and 7 the pace announcers had me at a 12:47 pace, perfect. I took my break and then started moving a bit quicker to catch up with my walker. I finally caught him around mile 9 and passed him at the water stop at mile 10 with another loop and a half to go. 

Finisher shirt and medal

The 3rd loop, well... the 3rd loop I spent reading road and business signs. The race is held in First Colony so really I spent the time dropping the "y" off of colony and seeing what the business would be named then. The two best I came up with were "First Colon Eye Care" and "First Colon Self Storage." Stupid and childish but the name of the game was keeping the mind busy at this point. 

The hardest part of the race however, had to be once you finish the loops. You still have 2 1/2 miles to go to the finish but it feels like the finish should be right there. As I made my way to the finish the air temp began to heat up which made for miserable running. I spent the final mile or so running 1:1 but maintained a 12m/m pace.

I came across the finish line just as the clock ticked 4:00:01. That meant I made my 4 hours goal. My chip time came in at 3:58:53. I could not have been happier. 

Up next:

21 miles of course. Longest run before taper is this coming Saturday. Can't wait!

Holidays

It's been awhile...a long while.

When last I was with you I was gearing up for the Wild Hare 25k. I can report that it went horribly. That's right, it was BAD. I am not sure what happened but I finally hit a road block (ok a trail block) and had my first DNF. I am really still not sure how I feel about it. In fact up until now I have pretty much blocked it out of my mind. The race itself was good. The trails were fantastic! The course was nice and the weather was not so bad. It was a little muddy but nothing too terrible. The Tejas Trail group put on a well organized race, good support, not a thing I could complain about. It just wasn't my day. After the first lap I fell apart and just plainly dropped myself from the race. 

How do you come back from that? I did what came naturally...I signed up for the Katy YMCA's Turkey Dash. Why not, I mean I had to get back at it. The inconsistency in my training had finally caught up to me. Running on Thanksgiving is/has always been a hard thing for me to do. Every year I'm the one who makes dinner. In fact this is the only holiday that I normally am in the kitchen from breakfast until dessert. I normally spend the entire day running a cooking marathon. Well this year, I tried to turn that marathon into a sprint and got bitten on the ass for it BUT... I PR'd my 10k time. LOL! Turkey dinner be damned. The Y's race is the 2nd biggest turkey day 10k in the Houston area. This year it was around 6000 people for all events.

 

I ran into a runner friend right before the start and we hit the parking lot for a lap to warm up a bit. And by warm up I mean it was 45 degrees out, chilly for Houston. I needed a 30 minute tempo run so I kept my intervals to average about 12m/m for the first few miles. When I came up to the 5k flag I decided to go to 3 1/2 then, 4 and then before I knew it, I was 5 miles in and feeling really fierce. My 3 minute interval times had dropped to 9:45-10 m/m and I couldn't believe how good I felt. My last interval time before the finish was at 8:34. Not too freaking shabby for this 12m/m runner. I crossed the finish line with a 1:36 PR. It was a good day, it was the run I needed to get back on track. 

 Sometimes you have to hit bottom before you can see how good the good things are.

I ran my furthest training run yet this past weekend, 19 miles. No issues. 6 weeks to GEAUX! 

Coming up:

FLS Sugarland 30k 12/14.

KatyFit Cookie run 21 miles 12/20.

And then one last long run just to see how far I can go before I start tapering.

LaPorte By the Bay Half Marathon

This was not a new race for me. In fact two years ago this race was my very first half marathon. Yep, this is the one that started it all. Sort of. If you've ever read or heard me speak about my first half you know that it was the race that made me think of quitting running. I am hardly the girl to let one bad experience make me throw in the towel. It was such a mentally exhausting run for me that by the time I got back to the hotel room I looked a ghost, just a shell of myself as my husband put it. In fact that moment was the very first time my husband was supported of anything that had to do with me running, he liked the idea that I was quitting. I think to him he was thankful that this phase had run it's course and things could get back to normal. He could get his fat wife back, the one who was more than willing to spend the weekends baking him cakes and cookies until we both weighed 2000lbs.

I have thought back and gone over that race in my head 100's of times. I think my training was solid. Other than not really knowing how to run hills I had followed my training plan at least 90%. I had run the other two races in the series, which I thought had given me a glimpse of that bridge running was about. I had practiced my nutrition and hydration and kept to my plan for the entire race. So what went wrong. I wasn't dressed right. It had been cooler the week leading up to the race, this is December after all it should be cold. So I geared up with and long sleeve and capris. What I didn't plan on was that it was near 80 at start time. 

LaPorte medal circa 2012

I was way overdressed and bound to failure from the start before the the other things happened. I started with a great 10k. Problem with that is that I had expended all I had before the bridge and just getting up that first side of it.  By the time I had made the turn around and was heading back up the bridge it took everything I had left. I was bargaining with myself. Running light post to light post to just keep going. When I came off the bridge I was maybe 2:10 in and I lost my mental game. I thought based upon my 10k times I should be able to finish in about 2:36, well that number was out and as I started walking everything else about me deflated. I was going to fail. That was the only thought in my head. I was going to finish but I was failing. Game over. I finally crossed the finish line at 3:00:54. And I cried.

For about a week I couldn't get that out of my head. Another week later I set off trying to wipe that time off my half marathon stat. 2 years later here I was going back to LaPorte again, giving myself a rerun on a race that has haunted me. 

Only today was completely different. Once again the weather had been colder the week coming up to race but I spent the Saturday before the race with my eye on the weather. First 55 and rain, then 60 and clear. So I packed every possible combination.

My only goal for the day was to come in under that 3:00:54. It was not destined to be my faster half. No way with the Fred Hartman bridge on the course was I going to run under 2:30.

I spent the first few miles listening to the crowd around me. I got the biggest chuckle when a few ladies behind me, who may have been talking to themselves out loud or maybe not, said really LOUDLY "go ahead and pass us we'll pass you back on the bridge." Honestly that pretty much sums up the best way to run this race, easy to the bridge and then full throttle on the way back.

Fred Hartman Bridge

I kept it easy to mile 5 and then hit the bridge. The best thing happened as I hit the top of the bridge around mile 6, it started to rain. It was cold and it was perfect and it helped me haul ass to the backside of the bridge. Mile 7 and 8 were back on flat ground which was fantastic. At mile 9 I passed a local hero who carries the American Flag, running for team RWB, at every race and for the first time ever it looked like I might finish ahead of him. That. Never. Happens. I pushed my butt back up that bridge.

Mile 10 coming  back down the bridge I let it all out. After I downloaded my watch I learn I had actually managed a 3 minute interval under a 9 minute pace. I felt great. I had tackled the bridge without any extra walk breaks and the finish line was dead ahead of me. After a quick pit stop. I crossed the finishline at 2:45:23, a good minute per mile faster than my first half. WINNING!!

So now why you should run this race?

#1 this race and really all of Running Alliance Sport's 6 races are the most organized races EVER! Smooth easy packet pick ups, even on race morning, clear, easy to follow race directions and always, something they pride themselves on, an on-time start (What happened in Galveston was a fluke and I am sure it won't ever happen again.)

LaPorte 2014 Swag

#2 if you're into swag they have it. Hats and gloves and shirts and ice packs, personalized bibs, the works!
#3 on course support. Every few miles tables of water and gateraid and lots of enthusiastic volunteers cheering you on and port-a-potties. I have run half's where there are potties on the course at certain aid stations, here they were at every aid station.
#4 There is something magical about hearing your name announced as you cross the finishline. It's a tough thing to do with close to 2000 runners but they manage it. If you have never heard you name as you cross the finish, it's amazing.

#5 After race party. The music keeps on playing and the party keeps on going. There is never a shortage of food or drinks not just for you but for your entire support crew. This year there was sausage, fresh made hot soup (perfect for the cold weather), pizza, fruit and beer, sodas, water, what ever your pleasure.

#6 Most races would make you walk back to the start-line where your car is (oh, parking, tons of close parking near the start-line) not here RAS has a number of vans shuttling runners back to either the parking lot at the beach or the lots at the high school.

All 3 race medals

Half Marathon Medal

#7 for all you bling whores, the medals. LaPorte is also part of the Texas Bridge Series (2 10k's and this half) and if you run all 3 races you get a 4th medal for completing the challenge. This year it was a spinner and the 3 medals from the series fit together to form a star and they all have some sort of moving part to them.

Series Medal

Little Rock Marathon

I had been looking for a March race. I was flipping from one race calendar to another looking for something that would fit in my schedule. Then I flipped to Twitter to see what was going on. Then Little Rock Marathon tweeted a trivia question, winner gets free entry. I googled quick and I answered and then waited and then... I WON!!! I'm going back (see my Feb 2014 recap) to Arkansas in March to run the Little Rock Marathon.  Thank you @LRMARATHON!

Now the problem. I already have The Woodlands Half in place for the day before. Going to be one hell of a rollercoaster running weekend!! 

I am still training for  my first marathon and I am already registered for THREE in 2015. 

Double the Race Weekend - sorry it's a long one.

First it is a very big race weekend here in Houston. The weather has finally turned to fall. The morning temps have been very mild and mostly humid free creating the perfect race conditions. For all types of races. 

To start my weekend I took off early from work Friday to help out for a few hours at the packet pick up for the Fairfield Triathlon.  It is a very fun experience to be on the other side of the table for a change. 

Saturday my girls and I ran (mostly walked) the RainTree Village 5k. I choose the race because of the price. For the $30 bucks I got entry's for all three of us. I was really surprised at how well this turned out for me. I got a bib and cotton shirt and my girls got bibs, trick-or-treat bags with Halloween cups in them that were filled with candy. The start was right at 8 am, as scheduled. The course was thru a neighborhood so the streets weren't coned off but at the major intersections there were police managing traffic. The course was marked with spray painted arrows better than most races that are not only twice this size but also double the cost. The only way you would have gotten off course would be if you just didn't completely pay any attention to anything around you. There was even a water stop at the neighborhood park. And at the finish, not Bling-whore type medals, but medals that would be reasonable to expect for a small race. For the record I have done bigger, more put together events that don't give out finisher medals, so I am giving the organizers of this race MAJOR props for even getting them. Post-race offered the usual assortment of fruit, granola bars, water and PowerAid along with candy and treats fitting any Halloween race. For a small neighborhood race I am giving this one an 'A'. 

Sunday was an actual race day. The first race in the warm-up series for the Chevron Houston Marathon, the Houston Half. This race is put on my the Houston Striders running club. Last year it's sell out snuck up on many runners. In previous years there was a half marathon relay for runners working up to the Aramco Houston Half marathon. This year there was no relay option but instead a single 10k. The two races mark the half way point for many local running groups training for either January race. 12 weeks out to the Louisiana Marathon it was a natural choice to run this half.

Being a race downtown your biggest obstacle is parking. It's not that there isn't enough but that it is slow going into the parking garages. There are two garages that are free to runners and a third that is free for volunteers, parking anywhere else can run you $7-$20. As I have said before the BEST place to park downtown for races is at Rusk and Bagby or Rusk #2 as it is now labeled. This just so happens to be one of the free garages. I got there about 5:15 and had no issues with parking, I was told 15 minutes later and that was when the issues started.

Yellow Volunteer tech-shirt

What most races don't do is make volunteer positions open to runners to do the morning of the race. This one does, so I also signed up to help out at the bag drop. Runners are so cute race morning, especially those who haven't run too many races. Runners coming to bag drop tables not to drop bags but looking for safety pins and even funnier is that the lady in charge of bag drop was prepared for them and made sure there were pins on every table. Once the crowd hit and things got moving my time prerace moved so freakin' fast it wasn't funny. Before I knew it, 1 1/2 hours had past and it was 15 minutes to start time. I had a really great time helping out and felt bad that I was leaving these ladies knowing that they were not going to get a break before the last runner had picked the last bag up. Dedicated volunteers will make or break any race and as a runner I could not be more thankful for their countless hours of selfless dedication.

I made my way up the hill to the team tents, which was murder. I think they need to work out better logistics in the way they organize things. I think if they swapped the bag drop and the team tent area they could sort of trap people below the start line and force them to enter the start shoot from the correct direction by blocking off the middle gate. It might help stop the issue that happened this year, that I am sure happens most years. which was people lining up facing the wrong direction. This year this issue delayed the start.

The Houston Half is a larger race, I think 5000 was the cap this year. I am sure it was at max capacity. That makes for an interesting first mile. I have issue enough with the first mile between warming up and finding a comfortable pace. Being run over is one thing I don't like to deal with. I seldom have to deal with people being in my way and even tho I start further back, I guess my slowness is too much for some rude runners to take. Anyways the few first miles run thru part of downtown, which is not really the best part of downtown. It's smelly, urine and sewage, and ugly as most run down buildings can be but before you know it.

When I got around to where the course ran a street over from the start I was able to cheer on the 10kers as they started their race. They course from here is nice for Houston. It follows Allen Parkway for a bit and then turns at Shepherd to run on Memorial Drive. What's really cool about running on Memorial Dr. is that there are other runners out, not running the race, that give cheer as they go on their run for the morning.

I took a pit stop at 6.5 miles. Why here? Well frankly because it was the first set of port-a-potties that didn't have a line in front of them since the start of the race. I was actually doing quite well at this point. I hit mile 7 and tried to do some math. If I kept up that speed and ran another 5 miles, I would finish in like 2:23. Problem was my math was all wrong and I needed some sugar to clear things up. At mile 8 I sucked down a honey packet and rechecked my math. I am sure you already figured out where I went wrong. At 7 I still had 6 miles to go. Meaning that if I maintained pace it would be a 2:36 finish. Not real shabby either way. With that sorted I threw out any time goals and just kept chugging on.

The Texas cut-out spins!

Somewhere between mile 9 and 10 I busted out the sports beans and completely did myself in nutrition wise. I had now over sugared myself. At this point I could not get enough water in me to dilute things fast enough. Groggy and a little lightheaded I adjusted my intervals and continued running 1:1. Mile 11 1/2 I was struck by what I thought were stomach issues, so I once again took a potty break and was thankful I was wrong. On my way back out to the course I ran into a runner friend, who like me was just trying to get to the end. So we chatted up the final final distance working the 1:1 and crossed in very good spirits. I ended up running it in 2:43:30, 15 seconds faster than my overall half average.



Coming up is another one of those "longest training run yet" weekends. 17 miles to my goal on Saturday and Yoga on Sunday are the plan.

Only two races on the calendar for November, LaPorte By the Bay Half and the Wild Hare 25k.