3M Half Marathon

This past Sunday I participated in the 3M half marathon in Austin. This is an awesome race and one that I would like to do every year. With it being in January, you can almost guarantee that the weather is going to be great to run in and the course is a mostly downhill elevation. That means you can fly through the 13.1 miles.  

Aixa, me, and Linda beaming bright before the race!

The morning started off with Aixa coming to my house and her, Brian, and I driving over to Linda's house and picking her up -- all before 5 a.m.!! We had a fun drive up there and we had no trouble finding parking and getting over to the race start. It was a chilly morning and we waited as long as possible to drop our warm clothes off at the gear drop. After that was done we walked up as far as we were brave enough to. It was somewhere between the 1:45 and 1:50 pace groups. My goal was to go under 2 hrs for the first time, with a top secret goal of maybe going 1:50.  

The happy finishers!

And then we were off!! As the first mile was flying by I remember thinking to myself, "Holy cow this course is downhill!" The first mile beeps on my watch and I look down: 8:30 average. Nice -- but is it too fast? Can I really stay in the 8's for 13.1 miles?? I don't know the answer but decide to just run for it. Every mile that ticked off felt like a victory as they were staying in the 8's. Also, as each mile ticked off, I could hear the 1:50 pace group behind me shouting the status of their time (13 seconds ahead of schedule, 10 seconds ahead of schedule, etc...) and that gave me motivation to keep moving. Around the 9-mile mark they finally came up along side me. I didn't mind it too much but just told myself to try to keep them in my sights for as long as possible and, by all means, DO NOT let the 1:55 pace group catch up to me!! The topography around this mile starts to change and there are some sections of steady inclines. I was able to hang on but I slowly saw the 1:50's pulling away from me. Mile 10 came along and I could feel myself starting to fade. I told myself to just hold on for two more miles and try not to drop the pace too much. I had 1 mile average in the 9's but finally I heard that beep and there was only 1 mile left. GO FOR IT!! I picked up the pace and ran my little heart out. The last mile was back down in the 8's again and then it was a sprint to the finish!! I crossed the finish line and turned off my watch. 1:51:47!!

Brian and Aixa both had PR's on their races as well and Linda had a great race too! It really turned out to be a pretty much perfect day. I'm so happy for everyone! 

Last January, I started to really focus on my run. And after a year of this focusing, I am so pleased with my progress. I've learned that I can push myself a lot harder than I thought possible. I have been able to find a mental toughness that was not there 4 years ago when I first started triathlons. Thank you to everyone who has helped and pushed me to be better and having the confidence in me that I could do it!!! First race of 2014 is in the books!!

Catching up…Marathon, Christmas 100x100, Monica’s Mile, and 2014 Races!

It’s been a while since I’ve sat down to write something, so I’m going to have to squish a bunch of thoughts into this one. 

SA RnR Marathon – I finished my second stand-alone marathon back in November before Thanksgiving and it was what it was.  I still haven’t cracked the 5 hour mark (5:08) but I’m getting closer and I’m just happy that I finished this race on a day that was extremely warm and on a course that I did not like one bit!  And, of course, after stating we would never run a stand-along marathon again, Aixa, Kris, Brian, and I are signed up for the Austin Marathon in February.  That’s what happens when the pain goes away and you’re left still trying to achieve your goals!!

100x100 Christmas Day swim – When you have friends like mine, who like to do epic shit on their birthdays, then you wind up swimming 100x100’s (6.2 miles) on Christmas morning.  Kris is a Christmas baby and she always like to try to do something fun on her birthday.  This year she decided on this swim and most of us were crazy enough to say we’d do it with her.  Luckily for us, our friend Linda has access to the Josh Davis Natatorium so we were able to do this swim set in style.  This has got to be one of the most interesting experiences in my life.  The longest I had ever swum was 4,000 meters, so doing more than double that was pretty daunting.  But once I hit 5,000 meters I knew it was just a matter of me to “just keep swimming, just keep swimming”.  It turned out to be a bunch of fun and a great way to start Christmas morning and celebrate Kris’s birthday!!

Photo credit:  Robert Cordova

Monica’s Mile – January 5, 2014, the 2^nd Annual Monica’s Mile swim was held.  This is a great event that’s held to help raise money for children and for my friend Monica, who continues to blow everyone’s minds away with her amazing progress after being hit by a car while riding her bike and suffering a horrible spinal cord injury.  She is continually proving what a strong person she is and defying all odds by getting closer and closer to being able to walk (and race) again.  She swam the full hour on her own and beat her own goal by 300 meters!!  We all showed up in our “Will Swim For Donuts” swimsuits and swam the hour.  Even Shelly came out!!  It was really great having Shelly back out there now that she’s had her baby and she’s getting back in “training” mode.  And she kicked butt by swimming 3,000 meters in the hour.  Piece of cake (or donut) for her!!      

Now it’s time to focus on 2014.  I’m signed up to race Ironman Coeur d’Alene in June and I’m super excited about that.  It’s going to be an amazing adventure and I can’t wait to share it with you all.  But first, there’s:

            3M ½ Marathon on January 19

            Austin Marathon on February 16

            New Orleans 70.3 on April 13

I’m looking forward to all of these races for special reasons.

 

3M because for the past four years I have wanted to do this race, but it just never seemed to line up for me.  Finally, this year it’s going to happen.  I can’t wait to see my ½ marathon time on this course since it’s supposed to fast (mostly downhill elevation).  And of course all the office supplies that come in the swag bag.  I love office supplies!!

Austin Marathon because this race and I have a history.  I’m not going to say any more about that now because I’m extremely superstitious and I don’t want to say anything.  Stay tuned for that blog entry.

New Orleans 70.3 because, well, because it’s New Orleans!!  It’ll be my first trip to the Big Easy and I’m super excited to see Bourbon Street and all the sights there are to see there.  I’m not super excited about the swim, but it is what it is.  It will also be my last race before IMCDA so it’ll be fun to leave it all out there.

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!  Here’s to 2014!!!