:28 seconds...

The Alamo 13.1 half marathon would be my 4th half marathon in 4 months. When I first signed up for it, I was leery of the timing because it falls on the first weekend of March Madness. If you don't know me, you may not know that I have an almost unhealthy obsession with college basketball in the month of March. This is when college basketball holds its national championships and from Thursday-Sunday of that first weekend there are basketball games on from 11 am in the morning to 11 pm (or later) at night. And I have to watch as many as possible. I schedule days off from work so I can stay home and watch them on opening day. 

But I reasoned with myself that I could run a half marathon in the morning and be home in time for the tip-off of the first game. No socializing at the end of this race - Just get in, get it done, and get out. My partner in crime, Aixa, was a great friend and picked up my packet for me so I wouldn't have to leave the house and miss a game. Again, many thanks to you!!

This was my first time doing this race and it was a decent race. There were some sections of the course that had lots of turns and it takes you down on the Riverwalk so it's pretty scenic for the out of towners doing the race but, at the same time, these turns and tight corners made it hard to get around people and possibly slowed my pace just a bit. The section through Brackenridge park and Incarnate Word was nice. I got to see some sections that I hadn't seen before so that was neat. So, while not my favorite course, I would still recommend it to someone if they wanted to do it. 

                       

I didn't really have any time goals for this race, except maybe see if I could maybe go under 2 hrs. As the time and miles ticked off my calculations had me coming in around 2:02 or 2:03. For how tired I was for staying up so late the night before I decided to just settle for that and I backed off my pace just a bit. Why I decided to do this, I'm not sure. Just goes to show that my head and heart weren't really in this race. After I finished and looked at my Garmin I wanted to scream. My time showed 2:00:28. No way!! Only :28 seconds away from going under 2 hrs when I totally had it in me to push a little harder than I had!!! 

The rain we had the day before the race caused one section to be a mud bath!

My big lesson here was to never give up in a race!! I'm dying knowing that I left those :28 seconds out there and that the next time I run I will not pull myself back. I will go for it with everything I have so I don't have to see those :28 seconds mocking me!!

Alamo RunFest 13.1 recap

So, as we were driving up to the 3M packet pickup Aixa and I started looking for another race to do in February. We were having fun running halves and decided to try to do one a month! We found the RunFest website and it fell on a weekend that worked, so we signed up!

A few of the lures of this race was that it was local (yay!), we got to run through Ft. Sam Houston (super cool), the finish was in the Alamodome, and HEB was a sponsor of the race and planned to hand out Mootipia chocolate milk at the finish line! I loved the size of this race. It's not too crowded so parking was a breeze race morning and you could get in and out of the port o' potties with no problem. 

Before the race we ran into our friend, Q, who had signed up for the race on the spur of the moment and it was fun to hang with her beforehand and chitchat and hear about all her running adventures. 

I can say that I honestly loved this run course. It was mostly flat with a some small inclines here and there. Running into Ft. Sam was super cool. There was a band playing and the soldiers were out cheering for the runners. Seeing them cheering us on was so motivational. I felt like telling them that they didn't need to cheer for me. They are the ones fighting for our country, I should be cheering for them. Thank you for your service!

We ran a little over 5 miles on the base and it was neat to see the inside of it. Around mile 6 or 7 I started to feel myself slow down a bit and struggled to keep up with the girl I had been pacing behind in my sights. Around mile 8 the 2 hr pace group passed me. I was determined to not let them get too far ahead of me. According to my watch I was close to being on target for a sub 2 hr race and I thought that they might be a little ahead of schedule so I tried not to panic too much. 

As we left the base we had about 3 miles left to the finish and I saw that I was closing the gap with the 2 hr pace group. I kept up a steady pace and caught them with 2 miles left. The dome was in sight! I debated staying with them briefly before I realized that I was feeling good and decided to push myself. I have a little motto that I say to myself on each run when I hit the 2 miles left mark:  "2 miles left. You can do anything for two miles. Well, except walk on your hands, but you're not doing that." I don't know where that came from, but it stuck, and now I say it everytime. 

I got confused for a bit when I noticed some runners ahead of me taking a turnaround. I had actually studied the map of this run course and didn't remember there being another turnaround after Ft. Sam. As I approached it, I realized it was the 5k or 10k runners and I was so happy to realize I didn't have to take that turnaround. The only problem now was having to weave my way through the crowed streets. It was easy for me to fall in behind a slower runner and let my pace drop. I think I did a good job of not doing that and passing them as quickly as I could. I knew those 2 hr peeps were right behind me. Finally, the last turn to the dome came into view and I knew it was a little incline on the access road and just dropped my head and ran. I looked at my watch and saw 1:57 and knew that I would make the last few feet in under 2 hrs!! 

I ran into the dome and crossed the finish line in 1:58:17 - only 6 seconds slower than my half the previous month. I consider this race my official "PR" race because it's on a course that is not known to be a downhill race and to me felt like a legit course. It was so nice to finally break that 2:01 mark! I definitely recommend this race and plan on doing it again next year!

3M Half Marathon 2015

MAJOR DISCLAIMER!!!! IF YOU DON'T LIKE GROSS PICTURES OF FEET, DO NOT SCROLL DOWN TO THE END OF THIS POST. THE LAST PICTURE IS TERRIFYING!!!!


I was super excited to do this race again, as it boasts a mostly "downhill" elevation for the majority of the course. This has been my best race so far when in 2014 I ran it in 1:51. I call it my "assisted" PR race.

We started out with a big group of us going to do this race but with an assortment of reasons, it ended up just being me and Brian and the A-team racing on Sunday. Always fun to race with the A-Team!

We went up Saturday for a short run around the lake and then hit up packet pickup. I had planned to run but woke up Friday and Saturday morning with some congestion I wasn't sure was allergies or the beginning of a cold so I decided to just save it for the race.

Pre-race meal at Torchy's - Damn good tacos indeed!

"Super Star!" fun at packet pickup

Race morning came and we met at 5 am and carpooled up to Austin Sunday morning. This was Aixa's birthday, so she had a birthday brunch planned back in San Antonio giving me extra incentive to Run Fast!!

I enjoyed this race even though I didn't have the run I wanted. I was still able to stay under 2 hrs with a 1:58:11. I held on with all had to hang on to it, so I'm proud of myself for doing that. A couple major missteps happened in the morning when I was getting ready to leave. I realized I didn't have any nutrition to take with me and ended up only with one GU that I took before the race started. I figured there would be nutrition on the course. There was, but not until mile 6 and by then I could myself fading. I was drinking the Gatorade on the course but it wasn't enough.

I was so happy to finish under 2 hrs at this race. Even though the course helps you out, you still gotta put in the training to get you where you want to be. Lesson learned 3M, lesson learned.

A & L Team!!

Obligatory finisher pic with the Capitol in the background

POST RACE B-DAY BRUNCHY GROUP PHOTO

This was my first race in my new shoes. I had done training runs in them before and hadn't had any problems with them. Not sure if it was a combination of the compression socks and shoes or if it was entirely the shoes, but here are my feet after the race! That was painful!

My first ever blood blisters:  Thing 1 and Thing 2

Rock n Roll 1/2 2014

This year the race was finally pushed back the December and it was so worth it. The weather was perfect and I was excited to see if I could hit my goal of going under 2 hrs. My training had been hit and miss with some really great runs and then some collosal fails and blow ups. I had been having some lingering foot pain all year that was really starting to get annoying. It was after this race that I decided to switch shoes....you'll see the result from that decision In the next blog (warning: not for the squeamish). 

Anyway, Brian and I arrived at the race and went to the planned meet up with the A-team but they were no where to be found. We figured they were out there somewhere and we'd meet up after the race. We walked up to corral 3 and we wished each luck and took off once it was our time to go. 

 

I got into a comfortable rhythm and tried to not take off too quickly. I was holding steady and around mile 4 I felt it - the slap on the butt as Aixa caught up to me. I laughed and cheered her on as she ran past and explained to the man next to me that she was my friend and it was okay for her to slap my butt. It's her thing! 

Overall I was pretty happy with this race. I had some trouble after the hills around Trinity Univeristy regaining some speed and that's where I felt I lost a lot of ground. As I got to the last 3 or 4 miles I knew that I was going to have to pick up the pace to go under 2 hrs. I tried my hardest but I sort of fell apart at miles 12 and lost some speed. I finished in 2:01 and change. It ended up a PR by seconds for a 1/2 in San Antonio so I took that as a victory. 

Brian CRUSHED his race and ran a 1:38!! He was stoked and I was stoked for him. He trained so hard for this race and I was sooo happy and proud of him! We caught up with the A-team and Anthony and Karen and Shelly and they all had great races too. Overall it turned out to be a great day and, Kris, the only one of us that stuck with the original plan and ran the full, broke the 4-hour mark and ran her first sub-4 marathon. So super stoked for her for sure!!! 

My mission after this race was to keep plugging away and get that sub-2 half marathon!

Austin 70.3...Or My First DNF...yuck

Well, I think the title explains a lot about this race, lol. I went into it like I always do, excited to be there, wearing my good luck check-in clothes, and mentally preparing myself for the day ahead. What I guess I should have done is actually check the website so I could see that the bike course had been changed this year. I had such a great race here last year that I guess I let my arrogance get the best of me. 

Race morning came and as I was hanging out with Kris and Brian waiting for my wave to start when a friend came up to talk to us and she brought up the course change. I was like, "Say what?" Oops. Okay fine. So it would be a new bike course, big deal. I've ridden plenty of courses where I didn't know where I was going. Deal with it. 

Started the swim off and knew I wasn't swimming super fast but knew I would be in my usual time frame. Grabbed my bike and took off. Okay so far so good. The first couple of roads where the same but instead of making a left to head up the hill that most people dread we turned right and headed off into no man's land. Not really, but that's what it felt like to me. I could tell that some of the roads were the same but I couldn't figure out how I had ended up on a road that I recognized without knowing how I had gotten there. I guess it shouldn't have mattered to me while I racing, but it did. 

Oh, I also decided to switch up my bike nutrition for this race. Mistake #2! I was making decent time to the halfway point on the bike and feeling okay. Not great but not horrible either. Then somewhere along the way I just deflated. I got nauseous and a little lightheaded. My speed was just decreasing and decreasing and all I wanted was to be done. I didn't even feel like running. I swore to myself that if I even made it into T2 I would rest and see how I felt before pulling off my chip. 

I limped into T2 like a beaten dog and racked my bike and laid on the ground. My head was spinning and my stomach was rumbling. I looked out at all the runners out on the course and then up to the sky where then sun was beating down and my decision was made. I was not going to gain anything from going out there and running for 2 1/2+ hours. I took off my chip walked up to an official and turned it in. I felt humiliated doing it but I had nothing to prove. Why dig myself into a hole. I wasn't in contention to win anything. Why make my Monday hurt more than it already was going to. 

So that's my first DNF. Don't worry, I promise this isn't going to become a thing for me!!

Kerrville 70.3

This turned out to be a fun weekend of spectating and racing. Fellow IW'er, Kris, was racing on Saturday so we headed out early to cheer her on. It turned out to be so much fun with me, Brian, Herb, and Aixa rooting for Kris and Trent. Kris totally rocked her AG and took home 2nd! Watching all the sprinters just got me even more pumped up for my race the next day.

Go Sprinters!

Go Kris!!

Yo

           
I recently had gotten a Retul fitting for my bike and I was nervous/excited to see how the new fit would feel. I had only been able to ride my bike maybe once before the race and I wasn't sure how adjusted to the new fit I was. I also changed out the gearing and cranks on my bike so I was really putting a lot to chance for the bike portion of this race. I think this really showed on my race splits. I averaged over 19 mph on the first loop of the bike but when I was out on the second loop it felt like all the life had been sucked out of my legs and I barely managed to roll back into town on some pretty tired legs.

Admittedly, I also was not being very good and skipping a lot of workouts. I think I was feeling a little burned out from all the IM training and I think I was more zealous about racing then actually training for the race itself.

Anyhoo, race morning came and it started off fine, but somewhere along the way, I got very angry. Not sure what happened (but I'm pretty sure it was on the bike), my normally good mood was very sour. Racing angry is not fun. It did not make me more aggressive or faster, but rather seemed to suck out any energy I did have. This was quite the learning experience as this has never happened to me before. My legs had no life. I tried to pick up my turnover and nothing was happening. This made me angrier as I could see my goal slipping away from me.

Regardless of this, I did manage to eek out a race PR if not an overall PR so I was happy with that one bright spot. I have to thank my friends who were out there cheering me even with my grumpy puss face. I did manage to finally break a smile or two after the second loop of the run. This race tends to have this effect on me. I either have a totally awesome day or I struggle a bit (a lot). Don't worry Kerrville, I'm not done with you yet!