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!!!  

Double-Double Pt. 2: Oilman 70.3

So right after racing Austin 70.3 I ran into my coach as she was walking back into the arena to get her Worlds spot (can I say Bad Ass!) and she told me that my plan was up but to go by feel.  I'm so happy she told me that because I could barely move my legs for two days after the race.  I did manage an easy spin midweek but I was spending a lot of time with my feet up and sleeping in before work.  

Finally Saturday morning comes and Brian and I load up the car and head out to East Texas.  This was going to be his last triathlon of the season too so we were both excited.  We finally got to Conroe and found the resort and picked up our packets and checked into the hotel.  I would totally recommend staying at the resort.  The rooms were super nice and we were on the 15th floor so we had a great view.  After we settled into the room we headed out to drive the bike course since neither of us was familiar with the area.  The landscape is totally different than San Antonio so I was excited to see some new things.  What I was not excited for was the wind and the cool temps.  I tried to stay optimistic and told myself that the wind would be gone by tomorrow and it would be warmer in the morning.  Race morning came and we had a nice, short walk to transition in the resort's parking lot.  It was definitely still cool in the morning and still windy.  After we racked our bikes and got our timing chip we walked down to the water. They said the water was about 70*, so just warm enough for my sleeveless wetsuit.      

Swim:  41:17

The swim was a beach start so when they told you to go, you had to run into the water and start swimming. The water was pretty shallow so you could probably walk a pretty long way out into the water but once the water seemed high enough I started swimming.  Everything went great around the first turn and I noticed some waves on the way to the second turn marker.  Okay, so far so good.  I'm passing people and I'm almost to the second turn.  BAM!!  a foot right between the eyes.  "M*therf*&&er!!" were the words that came out of my mouth as I raised up and reached up to push my goggles back on my face.  I shot the kicker a dirty look and continued swimming.  I'll be damned if I was going to stop and clear the water out of my goggles.  Luckily they weren't filling up with anymore water so it was tolerable.  Now I started to notice how choppy the water was.  There were swells raising me up and slapping me down.  I remember thinking to myself that I was glad that I don't get seasick because the rolling motion could make someone feel queasy.  I could have sworn that someone was driving their boat back and forth on purpose stirring up the water to cause waves.  Okay, now this is choppy water!  But I was very happy that my sighting was on course and I wasn't being pulled all over the place in the water.  The rest of the swim was, thankfully, uneventful.  I noticed that my arms were feeling kind of tired, which was not a big surprise.  I kind of was just taking stock of how I was feeling and was happy that I wasn't feeling too tired.    

I ran into T1 and took the time to dry off a little bit and put on my bike jacket.  I had made the decision to wear the jacket on the run to the bike when instead of feeling comfortable I was still cold.  A lot of the bike course was through the shaded national forest and I didn't want to be cold.  

Bike:  3:18:51

My friend, Aixa, had lent me her "magic" wheels.  Cute pink Zipp wheels that are autographed by Hilary Biscay and Maik Twelseik.  I was really hoping to not let them down.  Alas, the bike course is a tale of two journeys.  The way out was awesome.  The wind was at my bike and I was averaging exactly where I wanted to.  I hit the halfway mark about 1 minute under my goal time and I was super stoked about that.  But once I turned onto the road headed back, it was straight into a headwind.  I tried my best to just tuck in tight and pedal strong, but I could feel my legs just didn't have the power in them that they did last weekend.  With about 2 or 3 miles left on the bike I was shifting my front ring and the chain dropped.  So I had to stop and fix that, which probably took a couple of minutes.  Overall, I'm not too dissatisfied with my bike split, because even though it's not my fastest (or even second fastest) it's way better than it used to be when I first started racing.  And just for the record, there were a few F-bombs on the bike course as well.  Mostly aimed at the wind and the dropped chain.  :)  

I was so happy to drop my bike off into T2 and I had a pretty smooth transition from my bike shoes to running shoes.  No falling over this time!

Run:  2:05:43

The run.  What can I say about this run....it was painful.  Luckily this course is flat so I didn't have to worry about hills.  I really wanted to go sub 2 hrs on this run but I'm so happy with my time.  This course was a 3-loop course, again, and I just remember thinking to myself, "Just get to the third loop".  I was not looking at my watch until it beeped to tell me what my mile splits were.  I was actually pleasantly surprised to see the low 9-min pace I was running.  Okay, maybe this run won't be so bad after all!  I again came to the conclusion that a 3-loop run course is just torture.  My second lap hurt and I was so happy to start my third loop.  There was one F-bomb on the run when my watch lost satellite reception and it pissed me off. I remember approaching the 10 mile mark and the guy I was passing (ha!) said he just wanted a beer.  I told him that I just wanted to stop running!  I finally saw Brian on the side of the road finished with the race and he looked great!  I was so happy to see him.  I told him I had a little over 2 miles to go.  Once I hit the 12 mile mark I decided to "drop the hammer".  I figured I could hang on for a mile to finish strong.  This ended up being my fastest split and it felt great to see the legs respond.

Total:  6:12:31

I have never been so happy to be done with a race.  Brian was there at the finish line and he came over and gave me the best congratulatory hug ever.  That's when I lost it.  The tears just came and wouldn't stop.  Brian just tucked me under his arm and lead me away to a quiet place and I told him that I was so happy to be done!  I was bummed about my bike split but overall I was extremely happy with everything else. A feeling of great accomplishment came over me.  I remember looking at him and saying, "I did it".  I think I had had doubts in my mind, even after starting the race, of whether I could actually do this or not.  

So here completes my Double-Double 70.3 weekends.  Thanks to everyone who wished me luck and supported me!!  Next year's challenge:  IMCdA!!!!   

Double-Double Pt. 1: Austin 70.3

     Well, this was a pretty fun season of racing and I had tons of gains and learned a lot about my abilities by going back and doing some short-course races.  I found new breakthroughs on the run, which thrills me endlessly!  I also think the 5 lbs or so I lost by changing the way I was eating played a big part in that.  Less junk in the trunk to haul up those hills!!  But by mid-season I was looking for a challenge.  What could I do to make this season memorable?  So when a friend posted on Facebook the idea of racing Oilman 70.3 the weekend after Austin 70.3 my interest was sparked!  My friends and I had already decided to do Austin 70.3 again as a "measuring stick" so to speak.  It was our first 70.3 race 2 or 3 years ago and I was really curious to go back and see how my times would compare.  So I texted Coachie my idea and she was all in on the double-double challenge because she said that I had already proved I could do it with my double-double 1/2 marathons earlier in the year.  Perfect!  I had found my challenge!

Austin 70.3 turned out to be the best race ever.  The weather started out iffy when we woke up in the morning.  It had rained overnight and was still kind of drizzling that morning.  The temps were cool but not cold but there was still lightening sticking around so that delayed the start of the race by a few minutes.  We all hung around chit chatting and trying to relax.  The group of supporters from San Antonio made it up and we had fun hanging with them before we had to drop of our morning bags and get in line to head down to the water.  By then, the rain had stopped and I was hoping that it would stay away so the roads would dry up on the bike course.  

Swim:  39:53

I was wearing my new sleeveless wetsuit for the first time and I was hoping that it would bring me good luck.  As we were waiting in the water for our wave to start, the girls and I wished each other luck and got ourselves into position and then "Bang" we were off.  I immediately was in a crowd of girls and was just trying to not get kicked in the face or have the skin of my arms scratched off.  I knew it was going to be a "fight for your position" swim.  For the most part the swim went good.  I managed to get some clear water every now and then and  I was feeling pretty happy with my ability to get around people.  I don't know if it was all the people in the water around me or what but I thought to myself that the water felt pretty choppy.  Which was good, because I've been very lucky in all of my open water swims in races to have very calm water.  I felt I needed to know what choppy water felt like during a race to see if I could handle it.  Little did I know that this was nothing compared to what was coming up next weekend!  I exited the water with a new swim PR!  Very stoked about that!!

The run to T1 went smooth.  Luckily I didn't step on any stickers and made it to my bike on the first shot.  I was very fortunate in T1 to have a spot pretty close to the bike out.  With all the rain and wet athletes, the ground was pretty muddy and having to run through all that mud was causing problems for people who had to run a long distance with their bike shoes on.  As I was running out of T1 with my bike up in the air because I didn't want to risk getting a flat by running over any stickers, I told the girl running next to me, "I didn't know we had signed up for a cyclocross race!!"  She laughed and I finally got to the mount line.

Bike:  2:55

I honestly don't have any words for my bike split.  It's the fastest I've ever ridden my bike (race or training) and the whole bike just felt so awesome.  The course was crowded when I started and the roads were still damp so I just worked on being aware of everyone around me.  The weather turned out to be great; there was no wind and overcast skies.  I had rented some Zipp 404 wheels for my bike and they just felt so responsive.  Every time I pedaled they responded quickly and they felt weightless.  I had gone over my numbers the night before on where I would like to be time wise at the halfway point of the bike and, when that time came, I saw I was 9 minutes ahead of my goal!  Of course, this made start thinking to myself, "Am I pushing it too hard?  Am I going to have enough in my legs for the run?"  But I was feeling good and decided to ride it out.  It was on this bike ride that I thought to myself that I felt like a cyclist.    

Riding into T2, I looked at my watch and saw I was 8 minutes ahead of where I wanted to be when I started the run.  I was super excited about that and ran to rack my bike and put on my running shoes.  I had some trouble staying upright when I tried to lean over to switch shoes so I had to sit down to swap out my shoes.  Oh well, better that than tumbling face first into the asphalt parking lot!

Run:  2:04:02

I headed out of T2 and just wanted to run to the best of my ability.  Doing more short-course races, I really hadn't been doing a whole bunch of long runs during the summer, so I was actually kind of leery of how I was going to do.  The Austin course is not flat by any means and it's three loops, so I knew I would be going up and down a lot of hills.  On the road out of T2 I heard a whole bunch of screams and I saw all the San Antonio peeps cheering!!  It was so awesome to see them.  I ran by and high fived as many as I could.  I saw Dawn and Aixa on the run and they were both looking strong.  I had seen Kris in T2 so I knew she was close behind me.  The first loop of the run went good.  My splits were good.  Probably a little too fast, but I couldn't seem to make my legs slow down.  The second loop turned into a "I am never doing a race with a loop run again".  My quads were cramped and so was my right ankle and foot.  I drank as much Gatorade that I could and took my salt pills but the taste of the Gatorade and gu's was making me sick.  Heading out on the third loop, I knew it was going to be tough.  I had slowed down enough that I knew finishing the run in 2 hrs was out of the question but I knew I was going to hit my goal of going sub 6 hours for the total race if I could just keep running.  I had seen Aixa as she was heading out on her third loop and she yelled at me to "make it hurt".  I managed to yell back at her "it already hurts!"  On the turnaround at the end of the third loop I saw Kris and she yelled that we were 5:25 in and to "GO!"  I did some mental calculations in my head and knew I could run a little over 2 miles in 20 or so minutes.  I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and was finally turning down the finisher shoot.

Total:  5:46:19

I was in complete shock that I had just had, to me, the perfect race.  I kept looking at my watch in disbelief and was feeling completely dumbstruck.  I would have been happy with any time that was under 6 hours, but to break that mark by 14 minutes was amazing!  Seeing Brian and all my friends at the finish line was awesome too.  I'm so happy and grateful for all their support and encouragement.   But, the brain being what it is, had already started having doubts of how I was going to do this all again next weekend.  So I was able to enjoy the moment, but in a way I was already thinking ahead to the next race...

                     

A break from the norm: Austin City Limits Music Festival 2013

All I can say about this past weeked was that it was a BLAST!!! 

There was Depeche Mode, The Cure, Arctic Monkeys, Passion Pit, Kascade, Wilco, Portugal the Man, Joy Formidable, Queens of the Stone Age, Muse, Kings of Leon...so many groups!!!

After 36 years I have finally seen The Cure in person.  I am a complete person now :)  Robert Smith sang all their best songs and he sounded phenominal.  Dave and Martin from Depeche Mode were awesome and Dave shook his hips for the crowd countless times!  My new fav band Arctic Monkeys rocked it and I'm totally in love with them....literally cannot stop listening to them!  Alex Turner gave Dave a run for his money with all that hip swinging!

The food choices this weekend were great.  All of Austin's best lined up to choose from, and boy did we!  This was a free for all weekend of indulgence and relaxation.  I loved every minute of it!  I was bummed that the third day got cancelled because of the weather, but the first two days were great enough that it took some of the sting out of it.  Here's to next year!

Hanging out with great friends and listening to great music....great times, great times.

But now it's back to training. I've got three big races coming up....these are a different sort of great times. :)

Kerrville Tri (Quarter distance) race report



Post-race goofiness :)



I've been looking forward to this weekend since the beginning of the month.  It was going to be my last "short" race before my two late-season 70.3 races and marathon.  I was super anxious to get out there and see how my training had progressed since May, and since I knew the course I wasn't too worried about anything going wrong.  I will never make that mistake again!!  The biggest lesson I learned on this race is, no matter how much you think you know the course, you still have to stay sharp and in the game because anything can happen.  And that's what happened to me.....

Swim:  21:39 (1000m)

I had a decent swim and am okay with my swim time.  There's still room for a lot of improvement though.  I think there is an extra minute added on to it because you don't cross over the timing mats until you run up to the wetsuit strippers and then have them strip you off.  I think that probably totaled up to an additional minute so I'll take it.  I had clear water for about 95% of the swim and was pretty spot on with my sighting.  I ended up being 4th in my AG with my swim.  Yeah!!

Bike:  1:37:00 (29 miles or if you're Orissa Loftin - 30.14 miles)

I felt great getting on the bike after the swim and settled into a rhythm pretty quickly.  I downed a GU a few minutes in to get some energy and soon I was on my way out of town.  There was a slight tailwind, so I decided to use that to my advantage because that would mean that there would be a slight headwind coming back into town but I wasn't too worried about that.  I still haven't replaced the battery on my bike computer so the only way I knew how fast I was going was by looking at my garmin, which just gave my current speed and not my average.  I was pleasantly surprised when I hit the 20 mile mark and noted my time was at 59 minutes.  Yes - I was averaging over 20 mph!!  I really wanted to be there because I knew I would probably slow down a little bit on the way back.  Making the turns back into town I caught up to this girl and I was debating passing her before the turn into T2 or just staying behind her.  While I was contemplating, we have to do a few sharp turns so my passing opportunity never really presented itself, but I was still kind of stuck out to the left of her and so when I did decide to pass her I saw a sign that said "No passing zone".  Which should have alerted me right then that this meant my turn was coming up, but since I was so distracted I dropped back so I didn't get a penalty or in trouble for trying to pass.  Anyway, it was a few seconds after this when I realized that I had just passed up my turn.  I kept looking to my right and I knew that I had gone too far.  I finally pulled off into a side street, where there were some volunteers and screamed "Help!" at them.  I have to give kudos to them and the officer working that corner.  They came over immediately and I told them what I had done and what would be the best way for me to get back to T2.  I contemplated riding on the run course, but I didn't want to be that person too.  They told me the best way to get back would be to go back to the main road and just ride back to it.  I thanked them and quickly took off.  Luckily traffic wasn't that bad and I was able to get across and back to the street pretty quickly.  Back at the turn, the officer waved my through pretty quickly and I explained to the volunteers who were looking at me weirdly what I had done.  There were quick to say nice and encouraging things to me and I was off my bike and into T2.  Dr. Allen was johnny on the spot in T2 in helping me move bikes out of my way so I could rack my bike and get on to the run.  I was so upset!  I couldn't believe that I had done that, but I knew that I would just have to shake it off and just go out there and run. 

Run:  55:16 (6.4 miles)

While I was on the bike I had told myself that I would be happy if I could maintain a pace of high 9's for the first three miles and then see if I could hold high 8's for the last three miles.  Now I just wanted to run as fast as I could to try to make up that 6 minutes I lost on the bike.  I'm sure I had tons of adrenaline running through my system as I took off on the that first mile.  I quickly came up on people who I knew were behind me on the bike and every time I saw one of them my stomach just turned in disgust.  I had worked so hard on the bike to get a lead over them and I had blown it!  I came up to a friend of mine and she wished my luck on the run as I quickly recapped my error to her.  She told me to run and I did.  I hit the first mile with an 8.12 pace.  Whoa - yup adrenaline!  I was able to forget about the bike and focus on the run and I felt really good on the run.  I knew if I had a good run I would still probably be able to meet my goal of going sub 3 hours even with my detour.  I pushed myself and ran as fast as I think I was capable of that day.  I am amazed by my progress on the run.  I remember last season when I would struggle to get out of the 10 min/mi pace.  It feels so awesome to be able to run strong after swimming and biking.  

Total:  2:57:52 

Overall, I am very happy with this race.  I know that anything can happen on race day and I just have to take everything in stride.  That's the great thing about this sport.  You learn something every time you go out there and toe the line.  Whether you have a great day or a bad day, there is always something to take away from it.  And having so many friends out there, either racing or showing their support, is so great.  It makes the day so much more fun to get to share it with them.  

The race is still fresh enough that I can't think about my "learning experience" (I'm not calling it a mistake anymore) without experiencing a gut wrenching feeling, because I really think my time would have been closer to 2:51 or 2:52 and that would have put me 4th in my AG instead of 7th.  Not that I'm not ecstatic to be in the top 10 of my AG, but just knowing what could have been is still too fresh in my mind.                      

Augusto 10k race report

This race happened they way it usually happens for me - spur of the moment!  As my friends and I were texting each other back and forth about our weekend training plans, Kris said that she was doing an 18k race for work - which worked for her because she had an 11 mile run on her plan anyway.  Quickly, Aixa signed up for the race as well since she too had to run 11 miles.  I told them that I would head out in that direction, but I only had an hour run so I would see them on the course and hang with them afterwards.  I was quickly informed that there was a 10k option to sign up for as well.  So, no wanting to be left out, I signed up for it.  I immediately starting having thoughts about how well I could do at this race.  It's a smaller race so I wasn't sure who exactly would show up.  After my run at Small Texan, I've been feeling a bit more confident on my runs and I was thinking that I might be able to place in my age group.

Never ones to miss out on a matchy-matchy opportunity!

So Sunday morning comes and I get to the race and I'm looking around at all the other races.  Most seem to be wearing the 18k bibs but I see quite a few 10k bibs and I immediately think to myself that they all look like faster runners than me but maybe they are not in my age group (but of course I assumed they all were).  And then I see HER....a girl who will remain nameless but one that I know has aged up into my age group and who is fast.  I decide to line myself up behind her and see how long I can hang or keep her in my sights. 

The countdown begins and we take off.  This is only my second 10k run that I've raced so I'm still unsure of how fast I should go out.  I know I can't go out as hot as I can in a 5k because I'm not sure I can maintain that pace.  So I keep my "mark" in my sights and I'm running at a pretty good clip.  The first mile is all downhill so you're able to go pretty fast.  My "mark" begins to play with her watch and slows down.  I begin to freak out. Do I slow down and stay behind her?  Do I pass her and try to hold her off?  I really didn't want to be the one being chased; I wanted to be the chaser.  I decide I don't want to loose too much time so I pass her.  I hear her jump onto my heels.  Ugh!  Then she passes me up again and I breath a sigh of relief.  Okay - back to plan A:  Keep her in your sights. 

I'm passing lots of runners and feeling comfortable as the miles start ticking off my Garmin.  I'm finding it easy to keep my "mark" in my sights and I'm beginning to think about my strategy for the way back.  I come up to another girl who's running a good pace.  I pass her for a few minutes and then she passes me back up with a speed that I can't hang with so I let her go.  But she's another girl that I decide to keep in my sights.  Right before the turn around I get passed by one female who I had not seen before.  She's running fast and quickly starts picking off my two "marks".  Hmmmm, okay then.  As I approach the turn around I get to count how many females are ahead of me; two girls are super far ahead me, the girl who came from behind and passed me is in third, and then my two "marks" are fourth and fifth.  That makes me sixth female!  I hit the turn around and I'm feeling good.  The legs are turning over quickly and my breathing is labored by I'm not out of breath by any means.  My pace has been in the 8's and I'm thinking to myself that I can hold this pace.  As I get to mile 4 I realize that I'm catching up to my "marks".  I'm right one their heels.  Now is the time for me to make my decision.  Do I pass now with 2 miles left or stay behind them and wait until I'm closer to the finish?

I know that last mile is one hell of an uphill and I decide to risk it.  I pick up my pace and pass one of the girls and then I pass the other one.  I hear them breathing behind me and not letting up; they are staying on my heels.  Mile 5 beeps on my watch.  I know there's only 1.2 miles left.  I take a quick swig of my hydration from my handheld (best decision ever by the way to take it with me!) and dig in for the uphill.  I know if I can just maintain my pace maybe I can hold them off.  I'm too scared to look behind me so I just keep putting one foot in front of the other and run.  I finally get to the top and the terrain evens out.  There's a sharp 90-degree turn and I finally risk a glance behind me - No one's there!!  I can't believe it!  I let a little "whoop!" out and pick up the pace.  Of course, this is the place where my foot finds the one hole in asphalt and my ankle turns a little.  I quickly recover and shake my head.  Focus Orissa!!  As my watch beeps for mile 6, I decide to take another peek over my shoulder.  Crap - green shirt girl is there!  I put the pedal to the metal and sprint to the finish that I now can see.  I cross over the line and I stop my watch - 52 min and change!  A 10k PR!!!  I am ecstatic with my run.  The girl in the green shirt comes over to me and we congratulate each other for a good race.  She ended up getting 1st place in her age group and I ended up getting 2nd in my age group!   

This turned out to be a very fun race and I'm extremely happy with my result.  Next up for me is the Kerrville Intermediate Distance triathlon.  I'm hoping my running improvements carry over into triathlons!!  Stay tuned..... :)