Moe's Better Half Marathon Race Report

I tackled another half marathon the other weekend, and it was a great one. I decided to sign up for Moe’s Better Half Marathon when my friend Linda told me she was going to do it. It appealed to me for several reasons:

·         1.  Linda was doing it

·         2.  I’d never done it before and, as I was researching it, realized the RD was retiring so it would                be its last year; and

·         3.  It looked like a tough course.

I know what kind of numbers I can run on a mostly flat course, so attempting to go under 2 hours on a course that had hills was sort of daunting to me. Both times I had signed up to run in Austin, which has hills, I ended up injured. So, I realized that outside of half-ironman races, I hadn’t really done a stand-alone, hilly 13.1 miles.

Race morning came with overcast skies, cool-ish temps, but no heavy downpours! We met up with Linda race morning and did a quick packet pickup, which included some pretty nice swag.

Then it was time to race. This is probably one of the smallest races I’ve done, and it was weird to be able to see the beginning of the line of runners ahead of me instead of the typical mass of thousands of bodies. I quickly settled into a rhythm that I hoped I could maintain and was soon confronted with the “hills”. I just took my time going up the gradual, long climbs and tried to keep my turnover steady. It seemed to be working, and I noticed I was able to pass up groups of people and keep ahead of them.

I finally found my “group” and we spent a few miles playing tag with each other, taking turns taking the lead and falling back. We finally separated with about 3 or 4 miles left, and I knew this was the time I needed to buckle down and continue to make it hurt. Miles 10-12 were uphill back to the finish and I noticed my pace falling off a bit, but I had built up enough of a lead that even with the slight slowing down I was safe in my goal. Finish time of 1:57:36 and pace of 8:57!

I met Moe after the race, and he is a super cool dude. I’m only sad that I didn’t know about this race sooner. I think I heard another RD is going to be taking over this race in the future so, hopefully, us runners will be able to continue to have a challenging course to play on.  

Run Houston!

My first race of 2017 is in the books! It wasn't a PR, but I was able to make my goal of running another half marathon in under 2 hrs happen. This one was a nail-biter because I had to make a pit stop at mile 4, so I felt like I was racing the clock to make it in under the 2-hour mark.

Meb, me, and BL

This year we stayed at a hotel about a mile and a half from the race. We found out when we checked in that they were providing a courtesy shuttle to the start line race morning. Bonus!!! That made figuring out race morning so much better. Just get up and go. Of course, I still under estimated how much time we needed and we missed the gates for corral A by 5 minutes and barely made it into corral B before they closed those gates. Note to self: Next year, get yo' ass out of bed and get to the race!

Brian and I managed to make our way almost all the way to the front of corral B when they started herding us out toward the start. My search for fellow racer and fab friendy, Linda, began as we passed the other corrals. I knew she was probably gonna be up in the front of her corral and, sure enough, I saw her as we passed by it. We got her attention and were able to send well wishes to each other from afar.

Then we were crossing the start line and it was off we go! The first couple of miles clicked off no problem. I was holding a pace that I was happy with but no where near my goal of 8.10. A little mind adjustment took place as I realized that going under 1:50 wasn't going to happen today. I told myself to just push and get in under 2. Then disaster as I approach mile 4 and my stomach starts talking to me. I started casting about desperately for the port-o-pots but didn't see any in sight. It seemed like they were on every corner the first few miles and now they were no where in sight! Plus, every sign I read seemed to reference poop. Please people I'm trying not to think about that right now! Lol. Finally, the green glow of the port-o-pots come into to view and I make a beeline for them. My watch was on auto pause so when I started back up I estimated my break to be about 2 minutes.

The next few miles pass uneventfully and I'm enjoying myself and thinking how happy I am not to be running the full marathon because it was so hot. Around mile 8 I notice myself falling off pace. I've dropped to the low 9's and my head feels kinds of tingly. Not sure if it was nutrition or the heat but I cooled off at the next water station and got some calories in and started to feel better. I run easy for a couple more miles and start to pick up the pace again at mile 11.

I finally get back to downtown Houston and can hear the crowds and the announcers and dig deep to the finish. Every finish line is an awesome experience. It doesn't matter how many times I've done this distance or how my finish time is not what I wanted it to be; every race I do feels like a privilege, and I'm so happy that I'm able to participate in these races. The work I did to put myself in this position gives me a great sense of accomplishment and I'm grateful I've got a wonderful support system. BRING ON THE NEXT ONE!!!

Happy finishers!

                                   
A huge thanks to Linda and her friend for the wonderful pre-race evening relaxing at her house and for the ride back to our hotel after the race!

Happy finishers!

The Race That Wasn’t…SA RnR 2016

At the end of September, after my last tri, I’ve been really focusing on my run training because I was supposed to be doing the full marathon in Houston in January. I was going to use the SA RnR 13.1 as a warm-up to see where I was. Then things changed and my friend I was gonna run the marathon with needed to defer her race. I was not full-heartedly committed to running the marathon in the first place, so when I got this news, I quickly changed my goal from the full in Houston to the half. Now the goal is to see if I can get a PR for my 13.1.

Quick snap at the expo

Such high hopes I was gonna be able to run.

I was excited to see the new course for SA since it was a supposedly flatter, faster course. Alas, the weekend before the race I felt the dreaded nasal pressure and lethargy setting in. I was getting sick. I tried my best to talk my body out of it and starting downing the liquids and eating all the food to try to kick it out of my system, but no such luck. Luckily, in the grand scheme of things, it was a relatively minor head cold and by Saturday I was actually feeling pretty good and was looking forward to running on Sunday. I went to packet pick-up and did a quick walk through of the expo, all the while trying to stay positive that the rain that had been lingering around would miraculously stop for race morning.

Race morning came bright and early and I looked at the radar and what I saw was not encouraging. It looked like it was going to start to rain right when the race was supposed to begin. I was feeling great and I knew I would be able to run, but did I want to risk making myself having a relapse or getting sicker when Houston was only 6 weeks out? After much debate with Brian in our warm, comfy bed, I decided to call it. I texted Aixa and told her we were out – she didn’t provide much resistance since she was not fond of the wet weather either. I then texted my coach and told her I was out and wished her good luck and promptly went back to bed!

So, that’s my race that didn’t happen. I’m bummed I missed out but I’m now looking forward to Houston in January! 

Kerrville Tri - 2016

This race is a staple on my race calendar. I've done it every year since 2011 and I really love it. This year was even more fun with Kris and Linda racing! It always seems like there's a threat of bad weather this weekend and this year was no exception. But instead of getting lucky like we normally do we had to deal with scattered rain showers pretty much throughout the whole race.

Also, this was the first year it was NOT wetsuit legal! That didn't really bother me since I really hate swimming in my wetsuit and I actually felt pretty strong during my swim and I ended up having the exact same swim time from last year when I wore my wetsuit. Go figure!

The drizzles started as I headed out on the bike so I knew this might affect my plan of going balls out on the bike. My goal was to try to match or beat my time from last year. I took the corners slow and safe and tried to hammer the straightaways and hope for the best. I stayed upright but I was 6 mins slower, so my goal modified a bit as I headed out on the run.

I had messed up my timer on my watch so all it was showing me was a total running time but no splits or pace. So I had to just use the running time and the mile markers to gauge my pace on the run. My new goal turned into how far under 3 hrs can I finish this race. I knew my goal of hitting 2:45 was gone after losing those 6 mins on the bike. I was actually pretty impressed with myself that I was able to have such a good run just going by feel. My run was only 2 mins slower than last year but I still ran a 8.49 pace.

So overall I finished in 2:55, around 7  mins slower than the previous year. But I'm still extremely happy with my race and how mentally I stayed positive and present throughout. Another plus of doing the quarter distance race on this day was the downpour that hit the half iron man athletes on the run. They basically had to run through mini rivers! Kudos to all those who finished!

I really love a race that lights a fire in me and this race did that. Gotta work on my 2017 race calendar and see what we come up with!

Dam 09 Tri

Not much to say except sprints are hard but so much fun! Had a blast racing through Alamo Heights and stoked I was able to walk away with 3rd in my age group!

                           Swim

                            Bike

                              Run!

  Post race with my coach Brandi at Lulu

Racing again after forever!!!

I had an absolute blast at the NYC Triathlon! Where else can you swim in the Hudson, ride on a closed off Henry Hudson Parkway, and run through Central Park?

Swim – 1500m; 22:05 minutes (1:19/100yd) Hahahaha!

There’s a strong current in the point-to-point swim so I literally had my fastest swim time for the 1500 m I’ve ever had. This year the water was supposedly the cleanest it’s been in years (for which I’m grateful for) but I swear I hit two dead bodies and one possibly live one. There was a section of water that stank and I remember thinking to myself, “How can water stink?” LOL

After exiting the swim, there’s a long run back to transition and I will admit I am a wimp when it comes to running barefoot on anything that’s not carpeted or padded. I am proud to say that I did run/shuffle the whole back to my bike even though my T1 time is pathetically slow. And I’m sorry to the Elite racer I ran into as she was headed out for the run. My swim addled mind couldn’t figure out which way left was. 

Bike – 40k; 1:24:40 (17.6 mph) – Pretty conservative bike, but I think it saved my legs for the run.

I hopped on my bike and took off on the course, which I knew had a short, steep uphill right out of T1 and I was prepared for the people around me to stop. What I wasn’t prepared for was how bumpy and rutted it was. Luckily the folks around me all rode up the hill and we all maneuvered around the bumps without running into each other. This was a super fun bike course; completely closed off to traffic on the Henry Hudson Parkway. Slightly hilly on the way out, you get to ride through a toll booth and over a bridge. You’ve got some awesome descents where you can pick up the pace before you turn around and go up one slow, steady climb before it’s mostly downhill all the way back. One thing that surprised me by the riders in NYC - they either don’t know how or don’t like to descend. Every time we hit one, they would sit up and coast! I pulled over to the left and shouted “On your left” as I would pass groups of people just cruising. Crazy! Then of course I hit a bump pretty hard in the road and I was like, “Shit, I just passed all these people like a douche and I’m gonna be here on the side of the road with a flat.” Luckily, that didn’t happen and I was able to keep on riding.

After cruising back into the T2 I was feeling great and wondered how the run was going to feel. The temperature in NYC was very warm and the day before we had all been notified that the run had been cut down to 5.22 miles due to the heat. Of course, I was like this isn’t heat people – come race in Texas! But this race is really big (~4,000 racers) and there are two transition groups. I was lucky to be in the first one, as the second transition group takes off 20 minutes after the last wave in the first one. I image that they had to deal with the heat way more than I did.

Run – 5.22 miles 45:13 minutes (8.47 min/mi)

I had only done a few bricks since getting back into training from my hand injury and I was really curious to see how I would hold up. I told my coach that I wasn’t really trying to hit any certain numbers, I just wanted to see how racing felt. Surprisingly, the legs felt decent when I started the run and that gave me a huge boost of confidence. The run went down 72nd Street and it’s closed off and people are lined up along the barricades cheering for all the runners. It was super cool looking around at the tall buildings and seeing the landmarks in NYC and it just made me super excited to be there. Then we entered Central Park and I’m keeping a great pace and it was so hard to do because it was so easy to get distracted by seeing all the new stuff. A few times I told myself to look around and see the sights of running in Central Park! The course was pretty much open and it was neat to see how many other runners and bikers and roller bladers were in the park doing their normal weekend routine. My watch kept beeping off the miles and finally I’m down to one mile to go and I’m still feeling great. I had forgotten to look at my watch for the last two miles so I really have no idea what my pace is or how I’m doing but I’m having so much fun I don’t really care. Then I’m turning into the barricades towards the finish line! As I crossed the finish line and walked through the volunteers and other racers I couldn’t help but say out loud to the people next to me that I felt like I could have run that extra 1 mile. I don’t think everyone agreed with me but I was so happy to be feeling great!

Total time – 2:43:57 – Overall, I’m very happy with this time. I said I had wanted to be at 2:45 and even though the run was cut short, I would have only gone over a few minutes. That’s a win to me!

I found Brian and Aixa waiting for me by the food tables and we were all happy with our races and excited to talk about our adventures. I’m so happy I finally decided to listen to Aixa and do this race. It’s extremely well put on and super coordinated, especially for being in such a big city as NYC. It’s definitely one that I would love to do again one day and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants a fun race in a city that has tons to do!

World Trade Center Memorial

Brooklyn Bridge

Times Square and the New Year's Eve ball drop way up there

The Garden baby!

10 Weeks Later

Fun times hanging at Siclovia

I can't believe it's been 10 weeks since I broke my hand and fractured my wrist. Looking at that number sort of makes me sick and wistful at all the time I've been missing to make myself a better, stronger athlete. I know I have lost a lot of fitness and getting myself motivated to stick to a regular workout routine has been challenging. It's hard to do when the numbers you're used to seeing seem so far out of reach. My heart rate is sky high running at paces that used to be conversational but that's getting better when I consistently run. The pool has especially been hard to cope with because I know what I am capable of in the water and seeing my 100 m splits makes me what to crack my head against the pool wall. I'm getting in a decent 1000-1200 m and I even managed a 1600 m swim last week. My pull is very weak on the left side and I don't have a great catch position yet for my wrist but I'm working on it.  

Go Spurs Go!

While it has been nice to be carefree and footloose with my time, I'm ready to have workouts to look forward/dread to do. My wrist is my limiting factor right now because it's not completely weight bearing yet and still very tender when I try to ride my bike and put my weight on it and hit bumps in the road. I just want to be on the safe side and not eff it up by wrecking again. I'm doing all that I can to push through it because I have a race to train for:  NYC Tri! So I made the decision to get back on plan May 1. Even if all my bike rides have to be on my trainer or my mtb I'm getting to that start line.

I thought I was going to die on this run trying to keep up with Aixa

Luckenbach 5k - 2nd in AG (with hardly any training!)

First longish outdoor bike ride since the break! 8 1/2 miles...lol