45 Minutes Mostly Running

The weather was beautiful again this morning, however it felt really hot after I had been running for 30 minutes. My total workout was for 45 minutes with a 5 minute warm-up and a 10 minute cool down. I ran for 30 seconds to a minute at a time with one a minute walk in between. It felt really good.

35 minutes Mostly Running

This morning the weather was terrific. After warming up for 5 minutes, I ran and walked for the next 25, the cooled down for the last 5. It felt really good and I'm excited at the prospect of running the Half Marathon in Seabrook on March 19th.

Conoco Phillips Rodeo Run 10K

My fear of running in the rain is over. It began raining as soon as the race started, and then it really poured by mile one. There were a lot of spectators at the beginning, waiting for the Rodeo Parade, but they ran for cover once the rain reared its ugly head. I ran/walked this race and although I didn't do as well as I did at the 5 miler back in November, I had my best time since then, a 13.41 minute mile. I hit the 5K mark at 41.17 minutes, which was also a PR (personal record).
At mile 5 I had a conversation with a lady named Robbie from the Oak Forest area. As we were finishing the race together, along came Jannelle. We all ran it in together.

Robbie, Jannelle and Me

Today I discovered it wasn't so bad running in the rain, even with the temperature in the mid 50's. So now I have been through just above every conceivable weather situation and I have discovered that you just have to adapt and carry on.

Back on Track

It took me a little longer to recover from Sunday's race. Although I had a wonderful massage on Monday, I think the difference was that I wasn't able to take an ice bath within a few hours of completing the Austin marathon as I had done for Houston.

I waited until Wednesday to restart my training, walking a leisurely 30 minutes and then 45 minutes yesterday. I plan to use the Conoco Phillips Rodeo Run as my 6 miler, tomorrow.

Why am I still training? I've decided to complete the Texas Challenge put on by "Love the Half". It requires that you complete 6 races of 25K or more in Texas between October 1, 2005 and May 31, 2006. I already have 4 races that count, so I've signed up to do the half marathon in Seabrook on March 19, and will do the Big D Texas Marathon on April 2 (not sure if it will be the half or full - you get 4.5 hours to finish the half and 6.5 to finish the full).

Austin Freescale Marathon - Not Your Average Weekend

Me and Bob Before Race

Where do I begin? Yesterday (Saturday), Saul, Gray Bob and I arrived in Austin around noon-time and went to the Convention Center to pick up our race packets. We checked into our hotels, Bob at the Hampton Inn at I-35 and 183 and Saul and I at the Hilton Garden Suites about 5 miles North. Bob visited with some friends that evening and Saul and I met Jacque and her husband, Mike at the Official Pasta Dinner to hear Running Guru Jeff Galloway speak.

This morning I woke up about 3am with a really bad headache. I took some Excedrin and when I woke up again at 4am it was gone, but I had an extremely upset stomach.

At around 5am I went out the side door of the hotel to put some things in the car and promptly slipped on the ice and went sliding down to the ground. Everything was covered with ice, including my car. After warming up the car for 10 minutes and finally getting the ice off the windshields, Saul and I headed to Bob's hotel taking 183 South. As I came over a hill on the freeway, I saw flares, two Police cars and two cars turned the wrong way on the freeway. As I began to brake, the car went into a skid and the brakes would not work. Talk about seeing your life flash in front of you! When the car finally stopped, it was about 2 feet from the embankment and about 5 feet from one of the police cars. It turned out that the police car had rammed into one of the cars that had skidded. The officer told me to try to navigate around the cars and try to get off the freeway. Just as I started to move, a car coming up from the rear lost control and crashed into a car behind me. Within seconds we heard the pop, pop, pop of multiple car crashes, but luckily got away unscathed from what quickly became an 8 car pile-up.

The stress of that situation and the strobes from the police cars triggered my earlier headache and it rapidly became a migraine, the only one I have had since July. We picked Bob up at his hotel and proceeded to the start line which was at the Freescale Facility at Parmer and Anderson Mill. The traffic was unbelievably backed up because of the weather. There were thousands of cars and shuttle buses trying to get to the facility. We somehow managed to make it to the parking lot a little past 7am, after finding out from a police officer that the race start had luckily been delayed until 7:30am.

We barely made it out of the car to the the potty line and out in time to get in line for the start. I was bundled up with tights, shorts, 2 long sleeved shirts, a thin jacket, my FBF singlet on top and then covered with my trusty Wal Mart raincoat. On my head I had a headband/ear muff and hat, and a scarf, plus the hood of my raincoat. Along with my gloves I was able to stay pretty warm.

Me All Bundled Up

We were at the back of the pack and didn't cross the start line until about 10 minutes or so after the gun start. Bob and I started out together, walking and running, but by mile one I told him to go on without me. The throbbing in my head was really bad and the running made it worse. My headache remedy hadn't kicked in yet, so I resigned myself to walking on my own. The course was strewn with a lot of really nice clothes that had been discarded and a few runners "went shopping" and picked up some items.

The Back of The Start Line

The first 19 miles of the course were mostly downhill with some gradual sloping uphill. At mile 10 (the same marker where Judy fell in the Houston race), I saw an elderly lady slip on a sidewalk and take a fall. I rushed over to help her and slipped, too. She was staying in the hotel that was at the upcoming curve and had decided to go for a walk. I held on to her and helped her walk very slowly to her hotel. That added about 15 minutes to my time, but the good Samaritan in me was glad that I was able to help her. Shortly after that I hooked up with two ladies who were doing the Half Marathon and walked and chatted with them for the next 3 miles. One of the ladies was from Austin and the other from Boston.

Early in the Race

Once they reached the Half Marathon cut-off I was on my own again. The next 13.1 miles were pretty uneventful except for the cold and wind and the gravel mix that kept flying into my shoes. Around mile 19, the hills started getting steeper. There were 2 substantial hills towards the end, one downtown and the other around mile 24.

Just after mile 24 I saw Terrell who was on the course looking for her husband, Coach Randy. Jacque called me right after I ran into Terrell and told me that she and Mike were walking towards me from mile 26 and would meet me and walk me in. Whe hooked up at mile 25 and I really enjoyed their company. It made that last mile so much easier. Saul was waiting for me at mile 26 and took my things so that I could look semi-decent for my finish line photo. The clock time showed 7:24:56, and for some reason my chip time, which should have been at least 8 to 10 minutes better, has not shown up on the results report. The finisher's medal is really cool. I haven't really looked at the finisher's shirt yet (they had run out of the smaller sizes and only had xtra large). When I got to the food tent, they had already closed down, so we stopped at I-Hop, had breakfast and headed home.

Approaching the Finish Line (Jacque and Mike in the Background)

With my second Marathon under my belt, I think it can only go uphill from here.

Another 30 minutes With 3 Days to Go

Today's walk was another light 30 minutes. Tomorrow will be 20 minutes and that will be it until Sunday - Marathon in Austin. I've mentioned before that the anticipation I am feeling is very different than how I felt before the Houston Marathon. Houston was my first Marathon and I was entering an unknown zone. And although Austin will be totally different because it will be a one way, downhill course,in a somewhat unfamiliar city ,I know that I am capable of walking 26.2 miles. I am apprehensive about the race because of the rain factor. Being wet ( and cold) for 6 or 7 hours does not thrill me, but who knows, maybe it will speed me up.

A number of Fort Bend Fit members will be in Austin for the race. We plan to meet somewhere at the start line for a "Hoo Yah" before the race. It will be nice to see some familiar faces there.

30 Minutes with just 5 Days to Go

Staying in step with my training during the week before the Houston Marathon, I walked for only 30 minutes today. The weather report for Austin now looks like the chance of rain is holding at 30%, with a high predicted to be only 47. I can handle the cold, but I hope it doesn't rain.

The Taper Continues

It's just 6 days until Austin. This week's training is very light. Just a 45 minute walk today. Although I am excited about the upcoming Marathon, it's a whole different type of anticipation.

6 miles in the Wind

I had early commitments this morning, so I didn't get to go out until this afternoon. It was cold, sunny and very windy. I got quite a workout. I've been watching the weather forecast for Austin. There's a 60% chance of rain, with temperatures starting out in the 40's and rising to the 60's. I hope my worst fears for Houston won't be realized in Austin. I am visualizing clear sunny skies and moderate temperatures. We'll see what happens.

Houston Food Bank Appreciation Lunch

Today the Houston Food Bank held an appreciation luncheon, courtesy of Gringo's on Gulf Freeway, to thank those of us who participated in the Run for A Reason campaign. I received a nice Asics bag full of goodies for being the number 5 fundraiser, with a total of $1721 raised.

Bryana presenting me with the Asics bag

10-30-10

It's been getting harder and harder to get out in the early morning, but I am determined to fit my training in no matter what. Although I didn't get out today until the late afternoon, the weather couldn't have been better. I did my 10 minute warm-up and cool down with a vigorous 30 minutes in-between.

It's just 11 days until Austin and I haven't really gotten in the hill training that I'd like to. We'll see what this weekend's long walk will have in store.

45 5x2:00 With Some Hills?

I went in search of hills today. Not an easy task in the flatlands of Sugar Land. After a 10 minute warm-up I started doing 2 minute intervals of intense walking as I approached the levee near Clements High School. From afar the sloped embankments look smooth and level, but once upon them they are full of ruts and high grass. As I made my way around, over and down the uneven terrain, I found a concreted area that has a reasonable slope. I walked back and forth on it for about 5 minutes and then made it over to what looked like a hill on the Clements field. I thought it might be like the hill at Kempner, but it turned out to be a huge mound of dirt with weeds grown over it. I tried going up and down in for a while, and then just gave up and walked home. I guess it's either back to the parking garage or the dreaded treadmill for my hill simulation.

Back on Schedule with a 45 Minute Walk

The weather was great once again. Sunny skies and a big breeze made the 45 minute walk pretty nice. It's interesting how much less pressure I feel about the Austin Marathon. Even though it will be hilly, the facts that I have 8 hours to finish and don't need to leave in the middle of the night are comforting. And of course, since I have completed my first marathon, it's a different kind of anticipation.

I'm seriously thinking about signing up for a challenge called "Love the Half."
Love the Half Texas Challenge . The Texas Challenge which runs between October 1, 2005 and May 31, 2006 requires that you complete 6 races of 25K distance or greater within that time frame. I already have 3 races under my belt and Austin will be number 4. The sign-up deadline is March 31, so I still have time to decide.

6 Miles

It seemed a bit odd skipping Saturday morning and walking by myself on Sunday, but I did it and it was fine. The weather was great - hi 40's to mid 50's. I walked the route I had mapped out using a great internet tool Make Your Own Map . You can plot out a route before hand or track how far you went after the fact. It has a cool feature that lets you create a "there and back" route, so if you want to do 5 miles, you can plot out 2.5 miles and the "there and back" route will complete it as five miles. Email me if you need help with it.

10-30-10

I wasn't able to fit in my walk yesterday, so I did it this morning. After 10 minutes of warming up, I walked briskly for 30, then cooled down for the last 10. I had forgotten what a pain it is to walk in the neighborhood on trash day Friday!

I'm debating about whether or not to do my long walk on Saturday or Sunday. Earlier in the week I decided that I didn't want to do 6 at 6 this weekend. Since Kathy is out of town, I don't have anyone in my speed group to walk with. If I'm going to walk alone, I'd rather stay close to home and leave a bit later. I mapped out a 6 mile route and will see how things go in the morning.