Koala Wellness & Lukes Locker Houston Half

Today was the Half Marathon. The weather could not have been better. It was a little chilly early on, but once the sun came out, it was perfect. Bob and I started out together, but around mile six I slowed down and he took off. I spent some of my time with Shelley, as she breezed by and walked it in with Jannelle and Kathryn. Today was difficult for me-partially because of having dieted for the past 2 weeks, plus. But I finished, and although my time was 3:23.38, I spent time with friends and got my medal and finishers' shirt.
I'm happy!

Bob,me,Shelley,Mike,Jacque,Kathryn,Nedra,Susan & Corrine

Me and Bob Finishing the First Loop

20 Minutes Nice and Slow

Tomorrow is the Houston Half, part of the warm-up series for the Houston Marathon. It's funny that so many of us who are doing the Half on January 13th, are doing this race. It's like a rehearsal. I had a massage yesterday and hadn't realized that there were so many kinks that needed fixing. Today I just walked a leisurely 20 minutes to keep my joints moving. The weather should be terrific tomorrow.
I went back on the elimination diet on the 15th, having gained about 20 pounds and feeling miserable. I felt like I was going to have to rename this blog "From Fat to Flab." But thankfully,as of this morning, I had lost the entire weight gain. I did eat some carbs yesterday and my standard hamburger before race day. Hopefully, I will have enough energy to finish in a reasonable time.

50 Minutes of Hills

Bob and I did hills tonight. We walked mostly, but ran the straights for about half the time. The Koala Half Marathon is this weekend and we want to be ready.

40 Minutes

I did my walk before the cold front came in. It was in the 80's and very humid. By the time I got in and dressed, the rains came and within an hour the temperature had dropped into the low 60's.

9.25 Miles

Today, Bob and I left at 5:00am. The schedule was for 8 miles, but we wound up doing 9.25 miles. As we were going down Lexington, we decided to detour into the park in order to avoid the uneven pavement. It was still pitch black out and very hard to see the ground. The park was a much better bet, even though it added 1.25 miles to the route. Since the Houston Half is next weekend, it was good for me to get the higher mileage in.

When everyone from FBF regrouped at Velocity, we all congratulated "Old Head Coach" Bob (OHC), a long standing member of the group who just finished the Kona Ironman in Hawaii. What a great accomplishment.

Bob Congratulating OHC Bob

Shelley, Corinne and Jacque After their Walk

35 Minutes in Fall Weather

I dressed for summer - sleeveless top and shorts and was pleasantly surprised when I got outside.Greeted by temperatures in the high 50's, I was chilled for all of 3 minutes. It didn't take long to adjust to the absolutely wonderful weather. The weather report shows a replay for tomorrow's long run with FBF.

30 Minutes

This morining I walked in the neighborhood for 30 minutes. I had to navigate around the landscapers who were laying spreading fertilizer. Not a fun time.

5ish Miles Mostly in the Dark

I tried to get my long run in this morning. I got up extra early and walked in the neighborhood for about 1.5 hours. Either my pace has slowed, or the web site I use to calculate my mileage is off, but the bottom line is it appears that I only did about 5 miles. It was dark for most of the time I was out, and of course it's harder to see sidewalk ledges and hanging spider webs. Needless to say this is not my favorite time to train. The weather was pleasant though!

4 Miles By Myself

I had to be at a 9:00am meting in town, so I couldn't join FBF this morning. I decided to do what I could this morning, so I left the house at 6:15am. The weather was spectacular! I ran into the FBF pack on Sweetwater headed the opposite direction. I did the loop and back, thinking I had done more, put it only calculated out to 4 miles. Tomorrow, Bob and I are volunteering at TRI ANDY's TRI, so I won't be able to get any more mileage in until later in the day.

35 Minutes in Fall-like Weather

The weather was great today, hi 60's to mid 70's. I wasn't able to get out until close to lunch time, but the temperature was still comfortable. I walked quickly for 35 minutes. I'm stil ltrying to figure out how I'm going to get my long run in this weekend.

50 Minutes of Hills

Bob and I did 50 minutes of hills tonight. The crowd was light and everyone seemed to be having a bit of a hard time because of the humidity. . I started back on the elimination diet yesterday, which is very low on carbs. My energy level was pretty low.

Komen No Show

I woke up this morning at 6:00am and felt really tired. It didn't take me very long to decide to go back to bed. This was the first time I had not shown up to a race for which I had registered. I think the fact that I was going solo since Bob was out of town (forget about the other 27,000 people who were going to be there) made it a little too easy for me to blow it off. Stan had offered to drive in with me, but he didn't protest when I told him we were staying home. I got up around 8:00am and did a little over 5 miles, walking to my mother's house and back.

30 Minutes at Dusk

It was almost sun down when I got out tonight. The sky was beatiful, but I was fearful of mosquitoes. I loaded myself up with bug spray and managed to keep them away. I did intermittent intervals of running, just to remind my body that it still could. Saturday is the Komen race. Bob's out of town, so I'm going solo.

50 Minutes of Hills

Bob and I did hills tonight at the parking garage. Only about 10 people showed up, a much lighter turn-out than at the beginning of the season. My legs let me know that I has missed last week's training. The weather was a little cooler tonight, so I didn't work up to big of a sweat.
The Houston Marathon Sold out on September 29th. Unbelievable. A lot of people did not get in.

8.5 Miles This Morning

It was storming very badly by the time I was ready to venture out yesterday, so I had to pass on my long walk. I was totally stressed and really missed the exercise. I did get up early this morning and managed 8.5 miles. It was foggy and hot, but I perservered! I'm planning on doing hills tomorrow.