Park to Park 5 Mile Race!

Although I didn't run very much this week (eekk, I know, but moving stresses and packing have kind of taken over...), I felt like I ran a great 5 miler. This is the first time I have ever raced this distance, so it was a distance PR for me:)

This was a fabulous course, flat, not too many turns...my right knee was a little sore at about 3 miles in...I think I might be due for a new pair of shoes?! Overall, I felt great except the last 100 yards (started sprinting too early) and came in 7th in my age group! I enjoyed this last race here in Houston (for a while) and the company of my friends as we all enjoyed cold beers and delicious breakfast tacos until we finally had to go home...

I'm gonna miss you guys and gals!!!!!!!!!!

The STATS:
5 miles
40:04
ave. 8:00/mile
Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: nice and overcast!

Week of 2/18-2/24 Workouts!

2/20/08: My last 5 Miles with the Striders! :(
total running: 44:35
Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: cool
Tonight was my 'last run' with my dear Striders. I will certainly miss everybody. I wasn't sad, per se, but I felt sentimental knowing I might not run on these streets again for a long while...thanks to all that came out, you guys are my second family....


2/23/08: Park to Park 5 Miler (see race report in seperate entry!)

2/17/08: Suprise Last-Minute Austin
Half-Marathon-- 1:56:23!

Call me crazy, but this morning, with only about 24 hours notice and a pair of old (and I stress-OLD, running shoes), I ran the Austin Half Marathon! And if that's not crazy enough, (the cat is out of the bag now)...

I'm moving to Austin in two weeks!

more soon...

------

So this whole entire week I have mentioned to my running buddies 'oh I wish that I was running Austin this weekend!' Add in the fact that I WAS in Austin on Friday securing housing for my upcoming move to Austin (in two weeks due to a new and exciting job opportunity!). My mind was set:

I HAD TO RUN!

The problem is the race sold out two weeks ago. I just needed a bib. And sure enough, *watch what you ask for,* a bib landed in my lap due to Strider Terry's quick hawkeye and a generous Houstonian, Tim Allen. Tim cut me a deal for a FREE Austin Marathon bib-simply donate to his TnT page if I felt inclined and get to run for his son Andy.

So today, I actually ran for a cause.

It was one of the most humbling things I have ever done. Granted, I was not in shape to run the entire marathon. Or really even the half marathon to be honest with you. (The lack of posting on here should have made that apparent). But I ran the Half anyways. How could I possibly turn down the opportunity to run for someone other then myself?!

Thanks to the help of Coach Steeeeeeeve for logistical planning, Strider Marianne for picking up my packet and Jon Walk for motivation, I took this challange of running and had a great time. Sure the course was tough (but--DOABLE!). The hills were everywhere. On the plus side, the last mile is a downhill to the finish line. On the negative side, I strongly dislike powerade, the water stations were chaotic and personally, I like Houston better:)

But-that's OKAY! Today was about celebrating life. Celebrating Andy's life and his fight to beat Leukemia. Celebrating the fact I am in the best shape of my life and I am physically able to just 'jump out of bed' and run 13.1 miles. And almost PR. Celebrate the fact I am moving to a cool city like Austin where *everyone* runs and I truly already feel at home.

Today was one of the best days of my running career and for so many reasons other then 'just running.' Thanks to all that were able to share in it.

The Stats:

Watch time: 1:55:30 (did not get official finishing time due to not crossing Marathon finish line)
Pace: 8:49/mile

Splits:1-2) 18:52. Did not see Mile 1 marker.

3) 8:51. Passed right in front of my new place I will be living in:)

4-5) 18:01. Missed Mile 4 marker.

6) 7:38

7) 8:42 I started hurting here.

8) 9:12 Ohhh and I haven't even hit the last hills yet!

9) 8:55

10) 9:06

11) 9:23 The Enfield hill!!!!! I didn't walk it though!

12) 8:09

13-13.1) 9:29 almost all downhill! Nice way to finish!

PS: Thanks to Jon Walk for pointing out I did get an official time...although this was my first 'DNF' ever in a race due to the fact I didn't complete the entire marathon Type in the name Tim Allen to see :)

VISUAL PROOF!!!!!

Week of 2/11-2/17 Workouts!



2/13/08: 6 Miles Around Neighborhood!

total running: 53:16

ave 8:52/mile

Heart-rate: n/a

Weather: cool



Notes: This will probably be my only run this week...going out of town for work the nest few days...we shall see if I get in any runs there...



2/17/08: AT&T Austin Half Marathon! See race report in seperate entry!

30 Miles of Cycling-the West U Warmup Ride Report!

Kind of on a whim, and kind of 'to get me on my bike more,' I challanged myself to get prepared for for a 30 mile bike ride. Unfortunetly, I never really got 'prepared enough,' and only ended up riding a few times before this ride. Oops. I knew my tush would be feeling it after this ride.

So Strider Wil and I drove out to the South Houston area (near 288 and the Beltway) to get in a nice 30 mile ride. We saw a few of our Houston Racing friends there, and then got underway after I had my pedal tension adjusted and then fell off my bike (lol). Luckily, there were no damages other then a slighty bruised ego!

Overall, the ride went fine and the roads were pretty smooth. We only stopped once around mile 20 to get a snack and continued on. Wil was feeling better then me so I let him take off and I suffered through the last 5 miles or so alone. I do need to get on my bike more, no way around that. We passed on breakfast and headed home after a great morning of cycling.

The STATS:
30 miles
a little over 2 hours
ave. 16.5 mph
Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: breezy and overcast. great weather!

Week of 2/4-2/10 Workouts!

2/4/08: 6 Miles Around Neighborhood!
total running: 52:55
ave 8:49/mile
Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: cool
Notes: I felt really good tonight so I pushed this 'casual run' into a tempo run and enjoyed the entire thing:)

2/6/08: 6 Miles Around with the Striders!!
total running: 53:32
ave 8:55/mile
Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: cool
Notes: I didn't quite have the same spring in my legs that I had on Monday, so I took this run a little easier. It was a great chance to have a chat with Coach Stevvvvvvve and we ran the middle two miles as a tempo run. Then the last mile, we put the hammer down. I am sure I was somewhere in the 7:30 range...that was fun AND hard:)

2/8/08: 3 Easy Miles Around the 'Hood.
total running: 30 mins
Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: cool
Notes: Ran easy tonight, but felt totally recoved from my run on Wednesday with the guys.

2/9/08: 1o Miles on the BIKE!
total time: 37 minutes
ave 16.4 mph, max 20 mph
Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: cool
Notes: On a beautiful day like today, I HAD to get on the bike!!! Plus, I promised Strider Will that I would do a 30 mile bike ride with him tomorrow!!! EKKKK!! It was a great ride today though, at an 'easy pace' mainly to get use to the new saddle I just put on my bike (good call!)

2/10/08: 30 Miles of Cycling-the West U Warmup!!
See race report in seperate entry!

Week of 1/28-2/3 Workouts!

1/29/08: Speed workout-2x800! 4 total Miles.
total running: 20 min. wp, 1/2 mile cd
3:36, 3:41 (goal was 3:50-so yeah!)
Heart-rate: 160 av/211 max
Weather: cool
Notes: Not a whole lot of workouts this week, which kind of is a drag since I feel like I am recovering from the marathon nicely...Workout tonight was two simple 800m at 5k pace, so I was aiming for 3:50. I beat that, and I should have done at least 2 more repeats. Ah well, just getting back to speedwork, I need to take it easy...

1/30/08: 7 Miles at/around Memorial park/Jackson Hill/Rose Garden!
total running: 1:07
ave 9:34/mile
Heart-rate: 138 ave 183 max
Weather: cool
Notes: Strider Terry and I ran the first half of this run together, yapping our mouths off about cycling and triathlons and didn't even pay attention to WHERE we were going! We ended up running a bit extra and after he and I parted and Memorial and Shepard, I ran a little extra. It feel great to run 7 miles tonight...longest distance since Marathon.