Race Calendar+Goals+Pride

After the excitement of finishing my marathon season, it's been nice to take the pressure off myself a bit and just get back to enjoying running and thinking of future goals. There was a restlessness, however, that was eating at me and I knew I needed to get serious about picking out some races leading up to Boston 2019.

Since my half split times in both marathons were some of my fastest half marathons ever, I knew it would serve me well to focus more on that distance. Before these marathons, I hadn't run a sub-2 hour half since 2014, and my PR of 1:51:36 is now five years old. I have a big goal that I'm eyeing in Boston (provided, of course, that my 5:07 buffer is sufficient and I get in, and if the weather cooperates), and I'd like to get in some tune up races well before the buildup to Boston.

So I have picked two half marathons so far, both in Houston, but on two totally different courses. The Houston Half is on October 28 and is on a looped course through downtown and on Allen Parkway and Memorial Drive. It's a great section of Houston to run and I'm excited about it. It's easy to travel to Houston and it's on a Sunday so I don't have to disrupt our family schedule by having to travel on a Friday. It's not a huge race as far as big city races go (less than 4000 finishers in 2017). At first I was going to run a Shreveport half marathon that weekend, but it's on Saturday and a couple hours further away than Houston. Houston Half just seemed better logistically. Besides, it was only $50!

The second half I'm signed up for is Aramco Half, which coincides with Chevron Houston Marathon in January. I've run this race five times so far, four marathon distance and one half distance. Four out of five times the weather has been great so I'm hoping for that good luck to continue. I love this race for so many reasons. The organization can't be beat, it finishes at the convention center so you get to be inside after the race, the course is great, and the crowd support is the best I've experienced so far. The 2019 race will be my first race in my new 45-49 age group. It comes three months before Boston, so perfect timing to gauge my fitness and figure out where I need improvement before I build up for April 15. I'm hoping that my time qualifier is fast enough to get me in A corral (that's a big deal in a huge race like Houston)...but I think it will. Fingers crossed. This Houston race will really be a big goal race for me, provided the October race goes well and I can still see ways for further improvement.

I'm not sure how much I'm really going to talk about my specific marathon and half marathon time goals. I haven't told anyone beyond the husband what they are, and they frighten me a little. But if I learned anything from 2017 and my two marathons, is that I am perfectly capable of the hard work and discipline that is required for lofty goals, so why stick to the same when I have the potential to be even faster? But...to throw those goals out there into the open so early in the year? No, I'm not ready to do that just yet. My mind is going a million miles an hour strategizing the next several months and I'm looking forward to new challenges.

In March I'll be racing in the Texas Independence Relay for my 9th year in a row. It's been cut down from 200 miles to 180 miles this year, which means only three legs for me and not four, and probably a max of about 16 or 17 miles total for me to run. I committed to 8:15 pace and I'm nervous and excited all at the same time to see if I can maintain that kind of pace over my three relay legs. Two weeks after the relay is my first 10K road race in nearly 6 years. My goal is to shave 5 minutes off my PR. I have a relatively slow (for me) 10K PR since I have only raced a handful of times at that distance. The weather is a crapshoot in April in Texas, however, so I'll cross my fingers and hope it cooperates and I can suck it up enough to meet my "A" goal.

The hubs pointed out something funny this morning. Because I am planning to do Boston next year, that means that my thought of running Ironman Texas is on hold right now and he's so happy about that! Truth be told, so am I! While the idea of Ironman is not off the table at all, I'm so ill-prepared to start that kind of training. It's pretty much a relief to table that craziness for at least another year.

Now enough about me...I want to talk about my husband! He's running his first marathon in July, and a goal half marathon in April, and he has already been working his butt off. I wrote up a tough training plan for him, and he's flying through it in such an impressive way. He doesn't at all question the crazy things I make him do, even if they scare him, and he totally trusts the process each week. He tells me all the details about each run and how he felt so we can adjust if necessary, being mindful of doing too much too soon and risking injury. His dedication is off the charts awesome and if he's able to continue at this with the same determination, consistency, and commitment then he has a really big shot at qualifying for Boston at his marathon. He figures if he's going to go big, he may as well go REALLY big. He's seriously a coach's dream client. He just makes me damn proud!

After spending so many years training to "finish" marathons and never committing to my true ability, it feels so good to know that I am finally a good marathoner and have the ability to get even better. Crazy fast (for me) goals no longer scare me as much as they used to, although I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. But I know if I plug away one week and one run at a time, and track my progress, and adjust where I need to, and dial in my nutrition and racing weight like I did in 2017, I'm not totally crazy for wanting these new goals. I am so thrilled at the thought of crushing my goal in Boston next year!

200 miles.....and Confusion

Not really sure where to start.

So I ran my 8th Texas Independence Relay this weekend. I committed to four legs for over 19 miles, plus the 1.15 mile prologue.

It was probably a poor choice to commit to that many miles, but we had several runners that were not 100% and I felt like I didn't have any nagging issues that could prevent me from being a workhorse over the course of the relay.

Well....

I blew up. I did all the miles I said I was going to do, and I averaged 9:31 pace over my four legs. But it should have been much faster and much easier for me. My last two legs were the two slowest legs I have ever run in all eight years of this relay, at 9:49 and 10:20 pace. I'm so disappointed in myself and so confused as to what went wrong.

Two days later, my legs feel pretty good. Although I had a bit of IT band tightness in the late hours of the relay, and my quads were unusually sore going into my fourth leg, I have recovered well and my IT band is giving me zero issues right now. I am, however, very sick with a cold that started coming on Sunday night. I don't want to make the excuse that I was coming down with something and that's why I suddenly couldn't run well anymore. I suppose it's possible, but it still frustrates me.

I ate well. I hydrated very well. I rested better than I expected during our break overnight. I don't think I was particularly tired or cranky.

I just totally blew up.

I ran 8:53 pace and 9:06 pace for my first two legs, and while it wasn't particularly easy to hold those paces, I was steady and determined and not overtaxed despite the warm weather. I had high hopes for the my third leg, which was at 1:00am in much cooler weather. Usually my overnight leg is my strongest and with it being only 4.13 miles I thought I might be able to run about 8:45 pace. But as soon as I started running it felt hard. I thought I was running around 9-9:15 pace but when my first mile came through it was an even 10:00. I tried speeding up in the second mile and it came in at 9:38. No way should this leg have been feeling this difficult, but I simply could not run any faster without it being a huge struggle. My van mates cheered me on when they checked on me, and all I could think of to say was "I'm running 10 minute miles and I don't know why!" They thought that was hilarious....but no. No it was not.

I wasn't the only one to struggle overnight. The humidity was getting very bad as the night progressed, although I didn't really notice it so much on my leg. The other van was feeling the effects of the weather and the miles and a couple of them needed to drop their fourth leg. I really had no choice but to suck it up for my 5 miler into downtown Houston. My legs were getting so stiff and I was honestly worried about being able to finish strong. We needed absolutely every strong mile we could get in those last legs of the relay. I wanted to do well for my team.

It was pretty ugly. I started off as conservative as I could to loosen up, but even a slow pace was hard. As the other van passed me to check on me, I told them I was running 10:30 pace and wasn't sure I could make my legs go any faster. They cared less than I did and just cheered me on.

I have never had the urge to walk on a relay leg more than I did right then, but I pushed through and forced my legs to keep running. As I crossed the pedestrian bridges over the bayou and could glimpse the skyscrapers of downtown it felt like they were so far away, even though it was less than three miles. This leg was taking so long to get through! For the first four miles I averaged about 10:15 pace but my fifth mile I slowed down considerably to 10:45 pace. I couldn't really pick it up very much when I turned the corner for the last minute of the run down Smith Street to the exchange.

The best way to describe my last leg was that it was every bit as hard as the last five miles in a difficult marathon, and the way I felt after I finished that last leg was exactly like how I feel coming down the finish chute after a marathon. I was completely spent, totally sore, unable to breathe, and miserable.

Thinking back on it now, two days later, and I'm still pretty perplexed as to what happened. Is it obvious I'm totally disappointed in myself?

I need to shake this disappointment and move on. My team did pretty well for having so many people struggling with injury and training problems, with it being in the mid-80s and sunny during the afternoon runs, and with having to shuffle some of the legs around. We finished earlier than expected (barely!) and nobody was really hurt (at least not anymore than when we started!), and we had a great time. But I always want to be a workhorse (even if I'm the slowest workhorse).

Good God, I need to shut up.

However, at the end of the day, the Texas Independence Relay is still the best race of the year, even if it's the most exasperating. Lots of great moments. Lots of crazy moments. Lots of moments that fall under the category of "what happens on the relay stays on the relay."

Success and Looking Ahead

Thank you, baby Jesus, for a great relay last weekend. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

A short summary of the awesomeness....I committed to 9:30 pace and I actually ran 9:00 pace across my three legs and 14.61 miles. And it didn't feel like I was running any faster than 9:30 pace the entire time. And I didn't fall apart. And nothing hurt!! And I could've run another leg if my team had needed me.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS???

I am officially off of the injured list. I have rehabilitated successfully. I am well on my way to future awesomeness.

Of course, I still have to be smart and continue my strength training and make sure my body stays in balance, and I have to increase my mileage and speed slowly, and I can't be stupid about any of it.

BUT HOLY MOTHER OF FABULOUS!!

So what is one of the first things that I do? I register for another race, of course.

My husband (who hasn't run more than 6 miles at a time in forever) and I are going to run the Wildflower Trail Half Marathon on May 7 in Bastrop. I have wanted to do another trail race for quite awhile (I haven't done one since 2013). I also wanted to introduce my husband to the greatness of trail racing. Originally we were going to register for a 10K later on in May on a much more technical trail, but since I had such a great experience at the relay of course I had to aim much bigger than that. My poor husband. It's a good thing I'm much slower than him so adding so much distance onto what he's actually trained for won't really kill him.

I have also already written my training plan for my next marathon....NINE MONTHS AWAY. I decided since first, I had been injured, and second, it will be two years since my last marathon, that I would write up a six month plan. Normally I would only focus on it for four months but I want to be sure I get enough base miles in over the summer before I focus more on volume, speed, and efficiency in the fall.

What's my goal?

A FREAKING PERSONAL BEST, DAMMIT.

As for triathlon season....I really have no idea about that right now. I'm getting back in the water and I'm going on rides, but I'm not planning any actual triathlons this season quite yet. Sometimes it's good to change focus.

I'm just so glad I'm feeling so much better.

Keep on Truckin'

Some days are good. Some days suck.

But first, with the good. I'm well on my way to recovery physically. I played it very smart and slowly built up my mileage without adding any speed, typically running three times per week. Once I was comfortable with 6 miles, I started adding interval training but still not running all out. I think it's been a very good plan. This past weekend I ran nearly 11 miles, albeit a very easy pace with a speed up only in the last two or three miles, and I was happy to find that there was absolutely no soreness from it. Even with yard work for a few hours later in the day, my legs held up just fine.  The strength training I've been fairly consistent at during recovery has helped tremendously in my recovery, and it's making me feel better overall.

I'm far from at my peak. I do miss the days of not having any trouble running 9 minute pace on long runs. I miss running 8:45 pace for a half marathon race. I miss the long LONG runs of marathon training. But I'll get there soon, with a continued build up of distance and speed and strength. I registered for The Louisiana Marathon in January and I'm looking at it as my ultimate comeback race. It's actually the only race I have on my calendar besides this coming weekend's Texas Independence Relay. It remains to be seen if I add anything else. In all honesty, having no pressure on myself has been a pretty great thing.

As for the relay this coming weekend....I went back and forth for weeks on whether or not I was really going to participate. It takes a lot physically and mentally to do a team 200 mile relay and with all the other stresses in my life, in addition to injury rehab, I just wasn't sure it would be good for me. But I stuck it out and I'm doing it. It will be my team's 7th year in a row of participating. I am sad I had to commit to such a slow pace, the slowest I will have run in all 7 years. But I'm doing it.

With running aside, however, life is still a bit of a crapshoot.

My daughter has been in therapy for 6 weeks now. Overall, is has been helping her (thank God) but there are still so many unknowns and a few curveballs have been thrown at her dad and me. When it's a bad day, it's a really really bad day. Thankfully the bad days are far fewer, but I still get completely knocked down emotionally on the bad days. As a matter of fact, right now I'm completely exhausted and am finding it very difficult to find my Monday Motivation. Hence, a blog post!

My son is doing okay. He's a full-on teenager now, complete with the emotions and growing pains involved in that. He's slowly finding his motivation with school despite his struggles with ADHD. He has his hiccups and I hear from teachers occasionally. He has moments of speaking before he thinks and I have to remind him of compassion and sensitivity and how important it is to display that as often as possible. I worry about how he's feeling on the inside, although he tells me he's okay. But I still worry that he's keeping something inside, or that he's hurting and won't discuss it. I suppose the best thing I can do is to make sure he always knows I'm his biggest fan and I am there for him.

I'm trying to let go of the debilitating feeling that this is not how my life was supposed to turn out. I had a pretty good childhood, and although I always knew I was different than a lot of kids and struggled to fit in sometimes, I was motivated to succeed and I held tightly to those things I could control. Emotionally I was sometimes quite a wreck, but I've come to terms with a lot of that now that I understand it more. But I never had the difficulties my own children have. I knew how to focus, I didn't get in trouble at school, and did not have frequent, raging fits at home. My kids are not so lucky. Raising them is far more difficult than I ever could have imagined it would be. Yes, I'm fully aware that parenting is the hardest thing a person will ever do in their lives. But the struggle with my kids goes well beyond that. I envisioned lots of travel, lots of family time, a successful school career, and lots of smiles. It's hard to let that fantasy go and to find the alternatives that suit my kids' struggles better. I'm still hoping we get more travel in (my kids do not fly), and I'm hoping that the steps we are making now will still translate to success in school (my oldest goes to high school next year and he knows what the stakes are).

Oh, and everything is STILL BREAKING at my house. This past week it was the second A/C unit and the repair bill was a doozy. When the cost of everything that has broken or gone wrong (pet illnesses were bad, too) adds up to more than what I paid for my last new car, you know it's been a bad 12 months. There's only so much even a decent and secure salary can cover without it really starting to hurt. My stomach is constantly in knots wondering what else is going to go wrong and how much it will cost.

(Side note: my backyard does look pretty wonderful, however, and yes my husband and I are continuing to do ALL the new landscaping ourselves. I have a feeling it's going to be my oasis for many years to come, and thank God for that because I need an oasis!)

It will probably be good for me to let all of this go for a few days while I embark on the relay this weekend. Physically it will tire me out, but emotionally it will be good to only have to focus on myself.

Meanwhile, one day at a time....I keep on truckin'....

Relay Reflections

I'll likely do a Texas Independence Relay race recap in another post, but for now I have a few thoughts I want to share.

1. This race, without a doubt, is my favorite, despite the sleep deprivation, agony of running in the heat, pressure to kick ass, and general delirium. I forget about my stress for 48 hours.

2. I can't believe my friends can put up with my bullshit. I'm not easy to deal with sometimes. I'm a bitch when I run in the heat, I'm generally a rule follower (not always a good thing), and I'm way too detail oriented sometimes. But nobody kills me while on the relay, year after year.

3. I'm way too consistent with my pace. Someday I'll blow it wide open and shock the crap out of people.

4. I appreciate each and every one of my teammates for different reasons...

- Thanks Tony for wanting me to be your navigator and keeping me laughing for 6 relays. We might argue too much but we get shit done.

- Thanks Geissinger for taking over the navigation when I couldn't read the map anymore Sunday morning, and for letting me treat you like a piece of meat.

- Thanks, Red, for being the coolest, hardest working, most caring teammate, and for talking about yourself in the third person.

- Thanks Katie, for being so amazing and talented, and for your concern about how mean Tony is to me ;)

- Thanks Matt for seriously being the most joyful runner I've ever met. Your positive attitude was contagious and I could learn a lot from you.

- Thanks Erica for convincing John to join us and for doing your best to control Danimal. We've missed you being on the team.

- Thanks John for being willing to endure one more relay and for not killing us. The one liners were truly epic.

- Thanks Emily for bringing such perfect humor and sarcasm to the team. Hot redheads are the best.

- Thanks Danimal for not drinking so much you couldn't still run like a badass, and for sticking with the team and giving your all when you weren't confident you could.

- Thanks Kalynn for being strong and fun and cute and darling and a really great friend...and the 7:20's don't hurt either.

- Thanks Cary for bringing it home at San Jacinto. And for being a size small.

- Thanks Team Mom Ginne for making us feel like we're all your kids, for being our rock. We love you!!

Who's giving me a massage??

2014...Decisions Decisions!

6 weeks into the new year and my race plans are starting to come together for the year. I've tried to force myself not to commit to anything else in the first half of the year, however.

This weekend is the Austin Half Marathon, a race I haven't run since it was my very first race in 2008. Since then I've run the Austin Marathon five years in a row, so I knew that 2014 would be a good break from the full course and instead go back to where I fell in love with running and racing. It's not an "A" race, meaning I won't be attempting a PR. Austin is not an easy course, and I have not been training to run a sub 8:30 pace half. I'd still like to do well and to feel good, so I'll run hard regardless. Then I get to cheer on my Round Rock Fit runners at Mile 26 of the full course. Some of them are running their very first full marathon and for the first time since I started coaching, I'm going to be there cheering for them as they finish up that last mile.

Next month is my fifth year running in the Texas Independence Relay, and that race will serve as training for my April marathon in San Luis Obispo. It's a lot of tough running coming up, and my focus really needs to be on keeping my endurance up and staying in marathon shape.

I've gotten back on my bike and back in the pool, although with hesitation. I've only swam twice since October, and am happy to say I don't think I lost too much of my form, although my speed (of which I had little) has suffered. It will take time to get my comfort back, but I'll slowly peck away at it. This past Saturday I did my first outdoor ride in a very long time and I forgot how tough hills can be in cycling! It was a good ride, but slow and fairly difficult. I'm going to continue to try to incorporate rides into my schedule in the next few months.

I will not be doing long distance over the summer like I did last summer. I need the break during the hottest months. Instead I'll be getting on my bike more and keeping the runs under 90 minutes. There won't be any crazy 30K trail runs in my racing schedule this year!

A triathlon is still in the cards, but I haven't picked exactly which ones I will do. And I won't make that decision until April or May. I need to focus on my upcoming races, especially my marathon, and I need to get more comfortable being back on my bike and in the pool before I decide what race is right for me. I can't have the distraction of committing to a triathlon in my head just yet. A lot of people want to know what races I'm going to do and I simply can't answer that question yet.

The only late year race I had in my plans was running the BCS half marathon again in December. I had so much fun running it in 2013 that I couldn't resist the early registration price and signed up. I will be committing to running the Houston marathon again for January 2015 and early registration for that is in May (I'm thrilled my qualifying time from January 2013 is still valid!). But otherwise, I planned to put the breaks on any race registrations.

BUT THEN.....

My friend Tricia asked me to join a relay team.

Not just ANY relay...a TRAIL RELAY. In October. In Texas Hill Country.

A SPONSORED trail relay in October in Texas Hill Country. That's right...I'd be part of a team sponsored by Nuun. 

How could I say no to that? Tricia is one of my best friends, I know she'll put together a great team, and relays are my favorite kinds of races. The answer was an almost immediate yes.

The more I read about this race, the more excited I get. Three different trail loops of differing terrain and distances that every team member runs, a central Ragnar Village location where we hang out, camp, and have fun. Right now we have 5 of our 8 members picked and I love each and every one of the women on the team.

SO....

I really REALLY won't be committing to anything else until April!

REALLY.

So stop asking.

We Can't Be Stopped...TIR, BSB, and a Cowboy

Whenever anyone asks me what my favorite race is, I always say The Texas Independence Relay. Hands down, the most running fun you can have in a weekend. It's not always easy and can be downright miserable at times, but every single minute of it is worth it for the reward of the accomplishment on Sunday afternoon.

This is our 4th year running as Blood Sweat and BEERS. What started out as a random "Sure, I'll join your team" in 2010 has turned into something totally epic and most of us have no plans to stop running it year after year. Every year we lose a member or two and gain new ones, but the mix of friends is always perfect. This year was no exception.

Every year we have me, Captain Tony, Karen, Andrew, Red, and Dan. For the second time Kalynn and Cary joined us. Jeff came back to us after sending wife Wendy with us last year. And lastly, our new members this year were John, Emily, and Mohamed (who planned to come last year but had to back out, and was replaced by Cary, which was a blessing in the end because Cary and Kalynn are little lovebirds now, but that's another story...). Five ladies and seven dudes....PERFECT! Even better, Independence Brewing sponsored us with five...FIVE!!!...cases of beer for the relay.

Is this a race or a party??? YES!!!

The TIR organizers changed up the course a lot this year, taking out several miles in the beginning, allowing more dirt road running, and adding miles in the city of Houston. Sadly, no more Shiner Brewery run, but I think in the end the changes were pretty good. We set out for Gonzales on Friday night to party and get some rest in a hotel before our 10:34 am Saturday start.

Dinner, a party, shenanigans at our hotel (which sounds dirty, but I promise was not), van tagging, and a couple hours of sleep....and we were ready to go Saturday morning. We were split up into two vans. My van included Emily, Jeff, Tony, Kalynn, and Cary. I was excited to get to know Emily. After all, she did say "I brought running shoes, my antipsychotic drugs, and my Bible." She pretty much would fit right in. After a team Prologue of 1.15 miles, we had 40 legs of awesome running ahead of us. I was set to run over 15 miles in 3 legs, while four of our guys were going to do 4 legs and over 20 miles. Should anything happen to any of them there were plenty of us who could pick up the slack (cue foreshadowing here...)

 

Gotta love Andy-drew

Vans are tagged and ready to go

We ran with our flags for the Prologue as usual....

Red started us off with a bang, running a sub-8 pace 4.2 miler. She planned to run 8:30 pace over the weekend, so we were already off to a great start one leg in.

THEN CAME LEG 2....

Poor Captain Tony. This is how he looked when we left him 2 miles into his run, happy as can be.

We drove off to the next exchange. 10 minutes later Kalynn's mom calls us (she was tagging along and checked on Tony on her way to the exchange). She told us he needed us to come back to him because he hurt his hamstring and didn't know if he could finish. Unfortunately we were kind of stuck at the exchange, which was one way and out on a dirt road. To get back to him would take at least 10 or 15 minutes. After trying to figure out the best way to get to him, John decides to just run to him and finish the run for him if necessary. Tony finished the run and still pulled a respectable 8:25 pace, but was certainly injured and likely out for the rest of his legs. Unfortunately, he was one of the 4-leg, 20+ mile runners and we had a lot of rearranging to do.

Red picked up his Leg 14 (6 miles) while I took her Leg 13 (4.13 miles). She's a stronger runner and only had 12 miles total for the weekend, while I had 15 so it made sense to give her more miles. But it also meant that I'd have 3 legs under my belt by Leg 22...not a lot of rest, but doable. I just wasn't going to be pulling any 8:30's, especially after being sick only 5 days before (stomach virus) and underfueled for the week because of that. But I'd do what I could and we'd have a blast regardless.

My first leg was Leg 6, and looking at the elevation chart it looked like it could be a hilly run. It was also getting very warm out at that point since the sun finally decided to peak out. I was looking forward to running on dirt, however...something different! And it couldn't be worse than last year's hilly Leg 3 in 80 degrees...right???

Nope, it pretty much was just as tough. It was my first real exercise since getting sick and I think my body was a bit shocked at it. I didn't have any kind of great pace going, and the leg started out with a long steady climb for about 3/4 of the first mile. The hills kept coming, with another very long steady one during Leg 4. I was maintaining a very good pace on the flats and downhills, but the uphills were just killing me. That long Mile 4 mile did me in for sure and I pulled a 9:38 mile. Surprisingly the sun wasn't really getting to me until about the last half mile and I had the guys give me water to pour on my head. Made a big difference and I pulled through to the end of the 4.74 mile run. I ended up at 9:04 pace for that run and was happy to get the hardest one out of the way. I didn't have any power going up hills so I just hoped the rest of the runs were flatter.

Go Karen Go!!

The team continued to completely kick some major butt. Karen had Leg 7, which is the hilliest leg of the relay (5 good hills in less than 4 miles) and she ran 8:30s. I am always amazed at how strong of a runner Karen is...she continually outperforms year after year and it's so much fun to see. Everyone was running faster than their projected pace (Kalynn ran 7:40s during Leg 4, after injuries have slowed her down the last few months and she only expected to run 9 minute pace!). Well, everyone but me, but I wasn't so worried after seeing how everyone else was doing.

The weather was very warm during late afternoon, getting up into the 80s with full sun. The humidity stayed under control but it was very uncomfortable for our runners. I am seriously amazed that Mohamed ran a 6+ mile leg with no water. He was an absolute rock star. John followed that with his own ridiculous 6+ mile leg. Once he finished Leg 10 in Schulenburg we were now a quarter of the way done with the relay, and already ahead of our projection.

Team work on Leg 9

Bluebonnets!

We were seeing a lot of the same teams at every exchange, including our favorites, The Mullets. Seeing the same teams, of course, also brought out our competitive sides and we were wondering when we were going to start shaking them. As much as we love The Mullets, no way in heck were we going to let them beat us. However, somehow they just kept keeping pace with us - where were these crazy strong runners coming from? I think I'm going to just blame Emily...she whipped out her "Cowboy" (plastic penis on a chain) and I think they just wanted to keep hanging out with her.

Sunset, and my second leg, were coming soon, which meant we'd finally get cooler temps. We'd have a few hours before the cold front and some seriously strong winds hit and we looked forward to some (temporary) perfect running conditions. Leg 13 was my next leg, a 4.13 flat run, and although it was still quite warm at 78 degrees, I didn't have direct sunlight on me anymore, so I wasn't worried about pushing through for a strong run. And that's exactly what I did! I ran very well during that leg, perfect negative splits and an 8:40 overall pace. I felt so much better than during my first leg and it was a big relief.

Cary handing off to me at Exchange 12

Give me a minute....

During part of the night legs, the two vans split off so the team can get some rest. Our van would rest during legs 16-21 and then run legs 22-27. Six van mates for six legs, with one injured runner meant that either Tony needed to run or one of us was running two legs. I had Leg 22 so it made sense for me to pick up leg 27 and then just find someone else to run my last assigned leg (32) the next morning. Tony decided to try to run Leg 25, with Kalynn as back up in case he couldn't finish it. She would then continue on and run her assigned Leg 26.

My Leg 22 (5.43 miles) ended up being a really great leg, although it started off at a pretty slow pace for me. My legs were fatigued and it took about two miles for them to warm up and loosen up enough for me to pick up the pace. I was at about 19 minutes through 2 miles, but managed to get it down to 8:20 pace by Mile 5. The final half mile was at 7:50 pace. I passed 8 runners during this leg, including two that had passed me early on who I then caught up to (including A MULLET!). The weather was fantastic, it was flat, and I was in a zone. Not bad for a 1am run. Overall, I ran 9:02 pace.

Poor Tony made it through Leg 25, but it was really pitiful to watch him limp through it. It was a fast limp, but it was so obvious he was in pain. But he's also stubborn and refused to give in. I do think one of the funniest moments of the weekend happened during this run, however. Back on Saturday morning, Tony noticed a van pull up to the hotel with a handicapped sticker on it - wait...a handicapped sticker on a RUNNING relay van? So being the vocal guy he is, he says to the driver "How did you get that sticker?". As the driver goes to get out of the van, he says "It's one of the benefits of having one leg."

Yes, the dude had one leg and was competing with a handcycle.

AWKWARD.

Anyway...back to Tony's Gimpy Leg 25. During the beginning of this run, Tony gets startled because the Handcycle One-Legged Dude whizzes by him without a word of warning, which of course sends his leg into spasm. Karma? Probably. As we drive alongside Tony a little bit later, Jeff yells out to him, "Hey, Tony, the One-Legged Guy says you can get a sticker since you only have one leg, too."

Yep, I'm still laughing about this.

Then, a little bit further on the leg, Tony actually passes another runner, albeit one with a very noticeable limp as well. Jeff's next gem of a quote: "Tony's only getting a kill because that guy is more injured than him."

So ends Tony's relay running. But hey, the dude finished almost 10 miles total and I didn't have to kill myself by running both leg 22 and leg 27. My last leg would be Leg 32, through Memorial Park and into downtown Houston sometime on Sunday morning.

This is also when the cold front finally showed up. When Emily started her Leg 26 the weather was perfect. By the time she finished there were cold 20+ mph winds and we were suddenly freezing our butts off. The forecast called for the winds to only get worse as the morning progressed. Oh fun.

I got a little sleep finally for about 45 minutes while Cary ran Leg 27 and before we hooked back up with Van 2. What a glorious 45 minutes that was. I felt much more refreshed and ready to finish this thing out. We're now all back together as a team of 12, with 13 legs to go. My next leg would be in a couple hours and I was both excited and a bit nervous.

It was getting harder and harder to hang out at the exchanges waiting for our teammates because of the winds, but we held on and put up with it. There's nothing worse than having no one waiting for you at an exchange and we just don't let that happen. I did hang back in the van for a couple of the exchanges Sunday morning but I'm out at most of them. But dang, that wind was getting downright brutal. Thankfully it was mostly at our sides and backs while running, so it wasn't having a bad effect on our running.

Getting SLEEEEEEEPY....

With the exception of the wind, the weather for my 8am run was looking to be good. I was still nervous, however. This run was changed at the last minute due to construction, and it's through Memorial Park, so the vans couldn't follow me past 2.5 miles. It was a 5.4 mile leg that goes into downtown Houston. I had to make it around the construction, through the park, and then out of the park onto the correct city streets to make it to the exchange at Smith and Clay Streets.

I knew my quads were going to be unhappy when I started this run, and they were definitely sore. I was hoping they'd loosen up, or I was looking at 45+ minutes of pain. I tried to keep a decent pace and not look at my watch. Mile 1 came in at 9:38...not so bad considering how my legs felt, but still pretty slow. I continued to just run by feel and Mile 2 came in at 9:13. Definitely better and it felt slower than that, so maybe there was hope. During Mile 3 I started on the trail through Memorial Park and sure enough, got confused by the construction. I had to run across some dirt to get to the path, and didn't realize this, so I stopped and a nice gentleman directed me in the right direction...thank God...so I was back on my way. This slowed me down a bit for this mile and I was back at 9:30. With only about 2.5 miles to go I pushed the pace a bit more and started feeling much better. My legs weren't quite so sore, although fatigued for sure, and I felt my spirits lift knowing I was almost done. I navigated the rest of the trail no problem, found the changes with no difficulty, and dropped to well under sub-9 minute pace for the next 2 miles. Once I crossed the pedestrian bridge to get into downtown Houston it got confusing again. I had to dodge some traffic to cross several streets and made one wrong turn up Lamar rather than cutting across all the way to Dallas Street. I lost about 20 seconds from that, but once I found myself on Dallas Street I started running 7 minute pace. During that final block on Smith Street to the exchange I actually dropped my pace to 5:30. Yes, 5:30 pace for the final block! Who knew I had that in me after 20 miles of running?

However, was anyone besides Tony and Jeff there to see me run like that? Of course not. And there aren't any pictures to prove it, either! That stupid wind kept everyone cozy in the vans.

We're down to our last 8 legs now, all through Houston to the San Jacinto Monument. Most of them are short legs, so we were going to be done in only a few short hours.

Jeff, Karen ("So where am I going? I didn't even look at the map!"), and Cary flew through their legs at a great pace. Then Emily starts on her Leg 36. She is absolutely cruising, right through the ghetto (oh my gosh, this was the GHETTO....and I might have said it a little loud out the window, oops). She's about to pass another chick runner, is right on her heels, when all of a sudden she stops to puke. Not once but twice. And then what does she do? She just keeps on running like it's no big deal at all that she just heaved during a run.

I knew I liked that girl. She has a Bible and a plastic penis and can hurl and run at the same time. Pretty awesome chick.

FOUR MORE LEGS.  We had our fastest runners out there, running 7 minute miles. It was just flying by and before long we're heading into the park towards the San Jacinto Monument to wait for John to finish the final leg (poor guy had to run directly into the 30 mph wind for the final 3 miles).

We didn't realize that the finish line was moved up about a tenth of a mile from the usual spot and we stopped John at the old finish line, gave him his beer, and then realized...oops, we're not done. But we slowly walked towards the actual finish as a team and only lost a few minutes from our mistake. It was fun to walk across the finish line together.

Our 4th Blood Sweat and BEERS relay, 200 miles, 27 hours, 11 minutes, 8:11 pace.

32nd place out of 145 teams. 14th place in our division of almost 100 teams.

And we beat the Mullets by over an hour.

BEER ME!

2012 in Review and Plans for 2013

I think it's safe to say that 2012 was a CRAZY running year for me. It exceeded all my hopes and dreams. I feel like I'm so much stronger of a runner and it's an incredible feeling for this 39 year old.

Wait...39? When did THAT happen?!?

My main goal for 2012 was to conquer the marathon. I had the thought of a 4:15 marathon, but my training wasn't quite at that level, so a 4:25 seemed like a better goal. I ran a 4:26 in Houston in January, but the best part of all was that I ran a strong negative split during the race. I felt good practically the entire time and I never gave up on myself or let doubts creep in. I won the mental battle and that was so much more significant to me than any arbitrary time goal.

After that race and another great marathon in Austin just five weeks later, I decided that a sub-4:00 marathon was in the cards within the next year. Basically the rest of the year was spent slowly working on my speed and strength. I added in trail running and mountain biking to change things up, and found myself registering for more races than I had ever run in a year. And then somewhere along the way, I found myself becoming a "triathlete-in-training."

I had so much fun!

By the time the year was over, I had set new PR's in every common race distance - 5K in 23:09, 10K in 53:12 (although this race actually served as a training run and I didn't go all out), half marathon in 1:57:32 (I set a new one on 1/13 this year in 1:51:36), and marathon in 4:26:27. Plus, I ran a 1 mile race to see if I could break 7 minutes, and I ran it in 6:38. All in all in 2012, I ran a 1 mile race, 3 5K's, 2 10K's, 2 half marathons, 3 marathons, 1 Trail 30K (which ended up being 20.5 miles), and 1 Trail 10K.

I won my age group twice, got second once, and was top 9% in the San Francisco Half Marathon.

This all coming from a girl who was picked last in sports while in school, who never once was considered athletic.

So yeah, I might be bragging a little.

But dammit, what a freaking awesome year!!!

So what did I do differently that worked?

1. I added a lot more strength training. Towards the end of the year, I hired a personal trainer and he completely changed the way I thought about training by putting me through high intensity circuits that got my heart rate sky high while making me stronger than I thought I could get. And he forced me to do a lot more lower body strength work. I pretty much hated it, but I loved what it did for me. Explosive power, sustainable endurance, a ridiculously strong core.
2. Interval training. From 2 minutes up to 14 minutes, very little rest, threshold pace. Every single week.
3. Hills, hills, hills. I needed serious hill training for San Francisco. I even did it at the height of summer, in 100 degree temps. Every single week.
4. After San Francisco, I began speedwork at the track. Ridiculous speedwork, sometimes for over 2 hours. Every single week.
5. Crosstraining on the bike and at the pool.
6. Trail running for a change of pace and scenery. So much easier on the body, and relaxed...and FUN.
7. Listening to my body when it needed rest. If I knew I was overdoing it, I rested. And I came back stronger the next day.
8. Not being afraid to listen to my coach when he said I could run faster. I stuck next to him, it hurt, and I did it...just like he said I could.
9. Believing my body was stronger than my doubts.
10. Knowing I could go one more mile, one more minute, whatever it took.

You have no idea just how excited I am about what 2013 will bring. I am signed up for several races already and have some pretty lofty goals in mind.

I'm running Austin Marathon next month and am hoping for a PR, but will not race all out like I planned at BCS last month. It's a hilly course, so I have no thoughts of running a 3:59, but I'd like to post a good time regardless. First and foremost, I want to enjoy it with friends.

In March I am running with my team Blood Sweat and BEERS in the Texas Independence Relay for the 4th year in a row. Hands down the best race of the year.

In April I'm planning to run a 10K in sub-50 minutes (well....maybe sub 51...we'll see how awful the course is). And then there will be my first trail race of the year, a 30K that is part of the Rogue Trail Series.

May is the Dam Mile race in Georgetown. The female winner ran a 6:13 this year. I was third at 6:38. I don't see why I can't try to get closer to that 6 minute mark! So we'll see what happens.

June will be a crazy month. My first triathlon. I'm terrified. But I'll also run another 30K trail race, so that will be awesome.

At the end of the year I'm planning on breaking 1:50 in a half marathon at BCS. I'm already registered!

Lastly, one year from now I'm going for that sub-4 hour marathon again...in Houston. That 1:51 I ran at 3M last week qualified me for guaranteed entry into the race, no need for a lottery submission. I missed this race this year and I'm very excited about going back.

Did I already mention how excited I am???

Fundraising for the Texas Independence Relay

For the third year in a row, my team Blood, Sweat and Beers is racing in the Texas Independence Relay, a 203 mile journey along the Texas Independence Trail. We start in Bastrop and end east of Houston at the San Jacinto Monument. As many of you know, back in September 2011 Bastrop experienced incredible devastation when fires broke out, burned 34000 acres, and ultimately destroyed nearly 1700 homes.

The organizers of the relay have set up a fundraising option for registration into the relay. In order to earn our spot in the relay we must raise $2000 in the next 3 months. The funds raised will benefit both the restoration of Bastrop and also current and future Olympians with the Austin Track Club, promoting health and fitness to Texas children. Our team knew right away that this was how we wanted to earn our registration. The fact that the first leg of the relay goes right through the fire-ravaged Bastrop State Park makes it hit home even more that we need to help in any way we can.

It would mean so much if you could spare even a few dollars for our cause. You can donate at the following link:

http://www.texasindependencerelay.com/relay-for-a-reason/?kwoAdvocateId=4B9KC99

Thank you

And the finale - TIR 2011 COMPLETE!

It's now daytime, we're done with 33 out of the 40 legs in the Texas Independence Relay, and I've completed all four of my legs.  It's now time for me to cheer on the rest of my teammates and enjoy our time running and navigating confusing one-way streets through Houston.

Erica made sure to let us know that her leg 34 would not be in the 7:20 pace range and she would surely slow it down.  Yeah, 7:28 sure is slowing it down.  Did I mention she's a beast?

Our team really wasn't slowing down at all - it's like they had actually slept or something in the past 24 hours.

I feel kind of bad for Red on leg 36.  She totally rocked it of course, but I was a little wrong when I said the ghetto part wasn't that bad. Oops. I'm happy she made it through in one piece.  I think it made her run even faster.

I think everyone was getting pretty eager to start the real drinking because at Exchange 37 we were instructed by Jeff (who was running the leg) that he wanted a beer waiting for him.  So we did as instructed...Dan exchanged the wristband for a beer.

Only three more legs to go and we were definitely going to beat last year's time.  We were totally pumped...it's was *almost* like we weren't totally sleep deprived and exhausted. Almost. 

Next year, however, I'd like to install a personal GPS on Dan.  We knew we needed to follow him on leg 38 since last year he tried to get lost.  Sure enough, this year he again tried to make a wrong turn.  Such a dude.

As we were following him, we encountered a very cute sight.  Look, it's Erica with her future ex-husband!

As we were driving by both Dan and then John on leg 39, I was frantically adding up all our legs (I don't know why the TIR requires you turn in times of every single leg, but they do).  By the time I added in leg 39 (which John absolutely killed at 8 minute pace, by the way), we realized that Brandon could very well get us to break 27 hours. Last year he ran leg 40 in 36 minutes (mind you, it's 5.3 miles, so that's a pretty crazy pace).  He wanted to beat that.  I determined that if he ran 36 minutes even, we'd be at 26 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds. How's that for cutting it close?  We decided that we needed to let Brandon know how close it could be, because if he came in at 10 seconds over he'd be pissed we didn't tell him.  We found a good spot to drive alongside him and Tony very kindly yelled out the window, "If you run 36 minutes even we break 27 hours. But no pressure. We love you. God loves you."

We finally made the turn onto Battleground Road and could see the San Jacinto Monument ahead. FINALLY.  After navigating the chaos at the monument we parked the vans and tried to patiently wait for Brandon to make his way down to the finish. 

When he came across the finish line and told us that he ran leg 40 in 35:33 I think I may have made him deaf by screaming in his ear. 

(Side note: our official time actually came in at 27:03:13...I'm not sure why there ended up being a discrepancy, but I'm totally thrilled that we took over 30 minutes off last year's time and finished the course in 8:00 minute pace overall)

WOW - WE WERE DONE!!!  For the second year in a row, we completed over 203 miles in well under 28 hours, had a phenomenal time, and felt absolutely euphoric at the accomplishment.

I had decided at about leg 38 that I was most definitely going to get drunk when we were done.  I realized my running mates had never seen me drunk - wait, WHAT???  Oh, they were in a for a treat.  So as soon as we were done getting our medals, getting our pics taken, we headed over to where Tony's family was parked, we popped out the beer and my boxed wine and spent about an hour or so just relaxing.  By the time we headed out to look for food, I was definitely in a very good mood.  And getting louder by the second. 

We hit up Chuy's before making the final trek back to the Austin area.  I vaguely remember an echilada and a really strong margarita....and not being able to focus.  When we got back into the vans, I told the others that someone else needed to drive because I was finally going to nap.  I think the response was "good."  Thanks, buddies. Good thing I was so hydrated from the weekend or the road trip could have ended badly.

We're now in the midst of a big runner's high.  It happened last year...we felt fantastic, bugged the crap out of our spouses with our stories of the weekend, and began the countdown to the next TIR. 

A few things I learned from this year:

1. It's really smart to write down all the funny little things everyone says throughout the weekend.  Everytime I read through the list I start laughing until the tears flow.  "Ass-man wears no pants" holds a lot of meaning.
2. I WILL be taking at least 30 seconds off my average pace for next year.
3. We need to eat more meat.
4. Hotels on Friday night. Definitely.
5. There are some really great teams out there...always eager to help out other teams and be supportive while maintaining competitiveness. Like a big family!
6. I need to bring my Snuggie. And a pillow pet.

TIR 2012 is in 51 more weeks.....