The race I wasn't supposed to race

Many, many months ago I had it in my head that I could run a sub 1:50 half marathon at BCS (Bryan/College Station) this year. Had my heart truly been in it, I suppose that yes, I could've. That's about an 8:22 pace, and I ran about an 8:30 at 3M at the beginning of the year.

The summer didn't really go as I had planned. My pace suffered as I just wasn't able to tough it out through the heat and humidity quite like I had in 2012. The night trail race I did in August really took it out of me and forced me to refocus a bit. I needed to concentrate on my upcoming marathon and not a new PR. So BCS would then become a "training run"....a fast training run, as I still planned to break 2 hours, but not anything near 8:22 pace.

I traveled to College Station with several of my triathlon group friends and they all assured me that yes, I would be racing this. It was more than a training run and I needed to give it my all. I told them that my best would be breaking 9 min overall pace. I think it appeased them at the time.

The weather leading up to the race was a bit brutal. The morning before was in the mid-20s with winds, bringing the windchill down into the low teens. Thankfully the icy weather was supposed to move out by race morning, with temps right around freezing, but no wind forecasted. Brutal to stand around in while waiting for the race to start, but great for the actual running. I fretted several times about what to wear, but ultimately decided capris and my long sleeve Team Luke's shirt with gloves and a hat would be just fine. I was kind of curious about how my body would respond to the cold and if I'd run faster subconsciously.

I started the race with my training buddies Tony and Paul, but I knew both would jump ahead of me and I'd likely not see them again until the finish. Tony would run under 1:50 and Paul was shooting for sub 2 hours, but I knew he'd be well under that. I thought a 1:57 would be just fine for me. Sure enough, they were gone after about the first half mile. The first 2 miles were exactly as I'd hoped at 9:40 and 9:15. I was running by feel and not checking my pace on my Garmin, but rather just glancing at my mile splits in case I needed to adjust. If they were coming in faster than I thought, but I felt good I wasn't going to intentionally slow down.

Me and Tony at the start. Yes, I made fun of his tights.
There's a little glimpse of Paul behind us, too.

Mile 3 came and went with a little drama. One bridge that we needed to cross hadn't been sanded the night before after we got some unexpected freezing rain, and it was iced over. I had to walk across it so I wouldn't slip. Thankfully I didn't see anyone fall, but it was a little worrisome. I hoped the remaining overpasses would have sand on them, as I knew the temps would never get above freezing during the race and the ice wouldn't have a chance to melt. Surprisingly, that mile still came in at 9:00 even. I thought for sure I'd lost more time by walking, but I must have been running much faster than it felt. This gave me a huge mental boost. I honestly felt great.

The first 5k came in at just under 29 minutes I think. I was trying to pay a little attention to splits, so I could be sure I was increasing my pace enough throughout to hit a 1:57. I was right where I wanted to be. My best racing comes when I start slow and run progressively faster, with my last mile my fastest.

It was after 4 miles that I decided this would be a race after all. I felt great, really great. Already 4 miles in, running 8:45 pace and it felt much slower, knowing I could continually increase my pace as the miles ticked off. Why not race it? It wouldn't be a PR, but I could certainly make it my second fastest half marathon by a long shot.

The middle miles were pretty uneventful. I had warmed up, the spectators were a lot of fun, I chatted here and there with other runners (it was a good feeling to still be able to talk during the race!), and I was amazed anyone was out volunteering for the race in that cold weather.

10k came through in the 55 minute range and I had dropped to under 9 minute overall pace. I just needed to hold onto this for the second half and I'd have my second fastest time. But I really thought I could keep going faster. I concentrated a lot on just making it to the mile markers, by realizing that it was less than an hour of running left, that the A&M campus was pretty fabulous to run through, and there were a lot of college boys hanging around. Hey, whatever gets you through, right?

During mile 8 I started chatting with a few college girls as we ran through campus. At one point, I said "only 5 miles until the beer". They got silent. I realized that they weren't old enough to drink yet. So then I told them only 5 miles until I got to drink their beer.

We went across a timing mat at just under 9 miles and my watch said 1:19. I was definitely having a good race. I hoped to run about 8:20 pace for the remainder of the race. For some reason my poor math skills told me that would give me a 1:56.

During mile 11 I saw Christine come out of the porto-potty and I yelled to her. She and Joe had started ahead of us, and I knew she must have been having a fantastic race to be running sub-9 WITH a potty stop. It took me about a half mile to catch her and as I was passing her, she says to me "What took you so long?" Aw, I love that lady. I also knew that she was not about to let me beat her and I expected that she'd be breathing down my neck for the last couple miles.

I could also see Paul up ahead of me. I honestly tried to speed up just a bit to tuck in right behind him for the rest of the race so we could finish close together, but that man was on a mission. I was afraid of speeding up too much and blowing up at the end as a result, so I played it conservative. I was gaining on him slowly, but we were running out of miles very quickly. He was certainly a really awesome rabbit for me to go after those last couple miles, however. It kept my focus off the fact that I had been running for over 90 minutes and was now running about 8:10 pace.

As we were nearing the last quarter mile I got within about 2 seconds of him and yelled to him, but with his earphones in he couldn't hear me at all. As soon as we passed the 13 mile marker and could see the finish line, that man seriously turned on the afterburners. I tried hard to keep pace but there was absolutely no way I was catching him. This whole time I expected Christine to come cruising by me, but I didn't see her yet.

I glanced at the finish clock and it read 1:56. I was pretty shocked. I hadn't paid much attention to my watch the last couple miles and had no idea I was running a 1:54 race (we started 2 minutes after the gun).

As I crossed the line, I saw my teammates....Tony (1:48), Joe (1:49), and Paul (1:54). Less than 3 minutes after my finish, Christine crossed the line at 1:57. We had all had amazing races. We left it all out there on the course and had run better than expected. Tony tried to complain that he didn't run 1:46 like he really wanted to but I told him to shut up. Joe blew away last year's BCS time by almost 30 minutes. I got a hug from race director Chris Field and the kids from the Down Syndrome Association of Brazos Valley gave us our medals. Perfect finish!

I had no idea I had a 1:54 in me that day, but I was beyond thrilled. And this came 8 days after a strong 20-mile training run.

I need to give myself a little more credit. With my official 1:54:47 I placed 19th in my age group of 180 people, 102 out of 1348 women, 302 out of 2051 overall, and I was 3rd overall and the fastest female out of all 39 year olds. I just didn't expect this at all, and I am still (9 days later) so damn excited. This was my last race in this age group.

I think there's a sub 1:50 in me after all!!

(FYI....I'm already signed up for 2014....THIS IS THE BEST RACE I'VE EVER RUN IN TEXAS!!!)

Five in a row, baby!

February 17, 2013...5 years to the day after my very first race (the Austin Half Marathon)....and my 5th consecutive full marathon in Austin. Bound to be an exciting day!

In the few weeks leading up to this race, I have to admit I wasn't all that excited about it. Going into the training season, my "A" race was going to be Bryan-College Station in December, and Austin was going to be "fun" (yes I used the word "fun" to describe running 26.2 miles). Although BCS didn't pan out like I wanted (read my report here), I still wasn't planning on going crazy in Austin. "Fun" still sounded like a good plan. I thought it might be possible to PR, however (under 4:26).

Race day weather was looking good, although it was going to be getting pretty warm after 11am. After BCS, however, I could handle "a little warm." I was happy that start temps were going to be in the 40s. I planned out my Team Luke's race gear and was getting nervous and excited. No matter how many marathons I run, my nerves are ridiculous. I know it's going to hurt and sometimes those thoughts outweigh the memory of how it feels to cross that finish line.

Race morning was awesome. A fun carpool to the race, hanging out with Round Rock Fit and Luke's Locker folks, peeing 3 times in the span of 15 minutes....yep...race morning!

I decided awhile ago I didn't want to run anymore marathons by myself, so I had friends with me.

Karen, me, Tony, and Kalynn

Karen was turning off to finish the half, while Tony, Kalynn, and I were running the full. Kalynn was coming off an injury but our pace was much slower than her normal pace and we hoped it would be perfect to keep her with us. And our first half pace was exactly aligned with Karen's plan...I love running with my friends!

By race morning our plan had evolved into running about a 4:15, or getting as close as possible to that. That would be a 9:45 average, something that on a good running day was very reasonable. It would be a PR for Tony and me and push Kalynn a bit more than her last 2 marathons (the girl was running her THIRD in 2 months!)...sounded good to us! We still planned to run the first half in about a 2:09, so it would require a negative split to hit that 4:15 but we've done it before and could do it again.

Just like most races, this one started off uneventful. Our first mile was a very conservative 10:50, exactly what we were aiming for. After the first couple miles we could settle in to a 10 min pace and then drop to under 10 minutes after 5 or 6. From miles 2-5 there is a slight incline as you cruise down Congress Avenue so you have to play those miles smart. As you run north again from miles 5-8 you have a nice downhill, but overdoing it there will kill your legs unless you've done a lot of downhill training. We definitely played it smart and kept just over a 10 minute overall pace through that first third of the race.

I got to see the family at Mile 9 on Cesar Chavez Blvd, just like always, and it is always a mental boost.

Heather, Yvi, Amber, and Daniella - the best cheerleaders!

But now it was time to pick it up. Only we didn't really have any pick up in us. Running much faster than that just felt "off." At least for me it did. Tony kept urging me to slow it down, so I think he was feeling it, too. Or he has some freaky sixth sense about how I feel.

This is also the part where I start getting pissed about all the hills. Texas is flat as a pancake because they put every damn hill in Austin, and the Conley Sports picks the hilliest race course possible.

Click on the pic to see it in all its evil glory

Okay, it's a great course. Really it is. Austin is beautiful and we get to see so much of it. But holy hell, the hills. After a particularly steep hill during mile 13 (thankfully it's short), I always feel a bit better. Once that one is out of the way, it's more of a slow incline over several miles before you get to the net downhill final 7 miles. At the top of that hill we saw the family again. Always a joy!

I totally love this pic...I'm happy!! 

Heather standing at the top of The Hill

We had become separated from Kalynn during these middle miles and hoped she would be catching up with us before long. I wanted to make sure she made it through this race happy and healthy. Karen had long ago taken the turn to finish the half (which she did in 2:10!!).

The next several miles is where the marathon distance can really test you. You know you're only halfway through and that can seem daunting. But you have to just keep plugging along. We hit the halfway point at 2:12, which isn't where we wanted to be, but still on target for a good marathon time, at least an Austin course PR for both of us (under 4:24) and an overall PR for me. If we could just hold steady and not let the wall get to us, we had it in the bag.

We sped up a bit through a few miles, dropping the pace to just under 10 minutes per mile overall. But when we got through 16 miles, Tony asked if we could slow it down just a bit until we hit Mile 19 and started the downhill. His hip was bugging him and things just felt sluggish. I was fine with that. A 10 minute pace still got us one of our goals.

We passed up the 4:25 pacers during Mile 17 and that was a really good feeling. One of them, James, was in our RRCA coaching class a couple of weeks ago (he called himself "Sexy") so we chatted for just a bit and then kept going at a faster pace than them. If we could stay ahead of them we were golden. We saw the support crew at Mile 19, got Tony some Advil (the conversation is on video, too..."Do you have Advil? He's hurting.") Ha! (Aw, poor Coach)

Why do I keep smiling??

Now we're in the home stretch...a net downhill, although there are a few uphills. Only 7 more miles, another hour or so of running. We just weren't feeling great, but not horrible, so we kept going. The miles were not clicking by quickly, however. We actually did walk for a little stretch after we saw the family at Mile 19, our first walk break of the race. I wanted to see some sub-10 minute miles, but I we just couldn't get our legs moving well again. Mile 20 came at 3 hours, 21 minutes, so still just over 10 minute overall pace. This may have been my best Mile 20 split in a marathon. A quick mental calculation told me we needed a 1:03 final 10K for an Austin PR for Tony, a final 1:05 exactly for a PR for me, and less than a 1:08 to beat last year's time and give me an Austin PR. Totally doable if we could just keep moving.

The wheels fell off at Mile 22.

At seemingly the same time, our bodies just wanted to STOP. We willed them to keep moving for 90% of every mile, but it was getting tough. At this point we saw 11 minute miles clicking by and slowly, our goals slipped away as well. Neither of us really cared, however. I kept remembering that we were almost done and barring something catastrophic we were still going to finish the race with a very respectable time. Perhaps it was the sun that was hurting us, perhaps it was the south winds that seemingly came out of nowhere, perhaps we just let our training slip off too much in those final weeks leading up to the race. This was most certainly the Wall....and it royally sucked.

As we ran through the Mile 23 sign I just about lost it. I became tearful as I said to Tony "Why does this hurt so bad?!?" He became even more frustrated with any incline we encountered, stopping to walk just a bit while I slowly jogged and waited for him to catch back up. We spent the final miles of the race doing this. Our worst mile came in a 11:38, which seems surprisingly good considering how bad we felt. The suckiest part I think was when the 4:25 pacers passed us up for good. Such a huge bummer.

At one point around Mile 24, I think I definitely was losing it and decided that I didn't want to hold my water bottle anymore, so I actually threw it away at a water stop. 2 miles to go and I tossed over $20 worth of running equipment into the trash. But I couldn't handle the thought of drinking anything else or holding anything, and it just seemed like the thing to do. The final marathon miles can certainly make you crazy.

With one mile to go we could see the San Jacinto Hill in the distance. We needed about a 10:30 mile to break last year's time and get me an Austin PR (4:29:01). Just a 10:30...surely we could do that, right? I started feeling a bit better and was letting the thought of there only being one more mile left carry my legs, but Tony was still hurting so badly and getting very discouraged about that final hill. I told him I had never walked that hill in the 6 years I've raced that course, and I wasn't about to walk it this time. Something tells me he didn't appreciate that. Haha.

One final little walk before tackling the big hill and seeing the family one last time before the finish.

You can see just how crazy windy it was by looking at the "600 meters to go" sign

There I am smiling again!

Heather and Daniella cheering us on

Funny enough, just like last year, I grabbed Tony's hand on this hill. Last year it was for moral support...this year I literally did drag him up that hill! Talk about role reversal for the second year in a row! I think I also chanted "4:29" a couple times to keep him moving.

Getting to the top of the hill is glorious. 200 meters to go and it's all downhill. Only a minute of running left.

We crossed the finish line at 4:29:40...39 seconds slower than last year. We just missed that Austin PR for me, but it makes no difference. Seeing a 4:29 instead of a 4:30 was a relief to me.

I danced around in a circle right after the finish. Such an incredible feeling! And let me tell you...finishing with a friend is infinitely better than crossing that finish line alone.

As we walked to get our medals, I found Bart Yasso...RUNNING LEGEND! I've been wanting to meet him for years and finally I could! I didn't let this opportunity pass me up and I introduced myself and got a picture with him.

I think this is one of my favorite pictures ever

After making our way through the finish area, we stopped to wait for Kalynn, who had never caught up to us. I checked her splits on my phone and saw that she was actually over 20 minutes behind us at the 20 mile mark, so she still had a ways to go in the race. I hoped she was okay.

A slow, painful walk the few blocks back to the Round Rock Fit tent felt like miles, but we finally made it and saw some friendly faces waiting for us. Greg and the kids had our beer ready and waiting. I think this is my favorite part of any race! Kalynn did end up finishing the marathon...the last half was just very difficult for her. But she finished her third in 10 weeks, qualifying for Marathons of Texas and Marathon Maniacs - incredible!

Kelly!!!

Round Rock Fit Director Kat Misiti...love her!

Derek!!!

So now Marathon #8 is in the books. In the last 364 days I ran 4 marathons, with an average time of 4:30:50. I'm still chasing that elusive sub 4 hour marathon, but on the right race day I know I'll accomplish it. 

Oh, and you know why I felt so sluggish?  I AM SICK. I came down with a full blown cold right after the marathon. So there you have it!

It wasn't exactly a perfect marathon but I'm going to think about all the positives:

1. I finished my EIGHTH marathon. EIGHT!!!

2. Still finished around the top 40 percent of women. That's typical marathon placing for me.

3. I got cheered all along the course for being a member of Team Luke's. That was AWESOME.

4. I saw tons of friendly faces along the course...friends, Round Rock Fit members, and all those wonderful spectators cheering my name even if they didn't know me.

5. I was in Austin, the best city in the country!

6. So many of the guys I coach finished strong and happy and I'm so proud of them.

7. I had one of my best running friends with me the whole time and we didn't drag each other down, but rather kept each other going through the hard parts.

8. It wasn't 80 degrees at the finish like in College Station.

9. I didn't feel like an asthmatic during any part of this race.

10. Did I mention I've now done EIGHT MARATHONS???

Now onto the next one...

Best Race Ever!

My December Marathon glory didn't exactly pan out liked I planned because of that atrocious weather, but I still had one upcoming race I knew I could conquer. I had never run it before, but everyone told me the 3M Half Marathon in Austin is one of the best races in our city. It's a net downhill, and pretty good course, and the goody bag is awesome (it's 3M after all!). I had been registered for it for awhile and was looking forward to seeing what I could do for 13.1 miles.

My original plan, if I was in sub-4 hour marathon shape for the BCS Marathon in December, was to hold on tight to that fitness level and run a 1:50:xx at 3M five weeks later. When BCS beat me up more than I thought it would I added 2 minutes to that half marathon goal. It would still be about a 5 minute PR if I could run that kind of time (PR from July in San Francisco was 1:57:32). A lofty goal, but lately I've been making all sorts of lofty goals.

I didn't really run as many good runs as I had hoped in those five weeks. A couple interval workouts, some speedwork, a 5K PR race (okay, so THIS was a good one!), and a decent 13 mile training run (fastest 13 mile training I had ever done, 4th best time at that distance, at 1:58). Running a 1:52 was possible, but it was going to hurt. I ran a 30K training run 8 days before this race, but I was smart and ran it easy, just under 10 minute pace and I took a few water stop breaks. No way was I going to let that run mess with my race.

My coach, Tony, decided to run the race with me, and would go ahead of me if he felt good and knew I could hold pace to the finish. My plan was to run the first mile in about 9:30, maybe hover around 9 minutes for Mile 2, and then drop to 8:30-8:45 for a few miles, to finally dropping to 8-8:20 for the second half. If I could do that it would be faster than I've ever run those kinds of miles by a long shot. Yes, a LOFTY goal. Heck, my best 10 mile time was 1:27:30, way over what I'd need to post at 10 miles during this race.

The weather, thankfully, was going to be perfect. In the upper 30's to around 40 degrees, with a windchill bringing it to below freezing, but with the wind at our backs for the majority of the point-to-point race. Waiting for it to start would be the worst part, but once we started running it would be perfect. The humidity was even relatively low. It took me forever to really decide what I would wear. Normally, it would be long sleeves for the whole thing because of the windchill, but with it being a tailwind I had a feeling I'd warm up more than expected. I opted to wear my Team Luke's tank top and some arm sleeves, with a light jacket I could just tie around my waist if I got too warm. Capris instead of pants because they are more comfortable but would still keep my quads warm.

I'd like to say this was an eventful and dramatic race, but it really wasn't! I actually think it was my most perfectly executed race so far. And also one of the hardest, merely because keeping up the pace I was running was no walk in the park.

Mile 1 was a bit slower than we had hoped, at 9:47. We had lined up to start the race with the 2:05 pace group, knowing that they wouldn't be going out too fast and we'd pass them up after about a mile to get into a faster groove. But the sheer number of people (and WALKERS) in that first mile it just slowed us down. I didn't want to weave too much, so had to tuck myself behind some runners going at more of a 10 minute pace. After than first mile, however, we were able to get into a better run pace and clicked off an 8:47 second mile. I tried not to let this fast pace scare me, however, because I honestly thought it was more of a 9:20. I felt really really good and just let my body do what it wanted.

By mile 3, we were running south, so the north winds were now at our backs. I was warming up just like I thought I would and shed my jacket. I was very comfortable at this point and happy I made the race clothes choices I did. Tony and I were locked in at about an 8:30-8:35 pace and feeling great. I remember telling him at 4 miles that I felt just fine. I used him to pace off of and never had to look at my watch. I trusted that he knew what I was capable of and wouldn't overdo it. Plus, with the downhill course, the miles were sure to fly by a bit faster than normal.

As we approached the 10k split mat, I glanced at my watch and saw were were in the 54 minute range and at 8:48 overall pace. It was perfect for where we needed to be. I planned to drop to to 8:15 range and hold for as long as I could. I needed about an 8:35 overall pace for my goal time, so we were doing great at this point. I also saw my friend DeDe on this stretch, and it gave me a big mental boost. She's a strong runner, so to know I was holding pace with someone like her was HUGE to me. As a matter of fact, mile 7 was one of my strongest splits, at 8:12, and it never felt that fast. The downhill was working to my advantage and I was getting comfortable at that faster pace.

Tony asked me a couple times how I was feeling, and I told him I could maintain to the end and get a big PR. I remember saying at one point I thought we were in 1:51 range. He contemplated going ahead of me to get a sub-1:49 (which would be a PR for him), but by the time he took this thought seriously, he missed the window. I also may have reminded him I did him a huge favor the day before (lost keys, driving 40 minutes out of my way...) and he owed me. I'm sweet like that. Gotta use guilt when necessary, right? In all honesty, I knew with only a few miles left I was fine, although definitely getting fatigued, but having him right in front of me makes it easier to keep pace. I was a bit worried about the few rolling hills coming up in the last 2 miles, but tried to block that out.

At just past the 10 mile sign I glanced at my watch and saw it said 1:26...just over 8:30 pace. I had never before run 10 miles that fast. A quick mental calculation told me I needed under a 26 minute final 5k to get a 1:51...UNDER my goal time. Under 27 minutes to get my 1:52 goal. Under 25 to make my original 1:50 goal. I could do this...I really really could do this. I put in my head I wanted to see 1:51 and just kept running at an even, steady, fast pace. I could do anything for 3 more miles, right?

Those hills in the last 1.5 miles sucked. Holy crap, those sucked. As I'm running them I'm mentally thanking my trainer for forcing me to do lower body strengthening for the past few months. Without strong muscles these hills would have erased some of the gains I made on the downhill portion. Downhill races sound great but they can seriously beat up your quads. In San Francisco, Mile 11 is a huge downhill and I blazed down it, only to find my legs completely depleted for the final 2-mile uphill. I was so glad I approached this race differently and could stay strong on those uphill portions. I remember asking Tony at one point how many hills were left, and he very smartly told me about one, but then said "and that's all you need to worry about." In other words, he wasn't about to freak me out.

I told Tony to go ahead of me in this last mile. He was itching to just sprint, so off he went, but I was keeping him in my sights. I was running under 8-minute pace now and it felt good knowing in only a few minutes I'd finally be done. We were on the very last awful hill on Red River at this point and as I'm running it I'm thinking about how glad I was he didn't tell me about it when I asked.

As I'm coming down MLK Blvd for the final half mile, I heard my friend Dorothy call my name and that was just the boost I needed to know just how good this race was going. Dorothy is an exceptional athlete. I told her to get next to me and just run. Funny enough, as soon as I saw the 13 Mile marker, my legs pretty much stopped working. I had to force them to keep moving for that last tenth of a mile. I could tell I was slowing. As I turned onto Congress, people started passing me. I hate getting passed in the final finish chute. But I could not run anymore. Everything I had was left out on the course in the first 12+ miles.

As soon as I crossed the finish line, I saw the 1:51:xx on my watch, hugged Tony, turned around and saw Dorothy finish. It really couldn't have been more perfect!

Just a few minutes later we met up with Greg and the kiddos and got the heck out of there and that cold windy weather. They had gotten there just in time to park and wait for us to finish. The kids were still in their pajamas!

Looking back on my race, there's not anything I would have done differently. My splits were better than I expected. I ran 8:48 pace for the first 6.2 miles, and 8:13 pace for the final 6.9, better than I've ever even run a 10K race! I added on less than a 10th of a mile to the distance, so we ran the tangents very well. Mile 13 was 7:52 pace, which is the only sub-8 pace mile I have ever run in a half marathon (the final "sprint" was definitely slower, at 8:28 pace). Tony only beat me by 19 seconds in that last mile he went ahead. My splits were: 9:47, 8:47, 8:47, 8:34, 8:30, 8:35, 8:12, 8:18, 8:16, 8:04, 8:15, 8:08, 7:52, 1:31 (8:28 pace) for 13.18 total miles at 8:28 average pace.

Official results:

1:51:36, 8:31 average pace (and 6 minutes off my previous PR!)
78 out of 535 in my division (top 14%)
421 out of 2909 females (top 14%)
1242 out of 5009 overall (top 24%)
I beat 61% of the men

I feel pretty damn great!!

You Just Never Know

One of the perks of being on Team Luke's is that you they will offer free race entries throughout the year. When they offered an entry to run the IBM Uptown Classic on October 7, I jumped at the chance. Greg has run it the last two years and really enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to checking it out. To run as a member of Team Luke's (the main sponsor) was an added benefit. Unfortunately Greg needed to lead worship at church that morning, so the family could not go with me.

My plan was not to "race" this event, but rather use it as a good training run. I wasn't going to run slow, but around a 9-minute pace would make me happy. The previous day I ran 8 miles with our training group and felt so good during that run that I picked up the pace more than I normally would have. I was pretty tired and definitely underfueled when I went to bed Saturday night. I didn't think the race would be anything to write home about.

I'm not going to lie...getting out of bed Sunday morning was difficult. I felt a bit dehydrated, was hungry and fatigued. But I made a commitment to Team Luke's to run this race, and I needed to represent them well. I couldn't go around complaining about not wanting to be there, although I really could've crawled right back into bed. Greg offered to take a picture of me before I left, but since it wasn't going to be any kind of magical race for me, I declined.

It was a bit difficult to actually get to the race itself. The crew had prematurely blocked off Duval and Burnett Roads, so I couldn't even get to the parking lot I planned to use. Several other cars were clearly confused as well, and I ended following some of them around a barricade to get to the parking garage near the start. It was a little frustrating as I hate starting race morning with irritating setbacks. Luckily I had set out from my house so early that I had plenty of time to kill. After finally parking and getting my stuff together, I headed over to the start area and the vendors. I debated on taking my jacket with me and then just tying it around my waist during the race since the windchill was in the 40s. But I left it in the car...big mistake! I was FREEZING out in the windy cold. It was by far our coldest morning in several months and the wind was brutal. I didn't even think about bringing gloves, so I was starting to feel totally unprepared. Luckily Luke's had given us long sleeve technical shirts, so I was wearing that one rather than the team tank top. After milling around for several minutes and chatting with a friend I had run into, I decided to go back to my car and stay warm until closer to the start.

As I sat in the car, I had serious thoughts of just not running. I really don't understand what my problem was. I had kind of a frustrating week as I was pretty exhausted. You can read about it in my previous blog post. So I wasn't really in a good mental place to run. But again, I remembered that I had made a commitment and part of it was to run to the best of my ability for Luke's Locker. I had to live up to that commitment.

At about 7:40 I headed back over to the start (scheduled for 8:00). I chatted briefly with Gray from Luke's. He asked how I was feeling, and I said I was going to run to the best of my ability for that morning. He liked that, so that made me smile. As I found a good place behind the start line, I ran into another friend, Eddie, who is in Round Rock Fit, and that lifted my spirits a lot as well. It's a weird thing for me to be at a race totally alone, having driven there alone, with no plans to meet up with anything, no plans to run with anyone, and no one waiting at the finish line, so to see friendly faces is always a good thing. Eddie was going to run a much faster race than me, otherwise I probably would have tried to stick with him. I think I told him I would be happy with 2-3 minutes over my 53:33 PR.

The race start was uneventful. I got into a good rhythm right from the start, and even got to run with another Round Rock Fit friend for about a mile. I didn't overdo the pace, but I wasn't running particularly slow, either. As I entered Mile 2, I picked it up to a more difficult pace, but one I thought I could probably hold for a few miles. I knew I could always back off if it got to difficult. It was about this time I realized I had never used my inhaler that morning, but with the cold air I thought it would be okay. The heat and humidity is what tends to irritate my asthma. I was enjoying the course a lot. There were several turns and I wasn't being so good about cutting them close, but I didn't really care all that much.

During Mile 3 I still felt okay, but I honestly thought this wasn't going to be close to a PR day, not that I ever had any real thoughts of trying to PR at all. As I went through the 5K check point, I glanced at my watch and it said 27:44. I had already added on a little bit of extra distance because of my sloppy turns, so I'd definitely be running longer than a 10k. A quick calculation told me that I'd have to run less than 26 minutes to get close to my PR and I just didn't see that my pace could possibly pick up that much.

I stuck to my usual routine of not looking at current pace while I run, but rather just trying to run on feel. I would glance at average pace and was genuinely surprised that it kept dropping pretty significantly as I headed into Miles 4 and 5. When it dropped under my PR pace, I had a brief thought that maybe I really could PR this race. I knew it had to go quite a bit below PR pace, however, because of all the extra distance I had added, and that I'd have to keep increasing my speed. The brief thought faded very quickly when reality set in. It wasn't going to happen and I wasn't going to push myself to make it happen. That's not what this race was about.

I continued to run at a difficult pace, but one I felt I could maintain, never looking to see how fast it was. I was really surprised, however, at how great I felt. The course was awesome, with no crazy hills and what seemed like a lot of downhill. It really was a PR course, if you could cut the corners well or let the elevation work to your benefit. I figured with just a bit over a mile to run I had nothing to lose and wanted to finish strong.

When I had about a half mile to go I actually felt like maybe a 53 minute race was possible. I didn't think I'd have to slow down and I was running very well, right around 8 minute even pace. At the final turn, when I could see the 6 mile marker, I looked at my watch and saw a 51. With 2/10ths of a mile to run, I was going to easily break my PR. To say I was shocked is an understatement. I flew to the finish line, hitting a pace in the low 6 minute range for part of it. And I was certainly smiling.

As I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch, I couldn't believe it said 53:13, a full 20 seconds under my PR.

And I felt awesome. Nothing like my PR pace last November, when I could hardly breathe and thought I was going to throw up afterwards. No, I felt incredible after this race. I had a lot left in me and certainly didn't run as fast as I could have if I had set out to run a personal best during that race.

But I had done it anyway....even with adding a 10th of a mile!

I saw Eddie right away after the race and got a huge hug from him and I'm so glad. To have no one greeting me afterwards would have totally sucked, especially considering I had run so well.

My splits for the race were almost perfect: 9:15, 8:42, 8:33, 8:21, 8:04, 8:09, 2:06 (7:00 pace) for the final 0.3 mile. A 27:44 first 5K, 25:28 second 5K. Official time of 53:12, which made me 25th out of 149 in my age group. I honestly think this was the very best I have ever run.

So I run 8 miles the day before, don't fuel or rehydrate properly, I go to the race alone, it's cold and windy, I feel unprepared, I run alone for the majority of the race, I didn't use my inhaler...and I run better than I think I ever have. Just goes to show that when you have zero expectations, magical things can happen.

Certifications, Bikes, Swim Lessons, and a lot of Miles

Wow...the last few weeks have been CRAZY.

Several weeks ago my coach warned me that my schedule was going to start looking like an Ironman schedule. No kidding...yesterday I took a look at what a typical week will be for the next 6 weeks and it does amaze me that I'm going to be doing this week after week...and I'm going to LIKE IT....well, mostly.

Mon: Personal training session, 20 mile bike ride
Tues: Interval training - 5-7 miles
Wed: Personal training session, Speedwork - 4-6 miles
Thurs: 8 mile Tempo run
Fri: Swim lesson, core work
Sat: Coaching plus Long Run (12-20 miles)
Sun: Long Run if not done Saturday

Some weeks there is no day off, although there is enough variety that I shouldn't burn myself out.

You'll notice that there are two very big new things in that schedule...personal training and swim lessons. That's right. I signed up for both. $900 poorer but I have 13 personal training sessions and 6 private swim lessons to look forward to. I had my first PT session yesterday and my trainer, Ryan, completely kicked my butt. It was a circuit type workout that focused mostly on upper body and core, with squats thrown in for good measure and my heart rate was sky high for a lot of it. I feel like not only am I going to get a great workout twice a week but I'm learning a lot of valuable tips for when I start work as a personal trainer.

That's right....I'M CERTIFIED!

On September 13 I took the NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine) certification exam and passed on my first try. It was a tough test, I spent countless hours over the last 6 months studying everything you can imagine about the human body and exercise, and now I can begin work training others to find the fitness that is within us all. It's almost surreal. I've talked to friends about employment possibilities and I'm looking forward to where God leads me to be. After 11 years with the "Mom" and "Wife" moniker, I get to add "Trainer" to it...it feels good to have something of my own and to help contribute to our household.

Next Friday I start swim lessons. I decided to sign up for private lessons at a local swim school. Daniella takes lessons at this pool and they have many hours during the day where they conduct private lessons while kids are in school. I thought this would be a perfect fit for me as I'm very nervous about learning to properly swim. The less people around, the better! I hope my instructor, Donna, is ready for me!

Purchasing training sessions and swim lessons wasn't the last of my "bleeding money" week, however. I have a pretty new addition to my family.

Isn't she beautiful?? My very first road bike. She's brand new but I found her on clearance and she's perfect for what I need right now. And she's purple. Because of course I would buy a purple road bike. I'm very excited to get her out on the road next week and see how it feels to ride faster than 13 mph (love my mountain bike, but I'm ready for a bit more speed!). I did a spin workout (my first time!) a couple weeks ago and maintained a 21+ mph average over the course of the hour class so I'm wondering how I will fair out on the open roads. I know I'll be wary of traffic and it'll take awhile to get comfortable but I think it'll be a great experience.

I've enjoyed this view for the past few weeks on my mountain bike, but it's time for the road!

So between running 20-40 miles per week, riding 20+ miles per week, 2 hours of personal training, a swim lesson, and seeking employment, my house should sufficiently go the hell, right?

Poor Greg. 

My weeks haven't solely focused on training, however. I'm trying to find the blessings in the little things and have been taking opportunities to appreciate what and who is around me.

The kiddos started school. I have a 5th grader and a 2nd grader now.

I got to spend a day exploring Austin with this fabulous lady, Tricia

Went to an Eric Church concert with friends Heather and Bre. SO MUCH FUN!

Next up?? I get to wear my Team Luke's gear in my first race representing them. The IBM Uptown Classic, sponsored by Luke's, is next Sunday. Tricia and I get to run together (if she can handle all my chatter!). Really looking forward to it!

FEELING BLESSED.

Adding to my list

Several months ago, I realized that I needed "something" in my life that didn't necessarily revolve around my kids and spouse. Not in a negative way, but something that was "mine" and possibly involved me actually providing for my family financially.  I needed it to be flexible and hopefully be fitness-oriented, since that's my passion. I couldn't see myself sitting at a desk in a 9-5 job. I didn't expect a huge salary by any means, but something that could supplement my husband's income and possibly allow us more disposable income for travel and leisure, hobbies, etc.

Since then I've branched out and taken a few leaps of faith...although I'm not making any money yet. But that's okay. I'm figuring it out as a go and trying to make myself marketable in the long run. I am currently studying through NASM for my Personal Trainer Certification and will be certified in September, I still coach for Round Rock Fit (we start up again next month), I'm branching out into triathlons, I'm waiting for a relatively close class for my RRCA running coach certification, and this week I added a new "job" to my list.

I'm on Team Luke's...which is basically an ambassadorship for Luke's Locker, a Texas-based running store. I join a group of local runners in representing both the store and the fitness community at races, expos, and volunteer gigs. I will hopefully inspire and influence more people to get active. This "job" is not about winning races. It's about believing in an active lifestyle and supporting a business that shares my same philosophy on fitness - everyone should be active, anyone CAN be active, we must make it one of our priorities in life, and we must pass it on to future generations. If everyone was active, the world would be a happier place.

I'm excited about the many turns my active life is taking me. I'm not exactly sure what it will turn into in terms of a "career" but I'm pretty happy getting my name out there, learning all that I can to help others, and to continue to improve my own fitness.

It's a fun passion to have.


(and a huge thanks to Tricia Minnick for telling Luke's about me)