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!

Second Thoughts

In 100 days I'll be doing my first triathlon.

100 days.

I'm not going to sugar coat it....I'm having second thoughts about it.

Yes, after spending a good chunk of money on a bike and bike trainer, and on swim lessons, I'm having second thoughts.

In the last 3 months I've also started working for the first time in over 11 years, and it's been an adjustment. I'm trying to be better about organizing my schedule, but my line of work can be a little crazy. Finding time to train around my work schedule, the kids' schedules, and my husband's travel schedule is a bit tricky. And my swimming and biking are suffering. As a matter of fact, I'm only biking on my trainer right now. I can do it while the kids are home and I don't have to worry about them, but I do know I need to get that baby out on the roads soon.

My swimming? Well...I'm not so good at it. I think my form is pretty good now, for the most part, but I just don't have a lot of endurance. I can swim across a pool once or twice without too much trouble, but then I need a rest. That's frustrating to me definitely. I swim at a pool where I get my own lane, but I can only do that during school hours. I'm fearful of going to my regular gym and having to share a lane with someone.

I really need to snap out of this. I know I can do a triathlon, even in my current state, but I want to do well. I'm just too competitive to be okay with "just finishing." Now that marathon training season is over, I am going to have to get out there on the roads and into the open water with my triathlon group. I'm hoping that is the kick in the butt that I need!

100 days...wow.

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...