Sugar and Spice Inaugural half Marathon

The Sugar and Spice half marathon had all the makings of a great event.  I very enthusiastic race director, way cool swag that included a long sleeve tech shirt, a nice bag, a ear warmer head band, a sports bottle, chapstick and a koozie.  There was 350 women registered and the weather was perfect, about 45 degrees at race start.  However, it goes down as my worst race and here is why:  There was a turn before mile 2 that wasn't marked clearly and many missed this turn.  No one was at the turn directing traffic off the main road we were running down, which means I ran .8 miles more than the 13.1.  Every time I ran up to a mile marker I knew the race was off on distance.  This was very fustrating as I knew it blew any chance of a PR and my rank in my age group is off as I can't tell how many missed the turn and how many didn't.  On a personal note, I had some pain in my tendon on the outside of my right knee that was making running hard very difficult.  I was really exhausted going into the event and with the pain, and the fustration of the poorly marked course, I was mad the entire time I ran.  I am scheduled to run this course again on my birthday, April 7th and I hope the course is corrected at that time.  I hope to do better, though the chances of the temps being warmer are significant which warmer temps equals slower running times for me.  I am scheduled to run the Sugarland half marathon on March 3rd, so I hope I can redeem myself and have a better race there.

2013 Chevron Marathon

Houston Marathon 2013: I felt like I was trained and ready to not only finish, but run a decent (for me) race. After coming off some decent half marathon times I even had hope a new marathon PR. Then the weather forecast became a reality. I was sharing a room with running friends, Leslie and Tiffany. Leslie had signed up for the full, but had to defer with a knee injury. She made the best of the day by using her nursing skills to volunteer at medical about  mile 18. Tiffany ran the half marathon so we walked from the hotel to the start lines. This hotel only had 1 queen size bed that they shared, so I was sleeping on a cot, not too bad except I could feel the springs poking me. With the threat of cold and rain, I packed every possible outfit. I bought compression socks at the expo and wore those under my regular running socks which helped keep my feet a little drier. I ended up running the race with a poncho that I wore the entire time, even when it wasn't raining. The start of the race was wet and cold, but adrenaline was keeping me from feeling it. I met a very nice older man who comes down every year from Colorado to run this race. He was planning to run a much faster pace than I could, so we parted ways as soon as the race started. I spent a lot of energy dodging as many large puddles as I could trying to keep my feet as dry as possible. This definately added extra time and distance, but felt it was worth the effort. I was running a sub 10 min/mile pace and walking through water stops so felt pretty good there. Around the half marathon mark, I saw a guy wearing a marathon maniac top and ran with him for 2 miles. I asked him a couple questions about races he has ran and he got my mind off the running for a while. He says he runs a marathon almost every weekend, and takes the week off to recover. His goal is 100 marathons by the time his daughter graduates high school and I believe he had done 67 so far. He must travel alot to find a marathon every weekend. After we parted, I was starting to feel all my aches and pains until I saw my friend volunteering at water station mile 18.  Mile 15-18 was mentally tough. Seeing a familiar face really helped boost me up. Mile 22-26+ was tough, I knew I was close to a PR but my right hip felt out of allignment. ( all the jumping around puddles had taken its toll) Finally the end was great. I knew I had a PR, my pace went from 10:39 to 10:11 from the prior year. As soon as I stopped and unzipped my poncho, the clothes under were soaked from sweat (ick) and got really cold, so I started shivering bad. I had massage help stretch out the legs and hips. I grapped my car and headed home.

I made many trips to the chiropracter since then and even took an entire week off running jan 20-26 to help recover from this marathon. I ran 9 miles during the super bowl and had a good run, no pain and managed an overall 5.7 mph. I walked every half mile for 30 seconds.

Next up is the Sugar and Spice half 02/17, Sugarland half 03/03 and the Angie's half 04/07. Also my first tri is 04/27 and have been swimming and biking every week as well.

I'm determined to do an ultra eventually. I had signed up for the 50K 01/27 but DNF'd due to lingering pains after Houston. I think I can finish an ultra as long as I treat it like a long training run and not try to "race" it.

Ready to run the Houston Chevron Marathon

Sunday January 13th I will line up at 6:30 am with 20,000+ other runners as we wait to run the Houston Chevron Marathon and half. This will be my second year to run this Marathon. Last year I ran it as my second full marathon and finished with a 50 minute PR. Needless to say my first marathon was a hot mess, quite literally, San Antonio was hot and miserable in November 2011. So last year my Houston finish time was 4:39, which I was pleased with. This year I am hoping to beat that but not by much. My A goal is a 4:30. This weekend is quite jam packed with hosting a baby shower on Friday night, taking the Girl Scout troop to horse camp Saturday morning and headed to pick up my race packet Saturday evening and check in with my girl friends as we share a hotel room just blocks from the start line of the race.  The weather forecast is not looking good, as the chance of rain for Sunday morning keeps increasing.  The worry of blisters and cold wet mess is on the mind. Wishing much luck to all my fellow running buddies who will be towing the line with me Sunday morning.

Jingle Bell Run Recap

I big thanks to all the volunteers from Salvation Army, from Columbia High School NHS, from LJFAT, from Brazoria REACT, and all the others who came out and made the Jingle Bell Run such a huge success.  We had 119 registered for the 5K and 1 mile walk and 27 kids finish the 300 meter kids run.  With a fast finish, Xavier Jimenez took first place in men's division with a finish of 16:09.  Journey Hartung led the women's division with a finish of 20:11.  Sponsors of the race include BASF, Lone Star Bank, Krogers, Wal-Mart, TJ's Lube, Elite Appraisal, Chili's, Academy, Lowe's, and Bleu Roots Salon.  Santa Claus made a guest appearance and cheered our little runners on.

2012 Jingle Bell Race Results

San Antonio 2012 Race Report

We rocked it!  That's one way of describing the great time we had at the 2012 San Antonio Rock n Roll Marathon.  San Antonio is an awesome city to visit and the over 50,000 visitors there all seemed to enjoy themselves.  We went to the Riverwalk Friday night and had drinks at MadDog.  Saturday morning we found Starbucks and then breakfast at Blanco Cafe, very yummy.  We headed to the expo to get race packets, check out the booths, and shop for running must haves. We talked to booths about our upcoming Jingle Bell Run and asked for participation.  We had reservations at Roses on the River at 7 pm and had some great Mexican food and Ritas.  Saturday night was an early bed time, so we could be ready to wake at 6 am.  We walked to the start line around 7 am and wished each other luck while we separated into the designated corrals. There were 33 corrals going off every minute.  I lined up in Corral 8 and stretched what little I could with a mob of people all around.  Our corral moved up and by 7:38 we were off.  The first mile was congested and slow as my garmin told me my pace was a 9:41.  The runners around me were not going the 9:10 pace I was hoping for.  I gentleman in his 70's came flying by me in a red ball cap and a red race shirt from 2009.  I decided to tuck in behind him and visualized a rubber band that encircled the two of us.  Mile 2 was a 9:24, mile 3 and 4 was a 8:56, and mile 5 was a 9:10 pace.  Somewhere after mile 5 I lost my running hero at a water stop and felt the heat and humidity affecting me.  Mile 6 and 7 were around a 9:25 pace, but after that I slowed even more.  Mile 8 and 9 were at 9:47, mile 10 picked up to 9:27, then mile 11 and 12 were 10:06 and 10:09.  I found Suzanne and we ran the last mile in together at a 9:43 pace, then the last .2 miles we attempted to sprint in at a 8:36 pace.  Overall time was 2:05:47.  I had hoped for my first sub 2 hour half marathon but new that the weather wasn't cooperating.  It was 80 degrees when I finished the race.  I got my medal, my food, and my free beer and headed to find my friends.  I videotaped some of the awards ceremony, and listened to country music star Jo Dee Mesina sing on stage.  She had run the half marathon and followed it by performing as the headliner at the concert just minutes later.  Fantastic.  I had a blast with the 14 friends that traveled to this race.  I think I prefer the smaller races with less participants but I had a great time overall.

  

Ready to Rock San Antonio

The San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon is this Sunday.  I will be running the half marathon.  I am really looking forward to a fun weekend with my gal running pals.  I've ran this race in 2009, 2010, and 2011.  It's a fun course with lots of crowd support and great stuff to see.  Running in front of the Alamo is amazing.  I ran the full last year which wasn't great as it got hot and boring, but the half is a good race.  I'm hoping I can break the 2 hour mark and PR at this race.  I don't think the weather is cooperating with that plan though.  I run much faster in very cool temps, if every race was in the forties, I'd be one happy runner.  So far the high this Sunday is the eighties, so it may kill any chances of a PR, but we will have to wait and see.