It’s About Time!

For a lot of things!  For starters, it’s about time I log back in to this account to write about my running adventures.  It’s about time I re-cap a race that I ran more than 2 months ago.  It’s about time we catch up.

In April I completed my 10th state in my lifetime goal of running a half marathon in every state!  I ventured to Kentucky to run in the Kentucky Derby Festival Mini Marathon.  I was able to tie the weekend in quite nicely with a girls’ reunion weekend in Louisville too.  This was the first race since the Livestrong Marathon in February and I must admit I was not in peak racing condition.  I knew to just take it slowly and enjoy the sights.  Here’s a recap of the race and the weekend (may be a little vague….it was a long time ago 😉 ).

State #10: Kentucky

Kentucky Derby Festival Mini Marathon

April 27, 2013

2:09:27

KY – check!

Race Morning

I was lucky enough to be able to crash at my college roommate’s all weekend.  And have her organize my transportation to and from the race!  Other sorority sisters, Anna, Kalli and Lynds were there too for the reunion.  Even though I was the only one running, the entire house was up early.  The rest of the group was off to Derby weekend festivities like balloon racing!

Hostess

My cheer squad

Lula wanted to come too!

Audrey’s friend Lauren, whom I’ve met a few times, was picking me up to take me to the start.  She was running the race too, her first half!  We chatted at the start line for a while, eyeing the clouds and praying the rain would hold off.  It was a really pleasant morning otherwise – definitely not as hot as Texas had been in April!  I told her I’d be taking pictures along the way and she laughed and said don’t bother to take any in the first couple miles – that we’d be running through west end and it just wasn’t pretty.  She was right.  But the support was great!  People were out on their porches and along the sidewalk cheering us on

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I had a great time running easily along the course.  Leading up to the race was filled with finals, some bouts of sickness and very little running so I was pleased to finish running the whole time.  It meant a million bucks to me to have the girls who’ve supported me since race #1 in 2008 there again for another state.  And then we got to play a little bit after…

Lunch on the way to MMD.

Girls trying to steal a wagon of Maker’s Mark barrels!

I have some races lined up for the fall so expect to continue hearing from me!  Although not quite as frequently as my best efforts, I definitely won’t take 3 months off again.  What have y’all been up to?

2012 Decker Challenge Review

The Decker Challenge was last month and I never wrote about it.  Mostly because I couldn’t stand to re-live the horridness of the race.  I’ve realized that if you run long enough and frequently enough, you will have some bad runs.  Well, same thing goes for races.  I’ve almost always lucked out with weather.  And with my energy too.  I can officially say out of 18 races and a dozen courses, DECKER IS MY LEAST FAVORITE COURSE and WORST RACE I’VE EVER DONE.

Disclaimer: This is a personal opinion based on my specific performance – I’m not saying it’s a horribly designed course or poorly organized race.  It’s actually quite popular here in Austin and is a “challenge” after all.  I just ran my worst race ever, and so naturally have negative feelings towards the course.

 

Studying for bio before the race…

I got to the course early and sat in the car for about an hour reviewing my biology notes for the upcoming final.  The race took place the weekend after a big graduate exam and the weekend before my last and hardest final.  In all fairness to the course and the race, I wasn’t trained properly right up to the race even though I’d been running frequently leading up to finals.  Additionally the weather that day was not in my favor.  HUMID.

The course runs around a lake in East Austin so I had the expectation that it would be a scenic, soft-surface nature run.  Wrong. (Man, those expectations’ll get ya).  We were on paved road the whole time.  And rolling paved road.  It seems the hills became gradually steeper the further into the course we made it.  By mile 5 I was gone.  Mentally and physically just not on my game.  I had to walk and then adopted a walk/run pattern for the rest of the race.  I had no music and very few things to look at.  The runners all seemed to feel the same way – hot and tired – and we gave glances of encouragement, not daring to waste any energy on speech.

13 miles around the lake

I stayed with the 2 hour pace group for a while but eventually they left me in the dust.  And then slowly but surely 2:15 pace group passed and then 2:25.  I just knew I had to keep moving.  Had to finish

Split Time Distance Avg Pace Summary 2:24:18.3 13.14 10:59 1 8:59.1 1.00 8:59 2 9:17.9 1.00 9:18 3 9:11.7 1.00 9:12 4 9:06.8 1.00 9:07 5 10:15.7 1.00 10:16 6 10:58.0 1.00 10:58 7 10:28.5 1.00 10:29 8 11:44.7 1.00 11:45 9 12:03.9 1.00 12:04 10 12:43.3 1.00 12:43 11 12:51.8 1.00 12:52 12 13:12.4 1.00 13:13 13 12:06.9 1.00 12:07 14 1:17.5 0.14 9:11

That table demonstrates the opposite of negative splits…..

To be honest, I don’t remember much else about the race.  I drank a lot of water.  By the end was pouring cups onto my head I was so hot.  I couldn’t wait for this race to be over, and now that it is, I don’t want to think any more about it.  I got my medal and my magnet and will never ever run that race again.  Ever.

Got my medal…

Halfway there!

Glad that one’s way behind me.  I’ve got 3M Half marathon this weekend and am looking forward to it!

What’s been your worst or least favorite race experience?

 

 

Motivation Monday

Last week Austin hosted a big convention called The Running Event, and it was all about running (duh).  My co-workers and I were lucky enough to be put on the list to the Saucony (a running brand/manufacturer) party.  They also happen to be the company who designs the shoes I like to run in – Saucony Mirage.

To be honest, I had completely forgotten about the party but decided after core class that I would go with the crew, still in my workout gear, to check it out.  And I am so glad I did (for several reasons…)

1. There were Olympians there, and I got to meet them, take pictures, dance and get their autographs.
   

   Saucony Mirages signed by Olympians!

   

   Lauryn, gold medalist from the 4×100 in Beijing.

   

   Molly, 5k record holder in the US

    

2. They were giving away free shoes.  Saucony shoes.  Saucony Mirage shoes.  It was perfect, like the running gods were smiling down on me for socializing.  After the St. Jude Half Marathon I was due for another pair and how great that they were FREE!  

Sweet new shoes!

I can’t wait to get out there today and put some miles on these pink babies.  Nothin’ like clean new shoes waitin’ to get dirty!  Plus, if I run farther than 1.2 miles I’ll reach my 1,000 miles for the year goal!

It’ll be a short and quick run because of finals material but looking forward to stretching the legs out after yesterday’s brutal hilly half.  Plus, winter arrived last night and I’m excited to have some cold air in my lungs again 🙂