2013 Big Sur Marathon

(This post is about a month late. I've had it sitting as a draft far too long.)

I had this race circled on my running calendar. It marked the last distance race of my running season. I first discovered it after reading about it last year in a Runner's World article. Once I saw a few pictures, I was completely sold. It is often advertised as the most beautiful road race in the US. You'd think with all that hype being letdown was a real risk, but I can assure you that I was not. It's actually hard to picture a more scenic place to run. Majestic mountain views, clear blue water and lush green fields and towering trees. This course had it all. I didn't want to miss out on all the natural beauty so I brought my phone along so I could snap a few pictures. I wanted to allow myself to really soak it in so I decided not to push for a time. I also had the opportunity to run with several friends on the course which is always a great thing. I even made a couple of new ones on the ascent up to Hurricane Point, where gale force winds were waiting for us.

Before the race on Sunday, we got a chance to do a lot of hiking in the state parks. I have to say, I was so proud of my wife for all the hiking she did. She was a total trooper. Maybe it was all the natural beauty around us that inspired her, but she was an unstoppable hiking machine!

It was a great weekend all around. Great outdoors. Great friends. Great race. Life is great.

Chip Time: 4:38:52

2013 Texas Independence Relay Recap

Not only was this years team the fastest we've ever had, it was definitely one of the most fun. We finished 37th out of 145 teams with a time of 27:50:39. That's an incredible average team pace of 8:22! We also had three brand new team mates to the Team 1 family this year and all were perfect additions. We have been so fortunate with team chemistry from year to year and it really is what makes the experience so fun. Sure we all like to run faster each year, but the point of the weekend is to be a team. That's something we always excel at. With all that time spent together, you quickly bond with your team mates. You forge lasting friendships over weekends like this. This is what makes the TIR special.

Prior to this weekend, I had resigned myself to thinking that this would likely be the last Team 1. With major life altering events on the horizon for us, I seriously did not think we could continue to be a part of it every year. A teammate said something that really changed my mind. He said would be good to keep it going for tradition and continuity. It made me realize that the tradition was important to others and not just me.

2013 Sugar Land Half Marathon Recap

Beautiful clear skies, a crisp 33 degrees and only a slight wind. You could not ask for more perfect running weather. This was my shot at a new PR and I did not want to let it go to waste. I felt so great in the 10K last week before that I felt I could be a little more aggressive with my pace. My strategy was to steadily hit 8 minute/mile splits and see how I felt in the last three miles. After finding some room to run, I was right on it. I didn't stop at any aid station and only an untimely shoe lace malfunction at mile 8 forced me to break my rhythm. I found myself running with an ad hoc running buddy which surely helped me stay on pace for much of the second half. I know I was under 8 for much of that back half. I was certainly in the mid to low 7s in the last 2 miles. I ended up with and 8:21 pace first half and a 8:00 second half, which was awesome. I had never felt so strong during any of my previous half marathons. I finally broke my long-standing half marathon PR by almost three minutes. Strong start, stronger finish.

Here's the line.

             Overall         ---- 1st Half ----                  ---- 2nd Half ----              Chip
Place Place Rnk   Time         Pace        Rnk Time  Pace       Time
9           110 11 54:14.9 8:21/M 8 52:25.5 8:00/M 1:46:40.4

As amazing as the personal achievement was, the best part was being able to cheer on so many of my family and friends who were out there, some of whom were running their very first half marathons! Congratulations to all!

I am so thankful have an amazing support system, lead by my incredible wife who is always there to cheer me on. :)

NBA Fit 5K and Rodeo Run 10K Recap

NBA Fit 5K - This experience was really special for the simple fact that I would have a chance to cross the finish line with my amazing wife. This was her second 5K and she was determined to better her time. She accomplished her goal and I was lucky enough to be holding her hand as she did it.

Rodeo Run 10K - I have never done a 10K race before. The main reason I signed up for this one was because I had friends at work who wanted to form a team. Plus, the entry was really cheap and I figured it would be a great tune-up for next week's Sugar Land Half. Overall, I did better than I expected! With a huge crowd, I was just hoping to break 50 minutes. On top of that, I haven't really been doing much speed work lately either. The site was slow to get the official results up, but according to my Garmin I had finished 6.38 miles in 48 minutes and 2 seconds with an average pace of 7:32 min/miles. I was stoked. The entire event was really great. I'll definitely do this one again.

Chip Time:  00:47:59
1st 5K: 00:24:23
2nd 5K: 00:23:36
Pace: 00:07:43

Rocky Raccoon 50 Mile Trail Race Recap

Fifty miles. My biggest worry was that I had no idea how my body would feel after that many miles. Would old injuries flare up? Would completely new injuries develop? Would my body just break down? This was completely new territory for me.

A friend told me that the Rocky Raccoon Trail Race was the "Superbowl of trail races" down here. That description turned out to be totally spot on. The park was jammed pack full of cars. We had to walk over a quarter mile just to get to the starting line. It is really a neat sight seeing hundreds of runners dashing into to the dark woods just before dawn breaks. The 50 mile route consisted of three 16.67 mile loops. The first loop felt great. My legs were felt fresh and I had limited the amount of stumbles. I was a little concerned that I had taken it a bit too fast. I was on pace to finish in under eleven hours, well below my conservative expectation of a fourteen hour finish. I knew that I couldn't keep this up if I were to have anything left in the tank at the end. By the middle of the second loop, I started to feel it set in. I was feeling the fatigue and was having a harder time on the climbs. I probably fell behind on hydration and salt because I felt both hamstrings threatening to cramp. I ended up walking a lot in the back half of that second loop. This is when I started to feel discouraged. I couldn't run very far without feeling the discomfort and that frustrated me. Between miles 23 through 33, I felt so beat up. The self-doubt started to set in. I hadn't felt this frustrated and angry during a race since my very first marathon. I had serious thoughts of throwing in the towel as soon as I finished up that second loop. I just didn't think I had another seventeen miles in me. Lucky for me, a friend of mine caught up to me and kept me moving. After eight miles with him, I was renewed. My outlook changed entirely and I was back in this thing. I found a second wind and had that moment. The moment you realize you're okay and that you have the fortitude to keep moving. The best way I can describe it is that is is like receiving running grace. You feel that you can't fail because something greater is in your corner. That's what I felt all the way through to the finish. I had been on my feet from sunrise to sunset and I was finally done.

It wasn't that long ago that I thought doing anything over a marathon's distance was completely inconceivable or at the very least reserved for the most extreme distance running elites. Certainly, it couldn't be for someone like me, a slightly above middle-of-the-pack marathoner. And still, in the last ten months I have completed three ultra marathons. All on trails, all ultras distances. I remember when I thought the natural progression for me as a runner was to learn how to swim and get into triathlons. Forget triathlons, I think I'm an ultra marathoner now.

12:24:36

2013 Chevron Houston Marathon Recap

There are few weekends of the year that I truly look forward to. The Houston Marathon Weekend is one of those weekends for me. There's just so much excitement leading up to it. This year was unique in that bad weather was looming in the forecast for days. Race day morning brought the worst of it with cold freezing rain, but it cleared up by the second half of the race. The rain and numerous puddles had my shoes and socks soaked. I decided to exercise my option of changing into some dry gear, thanks to a drop bag my wife kept with her near mile 17. It took me 3 or 4 minutes to get changed thanks to numb fingers, but I immediately felt more comfortable in shoes that didn't have 8 ounces of water sloshing around in them. I was hitting my mile splits on the money up until mile 16 or so. I didn't think I'd PR given the weather, but my first half of the race was strong enough to make me think I might get a shot. I really debated whether or not I should change shoes at all. I concluded that I didn't want to risk blistering in the last 6 miles so I would take the time for the pit stop. I don't really know if I would have done better without it, but at least my feet were a little more comfortable. My pace was still pretty decent through mile 19 or so, but I knew I was slowing. I managed to push on until the turn at Shepherd when sore feet and some IT pain on my right side convinced me to do some walking. I tried to stay steady down the Allen Parkway stretch to have enough for a strong push in the last mile and half into downtown.

Now for some race analysis for my running journal. As you can tell from my splits, I need to work on improving my pace for the late miles beyond the 25K mark. Contrast that with last years PR run where I was much stronger through the 35K mark.

2013 Results - 04:16:23
Splits         Pace
5K            09:13
10K          09:11
15K          09:10
20K          09:12
HALF       09:13
25K          09:16
30K          09:31
35K          09:38
40K          09:48
Finish        09:47

2012 Results - 04:10:27
Splits         Pace
5K            -
10K          09:03
15K          09:02
20K          09:00
HALF       09:00
25K          09:03
30K          09:09
35K          09:20
40K          09:31
Finish        09:34

Now for a special thanks to all my friends and family. Running has grown to become such an integral part of me that I could not be doing this without your support. Thanks to all my friends I saw during the race. I got to run with so many of you this weekend. Running is often thought to be an individual endeavor, but running buddies like you all really prove that notion to be wrong. A very very very special thanks to my lovely wife who is the absolute best supporter in the world. She also exceeded her expectation in her first ABB 5K this weekend and I am so proud of her. It was awesome to play the role of supporter cheering from the sidelines.