Saturday, February 27, 2010

Le Tour de Bean

Shayla, Kendra, me, Red, Elizabeth, Monica, and Kristen at Jack & Adam's starting Le Tour de Bean

On Friday Kendra talked Shayla and I into doing the Tour de Bean, a 10 mile downtown ride stopping at 4 local coffee shops. I suggested riding from my house down to Jack & Adam's, doing the ride, then riding back to my house to get in a little more mileage. Kristen decided to join us too.

They showed up at my house right on time, but then Kendra got a flat, after she changed it and we got going, I was worried we'd be late. We had a really nice ride down to J&A's and pulled into the parking lot at 8:29- perfect timing! There were probably about 30 people there for the ride. We met Elizabeth, Monica, and Red there- Tri Zones was well represented!

They gave us maps and said we'd start by going up Dawson, I thought that was a super steep hill and got everyone all worked up about it only to realize that it wasn't steep at all, Monica said I was thinking of Bouldin- oops!

First stop was Once Over Coffee on South First, I had a "winter warmer" some kind of coffee drink with milk and cinnamon- yum!
Monica at Once Over Coffee
Once Over also has a really cute patio

We left Once Over and flew down Congress and across I35-yikes! to Progress Coffee. I had regular coffee there and shared a pastry with Red and Kristen. Shayla took this video
I think it's pretty obvious in the video that I'm already hyped up on caffeine! One cup of coffee is probably the most I've ever had in one day before today.
Kristen, me, Red, Monica, and Elizabeth at Progress
Elizabeth got some kind of sandwich, I'm not sure what it was but she shared and it was yummy!
Kristen with her tea?? at Progress, this is also where Kristen claimed "I think I was born with a callused ass!" I think this is a good thing because she can ride all day without her ass getting sore! I wish I had a callused ass too.

Then we rode up 6th Street and West Lynn to Cafe Medici, and of course I had more coffee, Kristen and Kendra decided I needed to be cut off at that point!
They do pretty leaf patterns in their drinks.
At Cafe Medici

Then we went back down toward Lift Cafe (home of the Bacon Latte), this is really the only time I didn't really know where I was going, but somehow Kendra and I ended up leading the whole group!
Kristen and Monica at Lift. Monica had an "Elvis on Crack" smoothie
me, Kendra, and Elizabeth at Lift

I had almond milk hot cocoa at Lift- yum! Apparently Lift had a special going for us- $2 mimosas! But I didn't hear about that until we were getting ready to leave- not that I needed alcohol on top of all that caffeine!
the service at Lift is always great and when I asked the guys if I could get a picture they really hammed it up for me!

We rode back to my house and Kendra and I did our t-run even though I was starving and a little dizzy from all the caffeine!

What a fun morning! Doesn't get much better than a fun ride with friends, beautiful weather, and good coffee! Le Tour de Bean was such a success that J&A's is already planning for "Tour de Taco Trailer"!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The Great Austin Blizzard of 2010

It snowed more in Austin today than it has in over 25 years. As much as I hate snow, even I had to admit that the HUGE flakes falling from the sky looked pretty, as long as I was in my office with my blanket and space heater!I did venture out to the steps of my building to take a couple of pictures of the snow falling, but with my crappy phone camera you really can't see the big snowflakes falling.
But you can see the snow actually sticking all around the Turtle Pond.

While I was staying inside during the blizzard, Jeff and his guys were riding bikes around the parking lot in the snow and having snowball fights in the shop!
Mark, Adrian (on the pink bike) and Pieps riding in the snow
Pieps and Adrian riding in the snow, you can't even see the snow falling with Jeff's fancy new iphone camera.
When I came home I saw that our neighbors had made a big snowman, it's over 5 ft tall!

Barefoot/Pose Clinic

My first experience with barefoot running was Sunday with a little barefoot group that Andrew told me about. We ran through the grass, on the sidewalk, asphalt, and on the track barefoot. I ran almost a mile and was impressed that it really didn't hurt until I got a big blood blister on the ball of my foot! That sounds bad, but it actually taught me a little bit about my running form and what I can do to make it better.

Last night we went to the Barefoot/Minimalist footwear/Pose clinic at REI. They didn't really advertise it as a Pose clinic, but I knew Coach Valerie Hunt would be there so I knew there would be at least some discussion of Pose technique. Josue Stephens began the clinic talking about barefoot running vs. running in minimalist shoes. His main message- Don't Do Too Much At First! You'll be using muscles in your feet you may have never used before so take it very slowly! He passed around some Vibram Five Finger shoes, some shoes that looked like water shoes from Target, and his authentic Tarahumara huarache sandals made by Barefoot Ted. He told us a little (not nearly as much as I would have loved to hear!) about racing the Copper Canyon 50 miler with the Tarahumara in 2008 and meeting and running with Barefoot Ted. He also suggested trying out different minimalist shoes and barefeet and going with what is comfortable for you.

Then Coach Val gave us a Pose lesson, mostly the stuff Coach Tracy has emphasized at Tri Zones running. Pulling with your hamstrings and falling (which is SO hard for me!). She also talked about how Pose running and minimalist footwear go hand in hand because minimalist footwear pretty much forces you to land fore to mid foot, but you still have to practice and get the technique right. Barefoot running won't magically make you run properly (Darn!). Then Dr. Mike Maggio showed up to continue the Pose discussion. Dr. Mike is super high energy, kind of funny, and crazy passionate about Pose running. He's been at the track during a few Tri Zones workouts and shown us some really hard Pose drills and helped Kendra and I one day too. Dr. Mike showed video of some people running with poor form and good form, very interesting! I've already talked Jeff into videoing me running so I can see what I'm doing wrong.

The clinic started a 2 hour discussion between Jeff and I about running form, running education, and footwear. Based on what I've learned, I will definitely be incorporating some barefoot drills for foot strength, working harder on proper Pose running, and probably working into some barefoot/minimalist running, but not until that big blood blister heals.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Love Austin, Run Austin- my First Marathon

The Austin Marathon was on Valentine's Day this year, so they did a Valentine theme- Love Austin, Run Austin and I love the medals with red and hearts on the sides.

Pre-Race:
Jeff and I went to the Expo Friday after work and picked up race packets for me, Sandra, Ingrid, Kim, Cassie, and Shelley. I was afraid it would be really crowded, but I didn't have to wait at all and the volunteer who helped me was great!We looked around at the Expo and I tried on a pair of Newton Running Shoes, I loved the way they feel, but they are SO different, I haven't decided yet if I want to go for it and get something like that or not. I think I stand to gain a lot from changing to a minimalist shoe that encourages forefoot running, but I also think it could lead to injury and I can't afford an injury, especially this year.

Saturday was a pretty low-key day. Del had come in Friday night and Ingrid and Kim got to my house around 1:00, Matt called to tell me he was coming to spectate- what a cool surprise! Cassie and Shelley got to my house around 4:00 and pre-race dinner was at 6:00- honey-lime chicken salad with avocado and tomato and roasted potatoes and a little red wine.
putting the timing tag on my shoe

I slept pretty poorly on Saturday night, which is normal. I had eggs and half an avocado for breakfast and sipped on some Infinit before the start. We got to the Tri Zones tent early enough to relax and hang out with everyone.Jeff and I before the start. Photo by Tom MarekDel, Sandra, Shelley, Cassie, Kim, me, and IngridTri Zoners before the race. Photo by Tom Marek.

It was cold but not as cold as at 3M, or maybe it just didn't feel as cold since I had a coat and long pants to stay warm pre-race!Sandra stretching before the start. Photo by Tom Marek

My marathon fears:
Everyone has always talked about how hard marathons are and how much they hurt, generally for your first marathon you train up to 20-22 miles (Sandra and I did a 20 and a 21 miler) so I had never run 26.2 miles before and I didn't know what to expect other than what people had told me. Some of my fears were:
1. it would hurt a lot!
2. it would be really difficult mentally and not fun
3. I sometimes have some GI issues anyway so I was very concerned my stomach would rebel against me
4. my IT band has been pretty good since Dr. Sellers fixed it last summer, but I was worried it would rebel too
5. I would hit "The Wall" at mile 20 and not even want to finish

The Race:
Sandra and I had done all of our long training runs together, so we planned to run together unless one of us had issues that the other didn't want to wait for. I think I speak for Sandra too when I say our goals for the race in order of importance were:
1. to NOT get injured!
2. to Finish!
3. to have fun!

Sandra and I lined up just a few minutes before the start, but it felt like forever before we got to cross the start line (it was about 10 minutes) and of course I was freezing (it was in the 40's at the start)! They had fireworks at the start again this year, but not big aerial ones, so I had to jump up and down to see them (sometimes it sucks to be short). I warmed up after a couple of miles and the weather was perfect for a marathon- sunny and in the 50's. All day long Sandra and I kept saying how lucky we were that the weather was so beautiful.The huge sea of people coming down the hill before heading up Congress

We stuck to our plan to take the first 3 uphill miles very slowly and I made a point to watch the sea of people running up the hill just after the start, what a cool sight! Sandra and I like to count things while we run, we always count Decker Challenge shirts and sometimes other things too. Sandra counted a Decker shirt just after the start and after seeing Jeff, Kenneth, and Carolyn at Riverside I decided we should also count our friends out spectating. We very quickly decided that seeing the same person more than once totally counted again because it was just as much fun to see them the second, third or fourth time as it was the first!
Running down South First
When we turned onto South First we really sped up for those downhill miles, and that continued onto Lake Austin. At the water stop on Lake Austin, I was mixing Infinit in my fuel belt bottle and it fell on the ground. For a split second panic set in- oh no! I can't stick to my nutrition plan! I'm going to bonk! I'll puke if I drink Powerade! But after a split second the panic was gone and it didn't even seem like a big deal. In the end it was no problem at all.

We walked up some of the hills on Enfield and Exposition mostly because we're pretty sure we can't run them any faster than we walk them and as Sandra says "no point in wasting energy running when you aren't going any faster than a walk". We saw a couple out in their yard with a table and water cooler and I noticed their cute Golden Retriever, then I noticed they were holding baby puppies! They had 3 week old Golden Retriever puppies so Sandra and I HAD to stop and pet them! We petted and cooed at the puppies and talked to the owners, one of the puppies even gave me a kiss on the cheek! We saw Tom taking pictures less than a mile later and told him about the puppies, we knew he would appreciate that after stopping to pet a puppy at his San Antonio marathon last year.Around mile 10, I'm happy because I just petted a Golden Retreiver puppy. Photo by Tom Marek

We saw Elizabeth H. working at the mile 11 water stop, she was busy filling cups, but I really wanted her to see us so I screamed her name and waved at her, then she looked up and saw us and waved and cheered for us.

Everyone says that Bull Creek to Foster is the worst part of the marathon, I guess I can't argue, but it wasn't that bad. Those miles are slightly uphill and still going North so mentally they're a little tougher, but there were lots of spectators having parties at their houses and most of them were pretty energetic and entertaining. We also got to see Jeff, Kenneth and Matt on Shoal Creek and Matt ran with us for a little while and told us Kim had finished the half and had a good run. I was feeling good at that point but I was thinking, wow we still have 10 miles left to run. After turning onto Foster we got to see quite a few of our More Cowbell Corps friends!On Shoal Creek, 15 miles down!

We stopped to pet another puppy, a black lab, on Morrow and his owner (who was a 4 or 5 year old little girl) told us very excitedly "after the turn ahead it's all downhill the rest of the way I promise!!" that wasn't 100% true, but we did have a good downhill section coming up. At mile 19 we saw Jenny and Joe and stopped to give them hugs. I'm not sure why(we saw lots of friends all along the entire route), but I was really looking forward to getting to mile 19 and seeing Jenny and Joe. When we started running again I could feel my legs starting to stiffen up a little. We made a potty stop at mile 20, and I was happily surprised we both seemed to still be feeling pretty good. We were getting tired, but nothing major. Again, I could feel the stiffness when I started running again, but once I got going I was fine.

Coach Cindy and Jody were at mile 22, and Sandra wanted to stop and give hugs again, but I didn't want to stiffen up again so I quickly hugged Cindy and waved to Jody and said something about needing to keep moving. At mile 23 we were making the turn onto Red River and I saw someone holding a sign that said "Go Heather" so I told Sandra "I'm going to pretend that sign is just for me!" As we got closer I realized that the sign actually said "Go Heather H" and that GreenMan from the kickrunning triathlon forum was holding it- I had forgotten that he said he'd be at mile 23 and watching for Kelli (another Austin kickrunner) and me, so the sign really WAS for me! How cool is that! He ran with us for a couple minutes too.

I had been worried about hitting the dreaded wall, but so far I had felt pretty much fine. As soon as we turned the corner onto 41st St. at about 23.6 miles-BOOM it hit me! I think it was the exact opposite of hitting the wall, I felt absolutely elated! I told Sandra "We have less than 3 miles left to go! I'm SO Happy right now!!" My cheeks started to hurt from smiling even more than I had been before! I think I was even laughing a little!On Duval just before entering campus, photo by Carolyn Marek
The last 2.6 went pretty well, it was definitely fun to see the Capitol and know we had less than 1 mile to go! Photo by Tom Marek

We decided we would walk the steep MLK hill then walk to the Capitol grounds and run to the finish from there. But as we were walking toward the Capitol, Jeff, Kenneth, and Coach Jen came riding up behind us, I saw them coming and told Sandra we might have to start running sooner. Coach Jen rode along side us for a minute encouraging us until we started running again- before the Capitol grounds. Entering the Capitol grounds
On the Capitol grounds Elle, who had finished the half and hung out to cowbell, was screaming and cheering for us like crazy- she was obviously so excited for us! Not far past Elle we picked it up and "sprinted" to the finish. We finished at 5:26 and had an awesome time doing it!

A few highlights:
1. Seeing 62 (63 if we count each other) friends cowbelling on the course! That makes races SO much fun! Every time we saw a friend it was just such a great feeling- so thanks so much to all of you for being out there!Kristen, Shayla, and Kendra were a few of the 62 friends and "More Cowbell Corps" out on the course- Thanks guys!! Photo by Tom Marek
2. Petting 3 puppies, and seeing way too many beautiful dogs to count
3. Being offered beer at least twice- I say at least because I'm not sure if some of the others were offering it to us or just bragging that they had it.
4. Seeing a sign with my name that I assumed was for someone else but really was made just for me! Thanks GreenMan!
5. Seeing so many energetic spectators all over the course- including lots of bands, a little kid (not over 5) playing drums in his yard, 2 gorillas, a cow (person dressed as a cow), lots of funny, creative signs, and a guy advertising a "Valentine's Day Escort Service- I'll escort you from mile 19 to mile 20 at your pace"
6. Getting to run my first marathon with such an awesome friend! Thanks Sandra!

Post race:
We got our medals and immediately saw Kristen, Nicki and Shayla, talked with them for a minute, got our finisher shirts and Jeff was waiting at the exit of the finisher area. Still smiling after the race! Photo by Tom Marek
We went over to the Tri Zones tent and got/gave a million sweaty hugs and congratulations. Michael Owens from Performance Wellness was our Tri Zones post race massage therapist and I'm pretty sure he's the reason my back and hips feel perfect today (they've generally been a little sore after our long runs). Then we went to Gordough's with the "Houston Tri Zoners" as Coach Tracy has nicknamed them, for a post-marathon sugar rush! Yum! They had some issues with running out of dough (hmmm...the "Houston Tri Zoners" ate all the donuts at Gordough's?) so we were there almost 2 hours. Cassie getting ready to enjoy her donut- a Funky Monkey with chocolateMatt about to take his first taste of a Gordough's donut hole.

By then, I had just enough time to shower and go to Jody's Amazing Race premiere at the Alamo Drafthouse. Photo by Tom Marek

It was so much fun watching the first episode with Jody and all my other Tri Zones friends! I had been a little worried that the show's editors would make Jody and Shannon seem something other than sweet and awesome, but they definitely came across as their sweet, awesome selves in last night's episode!Jody at the Amazing Race Premiere. Photo by Tom Marek

Definitely an Amazing day!!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Pre-marathon report

I will be running my first marathon in a week, I'm definitely getting excited. Coach Tracy had us all write out our race plans including what we'll eat before, during, and after the race, what we'll wear, when we'll get to the start, etc. She also asked us to email her 3 things that we saw on our 21 miler on the race course that we would look forward to seeing on race day. Of course I couldn't narrow it down to just 3, so I have 12.

1. Crossing Town Lake on the Congress bridge and seeing ALL those people running up Congress-so cool! Obviously I didn't see this on the 21 miler, but I remember how fun it is from my last 2 Austin Half Marathons.

2. Passing Home Slice and Guero's, last year Guero's had breakfast tacos going and it smelled great, again didn't go this way for the 21 miler.Guero's at night, obviously it will look a little different on marathon morning!

3. Crossing Town Lake on the First Street bridge. I just love to look at Town Lake.This was taken during the CapTex Tri

4. The adorable houses on Enfield and Exposition. I love this area, before my first Austin Half, Jeff and I drove the course and I thought this was one of the cutest neighborhoods I'd ever seen.
5. Shoal Creek Nursery on Hancock. I love plants and it's really pretty there.
6. From White Rock to Woodrow is my neighborhood, I run there a lot so it feels familiar.I hope Sandra and I feel as good on Foster at the marathon as we did at 3M! Photo by Tom Marek.

7. The Peter Pan house. It has a really pretty yard, lots of butterfly and hummingbird plants, a very cute and sweet golden retriever who is always on the porch and it says "Second on the right and straight on till morning" on the porch.

8. Sandra saw the "Chimps don't Eat Poo" sign on our 21 miler but I missed it. I ran part of that route for my 10 miler last weekend and saw the sign. It was a homemade looking sign that said "No EAT" and there was a picture of a dog pooping and what appeared to be a chimpanzee eating what I assume was poo-so weird!! I drove by today and the sign was gone! They're renovating the house where it was. When I told Sandra it was gone she said, "NOOOO!!" and then "I'm going to go through their dumpster and find it!" I SO wish I had gotten a picture of it!

9. The fun, cool houses on 46th and Ave. H. After living in Austin, I think I actually like this neighborhood (Hyde Park) better than the Enfield (Tarrytown) neighborhood, it's just got a funky, fun, Austin vibe and some of the houses really show that.Peace sign hanging in the trees on 46th Street

10. The beautiful old plantation looking house on 47th, I had never seen it before our 21 miler.
11. Running down San Jacinto on campus and seeing the Capitol! Less than 2 miles to go!
12. Finish Line!!!This is the finish from my first Austin Half Marathon, I really hope I feel as good and have as much fun at the marathon as I did that day!

When Jeff saw my list he said, "There are only 12! Don't you need 26? One for each mile? Wouldn't that be better, something to look for every mile" Maybe he has a point. But at this point, I'm not sure I can come up with 14 more things in all the right places before the marathon.