3M Half Marathon

I went in to 3M knowing it would be a different kind of race for me this year. Early in January I got a sharp pain in my lower back, Dr. Olson at Performance wellness said, probably caused by too much sitting at a desk (along with some muscular imbalances), seriously? I spent all summer and fall Ironman training and never had more than a couple very minor aches & pains; then I spent December being LAZY and I got injured! Sheesh! Dr. Olson said I could run 3M, but I had to "be smart about it". Ok, I can do that- it's not like I'm Red or something ;)

So 3M goals:
1. be careful and make sure to not aggravate my injury
2. Have Fun!

Kendra picked me up and we got to the start early, which gave me a chance to use the restroom before anyone else and even before a line started (later the lines were insanely long and some people missed the start because they were in line)! Getting there early also gave me a chance to socialize with all my Tri Zones buddies, which was awesome! I've been having withdrawl because I'm not in the training group this winter so I'm not seeing everyone 2 or 3 times a week (I'm telling you, being lazy really isn't that great).

A few minutes before 6:45 we all headed over to the start, Kendra and I lost everyone else and then found Tom. The gun went off at exactly 6:45 this year (no crazy delays like last year!) and we crossed the start just 3 minutes later. Becky found us almost immediately, and Coach Tracy cheered for us just a few feet after the start. It wasn't really cold, but it was drizzly and the roads were wet, I was glad I had decided to wear arm warmers.

The first 6 miles flew by. Becky, Kendra and I stayed mostly together. We saw lots of Tri Zoners spectating along the course. I was taking my planned walking breaks but I kept catching up to Kendra and Becky, sometimes without realizing it until one of them said something. I was feeling great and really happy I had decided to run! Somehow I missed Coach Tracy spectating on Mesa even though she yelled my name "FOUR TIMES" as she told me after the race! Oops! It's really rare that I miss people on the course spectating for me.

Let's see if I can remember everyone I saw out there spectating (sorry if I miss anyone!), there was Coach Tracy, Carolyn, Adrian & Kenneth, Laura, Sarah R., Matt, Drew, Annette, Tom, E-beth & Beth, Leah, Colleen, Jody, and some guy I don't know on a bike who was super excited to cheer on all of us Tri Zoners, at one point he said to me "by now you've already swam, biked and transitioned twice!" Thanks to everyone who came out to spectate- you all make it so much more fun!

Somewhere around mile 6 I felt like maybe my back was getting a little tight, definitely not hurting just maybe a little tight. At that point I wasn't even sure it was real, maybe just a mental thing since I hadn't run more than 6 miles in 3 weeks. Kendra and I got to the relay exchange point at 1:12, I knew if I kept that pace, I could come really close to a PR, but I also knew that would probably be a pretty stupid thing to attempt, being undertrained and slightly injured. By mile 7 my back was definitely feeling a little tight so I slowed down quite a bit. It didn't hurt, so I was still having fun and seeing lots of Tri Zoners out spectating! Linda caught me on Burnet and we ran together for awhile.

I turned onto North Loop and slowed down for the uphill section planning to run the long down hill faster, but when I got to the downhill, running faster didn't feel so good, so instead I took it slower and took the next uphill even slower, yeah that pretty much means walking. I love running down Duval but obviously this year I had to take it slower than I wanted. No big deal. I got to high five more spectators and talk to Jody for a second when I saw her.

A little before mile 12, I was ready to be done. My back wasn't feeling so great and I was starting to worry I was making it worse. Good thing I only had a mile or so to go. Of course, when I got near the finish line I forgot about all that and just had fun! I finished in 2:37:18, definitely not my fastest half, but that wasn't really the goal this time.

I got to congratulate lots of Tri Zoners on their first half marathons and on PRs. Michael from Performance Wellness did a little massage work on my back and made it feel much better, so I wasn't worried about the race making it worse anymore. When I went to Performance Wellness on Monday, Dr. Olson said the muscles felt a lot better. I guess that means I should run a half marathon every weekend!

Pictures coming soon, as soon as Coach Tracy puts them up on the site ;)

3M Half Marathon

Tri Zones at 3M, photo by Tom Marek

The 3M half marathon is the 6th race in the Austin Distance Challenge. Saturday night Jeff and I had chicken avocado salad for dinner and I felt like I barely slept at all. I got up triathlon early since they were starting the race at 6:45 in the morning! I got to Sandra's office about 2 minutes before Julie, Sandra, Nicki, and Peggy and they immediately told me I was going to freeze to death in a sleeveless shirt, arm warmers and a running skirt. I was pretty sure they were right. The weather website said 55 degrees, but it was definitely not 55 degrees! We ran over to the start and waited, and waited and waited. Turns out the wind was so strong that it was blowing barricades over and the city police and volunteers needed more time to get them set up and secured enough for the crazy strong wind. We ended up waiting about an hour and I was freezing! Me, Nicki, and Julie waiting for the start and freezing. Photo by Tom Marek

Kenneth acted as my wind block for awhile, Nicki found someone's throw away sweat pants for me, and Julie rubbed my legs like a massage therapist- thanks guys!!Julie rubbing my legs to warm them up, I was freezing, thanks Julie! Photo by Tom Marek

When we finally started I was cold for about the first mile or two, but then with the sun I started to feel good. Sandra and I were going to try to run marathon pace, but we knew that would be tough on the fast, mostly downhill 3M course, especially with a 20-30 mph tailwind! Sandra and I just after starting. Photo by Tom Marek

We saw Tom taking pictures right at the start, Mandy passed us on our first walk break, and we saw Rita shortly after that. Just before the first rest stop I saw Carolyn and Tina in front of us, I thought we'd catch them and run with them for awhile, but after the stop, I couldn't see them anymore, I wasn't sure if they got ahead or behind us. On Spicewood Springs we saw Laura, Amy, and Sarah R. and gave them high fives! Somewhere along Spicewood or Mesa there was a group of jugglers on the course- fun! On Shoal Creek and Foster we saw Annette, Tom, Vicki and Emmy. Sandra and I at Shoal Creek. Photo by Tom Marek

We looked for Jeff, but he ended up being a little late to see us, with the long delay he didn't have any way to time when we'd come by.
Running on Foster with the sun right in my eyes! Photo by Tom Marek

By this time I think we had run 1 mile at marathon pace the rest were faster, I kept telling Sandra we should slow down, but neither of us really did. At one point she said, "but don't you think we're dong marathon effort?" I agreed that we were running pretty easy and could keep up that effort for 5+ hours so we just went with it. Just after the relay exchange point we saw Kristen, who had an awesome 6.7 mile run today, her longest yet!

On Burnet we saw Stacey H. wearing a cool Mardi Gras mask, and on North Loop we saw Leah. At a water stop on North Loop Diane caught up to us and ran the rest of the way with us. Duval was fun to run on because it's really downhill and because so many people were out in their yards cheering. We saw Rita again, and Jody on Duval and Amy again on campus. We ran the last 2 miles at a harder effort and I knew even if we didn't speed up, all 3 of us would PR.Coming in to the finish, don't know why I'm sticking my tongue out at Tom! Photo by Tom Marek

We saw a barricade blow onto the course on Duval, it was pretty amazing how fast that barricade just scooted into the street! If someone had been in the way, I'm sure they would have tripped. The wind really was pretty crazy, but since it was at our backs most of the race, it didn't seem like a big deal most of the time.
Showing off my new Tri Zones headband, our Tri Zones Winter Running Goodie. Photo by Tom Marek

We came in at 2:25:05, which for me is a 2:49 PR over Decker in Dec. I'm really happy with that especially considering we were taking it easy and trying to run marathon effort. I had an absolutely awesome time running today! It was so much fun to see so many Tri Zoners out spectating and cheering us on! It ended up being beautiful running weather, nice and sunny which just makes me happy, and a PR was just icing on the cake.

Decker Challenge Half Marathon

Jeff and I at the Austin Farmer's Market on Saturday. Ingrid and Del came to town on Friday night and we all had a great time at the Farmer's Market on Saturday checking out all the cool local farms and getting yummy and healthy produce and meats for the week.

Saturday night Del, Richard, Jeff, and I went to Fred and Lori's holiday party. They made a great dinner, of course I was worried about eating anything different for pre-race dinner, but luckily it worked out ok this time. After a very fun and animated white elephant gift exchange, we headed home early to get a good nights sleep before Decker.

The Decker Challenge is race number 4 of the Distance Challenge, it's a hilly half marathon with a reputation for bad weather. It was very cold (in the lower 40's) with a very heavy mist on race morning- yuck! Although it was about what we had expected based on the forecast and based on the fact that the weather is always terrible for Decker (except last year when it was really nice, but still pretty cold). Thank goodness we could be inside before the race or we would have frozen to death out there! Ingrid and I did a short warm up run, less than a mile right before the start.
Del, Ingrid and me pre-race
At the start I felt cold but not completely miserable and I knew I would warm up after a couple of miles. Looking pretty cold, wet and nasty at the start. Photo by Jake North Photography who later posted on their FB page that the location was "the coldest, darkest, hilliest, windiest place in Austin"
In the first mile I saw Ingrid and Priscilla. I was using Ingrid's Garmin to pace myself and I really liked it. Even after 4 miles and the turn onto Lindell I was still pretty cold, that almost never happens, but I was keeping a good pace. I was really glad I had my balaclava/face mask, my ears and chin were a little cold even with it. "Little Mr. Tard" wasn't as bad as I remembered it last year at Decker and at the top, two girls saw the next long hill and started talking loudly about how hard it looked so I told them "that one's not nearly as bad as the one we just did, I promise!" I don't think they believed me. But really, that second hill looks bad from a distance, but it isn't very steep. I talked with a few people along the way, but didn't see anyone else I knew. Between mile 8 and 9, Santa was at the aid station, so I high fived him as I ran by. I tried hard to thank as many volunteers and spectators as I could because it was a terrible day to be outside and I wanted them to know how much I appreciated them.

I had planned to see how I felt and possibly go for a half marathon PR, but I knew that would be tough if not impossible since Decker is such a tough course. I have been trying to beat my very first Austin half marathon in Feb. 2008 for almost 2 years. It doesn't make any sense that I didn't beat it last year because I know I was much better trained and even ran on 1 easier course, but I just couldn't beat it in any of my 3 half marathons last year. So I planned to run an 11:30 pace and try for a PR.

I actually ran closer to an 11:00 pace for at least the first half and then slowed a little for some of the bigger hills toward the end. I was feeling pretty good even though I was cold and wet the entire race. I never took a cup of water from an aid station and had to force myself to drink my Infinit, I think I was breathing in so much water with the mist/rain that I just never got thristy.

As I came back into the expo center grounds and could see the finish I was just ecstatic, the Garmin only said 2:26 and I was easily less than 2 minutes from the finish line! I saw Kristen, Blonde Pam, and Chris near the finish. Chris even picked up a big orange pylon and yelled my name through it, it sounded like a loudspeaker! Ingrid was on the other side of the finish jumping up and down and screaming for me! I was SO happy to finally beat my very first half marathon time and at Decker! I ended up finishing in 2:27:54 which is 4:23 faster than my very first (and fastest) half marathon and over 18 minutes faster than Decker last year. I'm sure my pictures will be funny because I was pretty much laughing the last 100 meters or so and they had 2 photographers there.Update on the pictures: This is one of the first Decker Challenge pictures on Jake North Photography's FB page today. And yes, I was really that happy! Thanks Jake North Photography for a great race finish picture!

Thanks so much to Coach Jen and the Tri Zones Longhorn training this summer, Coach Tracy and the Tri Zones Winter Running Program, and Ingrid for letting me borrow her Garmin! I couldn't have done it without all of you!

Turns out Ingrid, Del, Richard, Julie M. and I (and maybe a few other Tri Zoners?) all got half marathon PRs at Decker! At some point someone said "we just had to run faster to get out of that awful weather!" There may be some truth to that!

Just a couple minutes after finishing I got really cold. I had to change out of my wet shirt, but I was still cold. I had thought I had talked Del and Ingrid into Coach Jen's Sunday Swim after the race, but since it was so cold Ingrid (Ingrid the Machine of all people!!) said NO WAY on the swim and instead we went to Homeslice Pizza!
Ingrid, Del, and Richard at Homeslice
Jeff and I at Homeslice

They were having a contest at Homeslice, whoever kept their hand on an eggplant sub the longest would win a year of free Homeslice pizza! When we got there there were 4 people left and they had been standing outside with their hands on the sub for 24 hours!

At Homeslice Ingrid said she was only going to eat about 1/2 a slice of pizza because she really wanted to go to Gordough's. Del hadn't been to Gordough's before and asked "It's just a donut shop?" Ingrid and I just laughed at him.
Ordering at Gordough's
Ingrid trying the Black Out Donut, super chocolate. This morning on Del's FB page is a picture from Gordough's with this caption "No they're NOT just donuts...trust me".