The Bond

So, I thought of this post as I was running last night but was to tired to updated when I got home. So here it is 24 hours later.....

There is a bond that runners share. Whether it's passing another running on the trail, street or sidewalk. All runners are bonded. Whether you wave at another car that as a 13.1 or a 26.2, you know you look in and see who's driving and what they look like. If one runner meets another person and discovers they are runners...they are already friends. The conversation is monopolized and all you will hear about is aches, pains, PR's, next race, and last race. Runner's have their own language. Words and terms like fartleks (my fav), PR's, hit my wall, tempo runs. There is nothing like going to a race together or going on a long run together and then eating at your favorite breakfast place afterwards. Walking in to eat wearing your bib number and maybe a nice piece of bling around your neck will surely get you stares and wrinkled noises cause you stink. There is nothing more boring than going to a race alone. You run, you cross the finish line, maybe go thru the food area, get somewhat dried off then go home. I find that with friends, you always stick around and linger to check out what free stuff is around. No running for me tonight. Two days in a row is enough. Hoping for a 14 miler this weekend.....we'll see.....................................

Enjoy your runs, whether they are together or apart.

10 miler

It's been a busy week since I ran my 10 miler race last sunday. Being home for one day didn't give me much time to update....so....here it is.

I honestly thought I was not ready for this race. I haven't ran 10 miles outside in a while. But I gave myself a 2 hour time limit and beat it. I came in an 1:45 mins.  I did feel myself starting to get tired toward the end but i just kept running and saying "I have to beat the rain". The dark clouds stayed around all morning and about 4 minutes after crossing the finish line the bottom fell out and poured rain. A COLD RAIN!

Toughest 10K

So it's the day after the Toughest 10K (Race 1 of the Texas Bridge Series). I'm feeling great! I thought I would be sore in my hips and knees but all is well. Considering the steepness of the bridge and how many times we had to do it. I am very happy with my 1:05 time. I will admit that I was a little nervous before we started. Seeing the bridge in the distance before I started is very intimidating. I have driven over that bridge many many times and didn't realize how steep it was until I was running up it. The only place I have ran that can rival that is Austin. The hills in Austin are very unforgiving and so is that bridge! I decided not to over kill myself going up. I just took it nice and easy, then on the downside I will coast and then I would do some speed catch up when I was crossing under the bridge.

I kept forgetting that even after I finished the last pass over the bridge that I still had some more to run. It was great to cross the finish line and grab the water and then some more water AND the ice cream made it great as well. Took today off from running to do some studying for tests this week.  Next race is the United Space Alliance 10 miler October 9th! I will be sporting this tomorrow at work!

10K Saturday and Question...

Ok...it's been a while since my last post. I am still running. I ran 6 miles last night, getting ready for my first 10k of the season. This is not just a ordinary 10k. It's four...count them...FOUR...passes over the Kemah Bridge, with additional miles before and after to make up the 6.2 miles. Here is half of the bridge below...

I am excited about doing this race. Glad it will be something different. Plus, I get a nice medal at the end! There is another 10k coming up that will be crossing the Galveston Causeway. Thinking about getting some new running shoes. Gonna need something crazy for Vegas half. What do you think of these?

Now I'm going to step up on my nutritional soap box for a minute. As I started running last night, I saw a mother and son walking into the park carrying McDonalds sacks. Now, why I don't eat at the place nor should I think anyone, (but that's for another post) I doubt I would have noticed except the child was CLEARLY over weight. I just wanted to go over to the mother and say "What are you doing?" So, here is my question....Do you hold the parent's responsible for the child being over weight? OR Do we ignore the issue because god forbid we bring up a child's weight and hurt his or her self esteem? I'm sure the self esteem is low anyway because of the over weight. So should CPS get involved? Should schools start getting involved and print whether or not a child is over weight on the report card ( heard that one this week)? It's a tough question to answer. I think there should be some madatory health and nutrition classes that the parents should have to go thru for situations like this. Oh, and there was NOT any physical activity at the end of the feast. They got back in the car and drove off. 

Morning Run

Location- Dow Park
Distance- 3 miles
Avg Pace- 10'39 per mile
Time- 31:59
Calories Burned- 398

I thought I would change up my routine and run this morning (non-race). After dragging my ass out of bed at 6:00, I was on the track by 6:30. The track in the mornings are not as crowded as they are in the evening. There were a few souls out but not many. I learned that there are two kinds of runners. There is the runner that loves getting up and heading out on a run first thing in the morning. Then there are the runners that love going out running in the evening and into the dark. I realize I am a evening running after this morning. The run this morning was VERY humid. It was all I could do to make it around twice without stopping. I would think it would be cooler due to the fact that the ground has had time to cool all night. Not the case. At least in the evening there is a cool breeze sometimes. So I will reserve my mornings for races and sleeping at least until it gets cooler and run in the evenings.

Rainy Day / Sunny Evening Run

Location- Dow Park
Distance- 5 miles
Avg Pace- 10'11 per mile
Time- 51:06
Calories Burned- 671

Tonight's run started off cool, but by the time the first mile was over with I was soaked with sweat. On the second mile, I decided to go back the opposite way around the track. For some reason I found this very difficult to do. So the last few miles I ran my normal way so I wouldn't be thrown off. The towards the end of mile 4, I was ready to throw in the towel and go home, knowing that I would have to add an additional mile on my next run making it six miles. But as I finished and was talking to Betty (my running partner for about a year now) I got my second wind and decided to finish out that last mile. Tonights run will be considered a success! Now time to relax and eat! AND since I ran 5 miles, I can eat what I want tonight!

The Beginning

This will be the first post of many I hope. I have been running for a little over a year now. I have made new friends along the way and have become closer to friends that I already had. I have done three half marathons so far. I felt it was time to for the big 26.2. That day is the Houston Marathon, January 15th 2012. When most people have found this out, they say "You're crazy!" or "Why would you want to do that?" Well, I have ran half the distance, so why not go all the way. Don't get me wrong, I am scared shitless!!! But I was feeling the same way this time last year when I was signing up for my first half marathon. My half marathon journey is not over yet. I have one scheduled for the weekend before Thanksgiving and another in Las Vegas on Dec 4th! The Vegas half is the one I am looking forward to the most. Running the Las Vegas Strip at night will be something to remember, plus spending nearly a week in Vegas will be awesome. A few friends will also be running in it but there are some friends and family going to sit on the side and hold the poker chips and alcohol! A Very important job!!!

Took a little break at the end of May from running (which I should have known better) and I am now just getting back into it again. Running in the heat is a whole lot different that running in the nice cool fall/winter air, but I have to start somewhere and why not now. I have a run scheduled for tonight at 8:00 PM. My goal is 5 miles or more, but we will see how that goes! Will update more after the run!