So Much for That

When I crossed the finish line at a very hot Boston a few weeks ago, I was more than ready to draw the line under my marathon running for a while.  The lure of the 26.2 beast had receded, thanks in no small part to running my perfect race in Dallas a few years ago (when you know you finally succeeded in pulling your only rabbit out of the hat, why keep going back to the hat?).

And nothing that's happened since I got back to Austin had changed that - I've been traveling for work, and when I have run it's been of the "suck it up" hot and humid variety that reminds me Texas summertime is coming.

But I did not count on the dangers of an unseasonably cool running week.  It started with one of my all time favorite runs at Brushy Creek on a rainy Sunday morning which included a spectacular blood red sunrise, continued into a surprisingly quick (though still somewhat humid) Tuesday run with James, and ended with a fun 7 mile run in Clea's new neighborhood this morning.  I stopped off at the YMCA on my way home to get in a killer leg workout, and took advantage of not traveling this week to squeeze in a core workout at lunch.

And I feel great.  So great that I started re-evaluating my race plans, and realized I'm not quite ready to shed the skin of the long distance runner and morph back into a weekend warrior just yet.

So I signed up for something.  After all, what good is a running blog without any races?!!!

The photo below may give you a hint of what I signed up for.

I have my eye on another race too, but maybe the hot and humid weather will return and bring me back to my senses before registration opens for that one.

Flame on at Boston

Pre-race at the Athlete's Village

Wow, where to start.  What a weekend!!!  I'm back from Boston, and what a ride it was.  Temperatures of 89F on race day led to all plans of times and goals going out the window, and the new goal was simply to cross the finish line on my own two feet.  Which I did, and with a smile on my face.  It may well be my slowest marathon in over 7 years, it may well be a good hour slower than my usual finish time, but by putting my ego to one side and being smart, I am now a finisher of one of the hottest and toughest Boston marathons in history.

And there's a lot to be proud of in that.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  Let's back up a little.

Clea and I flew into Boston on Saturday night, giving us all day Sunday to visit the expo, explore Boston and get ready for the race on Monday.  We had a hotel in Cambridge, just outside Boston, a short distance from a T-station, which is the public transportation subway system, and by far the best way to get around the city.

We spent quite a bit of time at the expo Sunday morning, both of us dropping a heck of a lot of money, and it was crazy busy.  We took some time out to drop our purchases off back at the hotel before we were off again, exploring the Freedom Trail of historic sites around the city.  We walked ourselves all over town, and at one point stopped off at the Bill Rodgers' Running store.  Rodgers, or Boston Billy, is a running legend who won the Boston marathon 4 times in the late 70s and early 80s.  Well the guys at the store were the nicest folks you could wish to meet.  We were both looking for shirts for the kiddos, and had been unable to find any at the expo.  They told us there weren't any to be had this year due to corporate restrictions imposed by the marathon's "official clothing provider".  But they went out of their way to find a few shirts from last year's race.  And even better, virtually gave them away to us for $5.  They also entertained us with several stories, and I highly recommend Bill Rodger's Running Store and their staff to anyone who happens to be in Boston.

We had a nice dinner at a local seafood restaurant, wandered around Harvard (where I pretended to be Robert Langdon), and retired to our rooms for an early night.  I must admit, I was nervous about the predicted high temperatures - we'd been getting emails all day from the BAA offering deferments to next year, warning of the dangers of heat stroke, emphasizing this was now considered a high risk "red zone" race, and urging people not to run unless they were in tip-top condition.  Well I'm not in tip-top condition, but Boston is an expensive trip so I sure as hell was going to run.  But I was also a little nervous about my foot, which I had begun to fear was the beginning of a stress fracture.  So I pulled out the old ultra supplies and taped both feet extensively before retiring for the night.

I did not sleep well.  Too nervous imagining my foot breaking down in the first few miles.

Race morning came along, and with it came clear blue skies and a hint of the heat that would engulf us by race time.  We had splurged on a charter bus so we didn't have to spend hours sitting around on the floor at the athlete's village, and it was money well spent when you saw the lines at the porta-potties.

 

Clea and myself at the start line

By the time we lined up in our corral it was past 10am and the sun was out in force.  I was glad I had bought a hat the day before.  We all stood there, nervously waiting for the start and trying very hard to ignore the fact that we were already sweating.

We ran together for part of the first mile before losing each other in the crowd.  It's probably just as well, as our races styles are completely different.  Clea is so consistent - she locks into a pace and keeps it the whole way, whereas I like to gamble and push it a little early on to see what happens.  Sometimes it's your day and sometimes it isn't.  I had a fair idea this wasn't going to be, but I still had to try.

Besides, I know what a good runner Clea is in the heat, so I needed a little head start to ensure she didn't kick my butt too early!!!

And I was very nervous.  I felt a few tweaks from the foot in the first downhill miles and never really felt comfortable, but they soon eased away and I could ignore them.  Thankfully the foot was never an issue.

By mile 6 I had settled into an uneasy rhythm, but what surprised me was the number of people already walking.  By mile 10 that changed, and what surprised me was the number of runners collapsed by the side of the road or being stretchered away.

The section around mile 13 is of course famous for the screaming girls of Wellesley college.  They are also famous for offering kisses to the runners, a tradition I was looking forward to fully participating in.  If I saw a sign saying "kiss me, I'm from Texas" I would jog over yelling "hey, I'm from Texas too".  Kiss me, I'm British? "Hey, I'm British too".  Kiss me I'm a redhead?  "Hey, I love redheads".  And so on and so forth - I spent quite a bit of time going down the line, but it was definitely time well spent!!!

Nancy told me later that she was tracking me from home and wondered why my pace dropped off so suddenly at this point.  Then she looked up the course map and just rolled her eyes.  When her co-workers asked how I was doing, she replied "he's probably still lip locked".

Love ya babe :-)

Unfortunately, this was the high point of the race for me, and the second half was an exercise in survival.  There was no shade along the course, the sun was beating down, we were pushing up against 90F, and the water and gatorade at the aid stations was warm, making it very hard to keep from overheating.  Fortunately, the crowds were magnificent, with many people handing out ice, iced sponges and towels, and spraying cold water over us.  At this point I decided to "adopt a run/walk strategy" and make sure I got myself safely to the finish line, as there were a disconcerting number of runners collapsing left and right.  So I became very chatty.  I talked to anybody and everybody around me - runners with British accents, runners from the MS society (an illness very close to home), barefoot runners.  You name it, I talked to them.

And as it became clear I was going to run a really really bad time, it became quite funny.  My legs were cramping on the downhills, and every time they spasmed I just started chuckling.  I must have been the happiest sufferer out on the course, and started taunting the mile markers as they languished ever further behind my Garmin - "that's 23 you bas***d", "24 down you son of a bitch", "where are you 25, you little.........".

I got quite creative.

The crowds in the last few miles were amazing, with people yelling at you, and some even jumping in to run with you.  At long last I turned the final corner to see the finish line in the distance.  Way in the distance.  I decided I was going to run that last bit, even if I had to cross the finish line like Frankenstein, and I did (both).  My time was 4:44, over an hour slower than my usual marathon time.

But this was not a usual race.

One of the things that will stay with me was the sight of a runner completely collapsed and unresponsive in the gutter, 100 yards before the finish line.  I had seen at least another 2 in a similar state between miles 24 and 26, but this was so close.  Imagine, to run all that way, through that heat, and to drop that close to the finish line.  My heart went out to him.

And the finish area was like a MASH unit.  I felt quite out of place (and, it must be said, a little smug) walking through there when the majority of runners were either flat on the floor or slumped in wheelchairs.

I managed to call Clea, who had finished a good 40 minutes earlier and was wondering where I had gone (I told you - she's tough).  We eventually found each other and made our way back to the hotel.  We celebrated with dinner at Whole Foods and a trip to the movie theater around the corner, where we spent a few hours trying in vain to find comfortable positions to put our legs.

Yes, we really are that exciting.

And to top it all, we took an early morning flight back into Austin the next day where it was cooler than Boston.  How often can you say that?

Despite the heat, I'm glad I went.  The race was tough, but it was a great weekend that I will remember for a long time.  And after all, how many people can claim to be a Boston finisher?

But at the same time it's nice to be in recovery mode and not have something to train for.  I had been planning on taking a break from the long distance stuff (and had definitely decided on that somewhere around mile 17), but we'll see.  I do need a break to let my foot heal and then we'll decide, but don't be surprised to see me signing up for something this winter.

Preferably a nice cold race where it doesn't get out of the 30s.

Going Country at the BCS Marathon

It's been a strange running year for me, as I find myself arriving at December having completed none of the races I have run this year.  I DNFed at the Rocky Raccoon 100 miler in February, and dropped to the half marathon in San Antonio last month, so I had a little something to prove with my last race of the year.

On the other hand, this was not really a goal race - that particular honor goes to Boston this coming April - and my training has been sorely lacking in both mileage and distance.  Add in a niggling pain behind my left knee that just refuses to go away, and let's just say I was more than a little nervous about this race.

So with the whole family in tow, we rolled into College Station yesterday afternoon and picked up my packet at the race hotel.  The race is in it's first year, and you always gamble a bit when you run an inaugural event like this, but I'd been feeling really good about it from the fantastic feeling of community they'd cultivated on social sites like Facebook.  I hoped it wouldn't disappoint, and it didn't.  Everything from packet pickup to the race itself went super smoothly, was run very professionally and yet still kept the personal feel of a small town event.  Huge kudos to the RD, race organizers and volunteers who did an outstanding job with no small amount of Texas humor thrown in for good measure.

For the record, the event was capped at 1500 runners - there would be 500 marathoners and 1000 half-marathoners.  I do enjoy these smaller races.

So after checking into our hotel, we drove around Nancy's old college town and marveled at all the things that had changed.  We ended up in a local Mexican restaurant for supper, where I made a complete pig of myself and ate way too much - probably more fat loading than carb loading, but what the heck.  I polished off a bowl of chips with the yummy green salsa that is native to East Texas, ate my super burrito, and then finished off Gavin's, Dylan's and Nancy's meals.

Yeah, like I said, a complete pig.  Getting up from the table was quite a challenge.

Gavin the chip king

After supper, we all felt the need to walk it off so we headed out to the Texas A&M campus to explore. The boys had a great chance to run around and really tire themselves out, and we spent an enjoyable few hours wandering about and playing before retiring to the hotel and hitting the sack.  I watched the Republican debate for a while (which was as hilarious as ever) before falling asleep.

Future Aggies?

Race morning dawned nice and cold (43F at the start), and I decided to hold back a bit in the first few miles and see how I felt.  I kept it around 7:50 pace and tried to ignore all the people who were passing me (it was hard).

I had decided to use the mental trick of splitting the race down into five 5-mile segments, which I imagined as 5 separate midweek runs.  I wasn't feeling it on the "Monday" segment.  What I was feeling was the pain behind my left knee, and I feared it was going to be a long day.

I had 3 gels which I had planned on using at 6, 12 and 18 miles.  As "Tuesday" dawned, I still wasn't feeling it, and the field had thinned considerably when the  half-marathoners split off at mile 4.  But I took the first gel at mile 6, and suddenly at mile 7 I found my mojo.  The pain in my leg had numbed itself by this point, and I slotted quickly into the groove, dropped my pace down to the 7:40s, and started pulling back a lot of the folks who had passed me earlier.

By "Wednesday", I was knocking off sub-7:30 miles that felt so much easier than the earlier ones, even though they were into the wind and uphill.  I had gotten to a place when I had distanced the runners behind me, but those ahead of me were not getting any closer, so I had my little slot of solitude.

And let me talk about the hills and the wind for a moment.  The race surprised me by the number of hills it had (especially in the last few miles).  That's not a bad thing (I do need to do a lot more hillwork for Boston), and none of them were huge, but there were a lot of rollers and it caught me a little by surprise.

And the wind - it seemed for a while that no matter how many turns we made, we were still running into it.  Still, I'll take that over humidity any day, and twice on Sundays!!!

According to the unofficial results, I got through the half marathon in 1:41:07 (7:43 pace).

The aid stations were populated by very enthusiastic volunteers, and as I ran up to each I made the sign of the inverted longhorn, which netted me a lot of cheers.  When I also added in the "sawing off the horns" motion, the cheering got much louder.

Apologies to all my Austin friends (well, not really - hahaha)!!!

The middle portion of the race was run along country roads, with very little in the way of spectators.  That wasn't a problem for me because I usually try to block out the sounds of the spectators anyway, but it can make keeping on pace a little difficult.  I slipped a little, but found that somehow I had started reeling in many of the runners ahead of me.

"Thursday" (miles 15-20) saw me eventually chase down several of the runners ahead of me.  I picked off a few, and was feeling really strong.  As we ran through campus, I had an interesting experience with a car which came barreling out of one of the garages.  I had to slam to a complete stop to avoid being hit.  It didn't stop, and as it swerved out into the street and sped off at a ridiculous speed, I had to bite back the urge to send it on its way with a few choice words it would probably not be wise to yell in the middle of the Texas A&M campus!!!

According to the unofficial results, I hit 20 miles in 2:36:04 (7:48 pace).

However, around here I accelerated to pass another runner, and felt a sudden bolt of pain all the way down my left leg, which then seized up on me.  I stumbled, but managed to keep upright and immediately backed off the pace.

I ran through my checklist to make sure everything was still functional, and it was, but that gave me a real scare, and I decided to back off a little.  Oddly enough, I was still passing folks even though I had slowed down considerably.

Around mile 22 I started to fall apart.  My leg had started hurting again and I switched to a run/walk combination.  I really wasn't too surprised - I'd hardly done any really long runs in training, and didn't have enough miles in my legs to quite make it the whole distance at that speed, especially as most of the last few miles seemed to be uphill.

I dropped to 9 minute miles, and crossed the finish line in 3:34:18 (8:10 average - yeah, those last few miles really took a toll).  Still, very happy with that - given my lack of training I had no right to expect anything near that time.  And somewhat surprisingly, that also makes it my 2nd fastest ever marathon (albeit by 1 second).  Can't argue with that.

The post-race goodies were great, and the medal is a fun little piece with revolving sections that the boys had great fun playing with.  All in all, this was a fun little race that I really enjoyed.

I was very stiff immediately after the race, but by the time we got back to Austin it had mostly gone.  However, right now I do have a lot of pain behind my left knee, which is not good.  It really feels like I've strained something, and I'm hoping it goes away in the next few days.

It's funny, I had planned on Boston being my last marathon for a long while, but this race has me reconsidering that idea.

And speaking of Boston, which really is a goal race, I need to start laying out a training plan for that.  It's probably going to be my one and only chance to run that race, so I need to do all I can to make it a good one.

Half a Job Bob

With the Undertaker.  An interesting metaphor for my race

Well today was the San Antonio Rock and Roll marathon, and I made the last minute decision to switch to the half.  I think it was the smart choice based on the weather, my level of conditioning, and my current levels of motivation.  This was backed up by having dinner last night with several friends, better runners than me, all of whom had also made the same decision to drop to the half.

And when I woke up this morning and saw the visible layer of moisture in the air, literally blocking out the Tower of the Americas, I knew it was going to be a sucky day.  And so it proved.

I started off running 7:20s, and within a mile I was soaked.  It wasn't particularly warm, but the humidity was like a suffocating blanket.  The first few miles were all mid-7s, other than one where I made a bathroom stop, but I never felt good, and never found a rhythm.  It was hard grind, and one of those days where the miles just seemed to drag by sooooo slowly.  I eventually crossed the finish line in 1:46 (8:06 average) and was happy to be done.  Not a great time, but not bad either.  I was still running 8:10s-8:20s at the end, but the last few miles felt like I was running in wet cement - my legs were heavy, and my heart just wasn't in it.

Gavin with a Mexican wrestler mask from El Mercado market

I can quite honestly say I had a horrible run - I hated every moment and couldn't wait to finish.  I suspect if I had continued and run the full distance I could have finished somewhere in the 3:40s or 3:50s, but I completely lacked the motivation to run another 13 miles.

It made me feel a bit better to hear the same sentiment echoed by everybody else I know who ran today.

Mostly this is my fault, since I just haven't put in the training necessary to run the kind of race I would like.  But it also throws up an interesting mirror of last year, where I had a sucky race at Frankenthon, signed up for a "revenge race", and managed to turn it around in 5 weeks for White Rock.

The missing ingredient in both Frankenthon and San Antonio was motivation.

It just so happens that I have 4 weeks until the BCS marathon.  And if I want to turn it around, I have my work cut out.

I know exactly what I need to do, but the question is can I find that motivation I need to make Aggieland my revenge race?

Paying Off Debts

Got back from San Diego late last night.  Had a good few days in California, including a great night out at Anthology - a kicking supper club with live music.  Only slightly annoyed that I missed Marc Cohn by one night.  His "Walking in Memphis" is one of my all-time favorite songs.

So up this weekend is the San Antonio marathon, and the theme seems to be about paying off old debts.  Like the one I owe to the weather gods for my "perfect day" at White Rock last year.  And I suspect I'm going to pay through the nose, because forecasts for Sunday look to be low 70s at the start, warming up to the upper-80s with 100% humidity.

The marathon organizers have even put up a page on their website about warm weather running.  They will be handing out salt at the start line, and it will be available on the course along with "spray stations" to cool runners down.  Not good news for someone who loves to run in the cold weather like myself.

So yeah, think I'm going to take it real easy for this one, and just enjoy a 26.2 mile stroll through old San Antone.

First Haircut, No Teeth, and How Not to Train for a Marathon

Daddy, what have you done to me!!!!

I took young Dylan to get sheared this past weekend - his first real haircut (in other words, the first one that was not administered by me).  Fair play to him, the boy did well - he sat on my lap, didn't get his ears cut off, didn't cry, and was held in place by the promise of a sucker if he kept reasonably still. 

I think he likes it - I have caught him admiring himself in the mirror a few times since the weekend.

On top of that, his older brother is now shy both his front teeth.  Oh yes, it's that classic once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take truly embarrassing pictures that I will gleefully pull out the first time he brings a girlfriend home.

Right now he is blissfully ignorant of that fact, and is just happy the tooth fairy paid him a visit.

On the running front, the San Antonio Rock and Roll marathon is this coming weekend, and I am happily tipping my nose and blowing a raspberry at it - never have I been so unprepared.  Looking for ideas for a speed advantage, I am down to shaving before the race and cutting my fingernails. 

And that's not going to help much, because long runs have been almost non-existent.  I have barely run in the last few weeks, my throat feels like somebody's playing the violin on it with razorblades, my knee has been cursing me out for months, I've been working long hours and late nights for weeks, and tomorrow I'm headed off to San Diego on a business trip for the rest of the week.

Though on the plus side,  I did watch George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" over the weekend.  Figured it would prepare me for the last few miles.

Yes, overall preparation has been excellent.

I ran San Antonio a few years ago - the first year it was part of the "Rock and Roll" franchise.  I'm not really a big fan of the super commercialized races ("Occupy San Antonio marathon" anyone?), though I did enjoy the race and got what was then a huge PR.  I mostly remember shaking my head at people who bought finishers shirts before the race and then had the gall to wear them at the start line.  I also remember that when you finished, you were herded through the "marathon souvenir shop" before you could get out of the finisher's chute.

It's a wonder they haven't figured out a way to charge your credit card at each water stop!!!

Not to worry, I plan on using my tried and true marathon approach - rocking on up, going out way too fast, crashing hard somewhere mid-race, limping across the finish line while grimacing and cramping in both legs, and then being rolled home.

Consider it my protest statement.  Power to the people - especially the lazy ones like me.

Boston Bound

I have heard it said that every runner has only one or two really good marathons in them, and I think I spent a goodly part of my allocation at White Rock last December. Just about as perfect a race as I could ever wish to have, I remember the absolute euphoria of crossing the finish line with a Boston qualifying time that I didn't even think a possibility at the start of the race (I punched the air as I crossed the finish line - something "reserved Brits" are not normally known for). Now bear in mind that I never ever had any real intention of actually running Boston. It was just cool to know that I'd qualified. And to surprise myself about what I could do when I really focused.

So I happily stored it away in the memory bank labeled "races where I didn't suck" and pretty much forgot about it...until last week.

When Clea reminded me that the Boston application window was still open, and there were still open slots. That set me to thinking. On the one hand, I will probably never run that qualifying time again, so this is most likely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But on the other hand, simply qualifying does not guarantee a place at the start line. You see, the qualification has changed this year as preference is given to the faster runners who are granted entry based on how far under the qualifying time they ran. So as the race filled up I knew that my cutoff would be somewhat less than the 3:15:59 standard.

But there was no way of knowing how much less.

And since marathon day is during school, Nancy and the boys could not go. So I felt guilty about that. But Nancy was without hesitation 100% insistent that I shouldn't let this opportunity pass by, and she urged me to apply.

It's funny. Before I became a runner I associated Boston with an infamous serial murderer, being forced to sit through episodes of Ally McBeal, the scene of "crimes against tea" and the place where Haley Joel Osment was known to "see dead people".

But now the first thing I think about is the Boston marathon - the ultimate goal of any road running weekend warrior.

So I signed up. So did Clea.

And we both realized we really wanted to run it. So it was a weekend of suspense waiting to hear if we'd made it, and I will freely admit to checking the Boston website once or twice "just in case". We had both qualified about 3 minutes under our required times, so we knew there was a good chance we would get in.

But there was also the chance that we wouldn't.  Or one of us wouldn't.

Fortunately, we both got the email confirming that we had made it - it turns out the cutoff for my age group was exactly a minute slower than what I had run in Dallas.

So all the logistics of finding flights and hotel rooms started to kick in. I had the flights booked within 10 minutes of getting the confirmation email.

I called Nancy. The conversation went something like this:


Me: Did you make some kind of big purchase on the credit card in the last day or so?

Nancy: No, why?

Me: Because I'm seeing a charge for $xxx that's just shown up

Nancy: Can you tell what it is?

Me: Yes, it appears to be a flight reservation. To Boston.

Nancy: Have you lost your card anywhere? Do you still have it?

Me (realizing she hasn't tagged yet): I still have mine. So you didn't make that charge?

Nancy: No

Me: Oh, it must have been me then. I guess I'm going to Boston

Nancy (finally realizing): You %$^$!!! Congratulations. (laughs)


And I'm like a kid at Christmas - I've been wandering around with this goofy smile on my face ever since.

Because it's the coolest thing - I'm going to run Boston!!!

Maybe I'll even take the time to sip a cup of tea at the harbor.

For Queen and Country you know :-)

Run 'em Aggies

The problem with spending a large amount of time training for and gearing toward one particular race is what happens if you have a bad day?  What if it's unusually hot or humid, what if you just don't feel good?  San Antonio has had some pretty nasty weather on race day in the last few years, so it can really be a lottery.  My solution to that is to pick a backup race, and last night I signed up for the inaugural Bryan/College Station marathon.

My wife is an Aggie, so spending the weekend in College Station was an easy sell.  The course is supposedly flat and fast, and it winds through the Texas A&M campus.  I came across it by accident, but the timing is right (11th December - about a month after San Antonio) and there is a good chance it will be nice and cold.

I had considered running White Rock again (the week before), but I had such a perfect race there last year I would hate to go back and tarnish the memory of that wonderful day.  And I just managed to sneak into the last hour of early bird signup, which meant I got a really great deal.

Gig 'em Aggies!!!

Running for Boston at White Rock

"It is mile 5 of  the White Rock marathon and my Garmin has just clicked over my fifth consecutive sub-7 mile.  It occurs to me that I'm either going to have a breakout day, or I've made a huge mistake.  But I've played my hand quite deliberately and I'll live with whatever it brings"


I've thought about today ever since I signed up after Frankenthon. The White Rock marathon became a big deal to me, and I earmarked it as a major goal race.  I put in the hard fast miles, prayed for good (ie cold) weather, and hoped it would be my day.

And the weather cooperated, with temperatures in the 30s.  It was a little windy, but I'll take that.  My goal for the day was to beat my previous marathon PR of 3:34, try to run a sub-8 minute mile marathon, and if possible run 7:50s and grab a 3:25 finish.

I'd worked hard to carefully build my mental defenses, and I was feeling good though slightly nervous.  After all, it doesn't matter how well you run in training if you don't transfer that to race day.

And I really wanted it.

And I was prepared to suffer to get it.

Now I always start out fast, but I've never run the first 5 miles of a marathon at sub-7 pace before.  And to be honest, it didn't feel like I was running all that hard.  But I still asked myself why I was pushing that much when my goal was 7:50s.

Until the little voice in my head answered straight back "we're not going for 7:50s, we're going for 7:20s".

And then everything clicked.  You see, 7:20s equates to a 3:15 marathon, which is my Boston qualifying time.  I know, because I looked it up and worked it out several weeks ago.

But why did I even look it up?  It's way out of my league.

But have you wondered why I've been so excited about pushing my midweek runs under 7:20 pace?  About running a sub-7 12 miler last week?  Could it be that subconsciously I've been training myself to take a shot at a goal I believed was unreachable?

And just like that I realized that it wasn't out of reach, and that the only thing holding me back was myself.  My race goals changed, and 5 miles into the marathon a 3:15 finish was the new target.  After all, I'm in the best shape of my life, I've trained at the required pace, the weather was on my side, and my mental game was locked in.

Time to roll the dice.

I went through 10k in a new PR of 43:52 and the half marathon distance in a new PR of 1:33:40.  I knew we were going to be exposed to the wind around the lake, and that there were hills in the latter miles, so I made sure to take advantage of any downhills or flats we found to bank time.

The course was pretty - there are some beautiful houses, and the crowd support along the way was wonderful.  There were also some funny signs - "your foot is hurting because you're kicking butt" was one of my favorites.

But as we made the turn down to the lake, I saw one that really hit me.  It said "There is no try.  You either do it or you don't".

And the little voice in my head agreed.  And I knew with utter certainty - about 12 miles into the race - that I was going to qualify for Boston.

The second half was just a blur.  My focus narrowed, my concentration intensified, and the only things that mattered were the road in front of me and the pace display on my garmin.

Whenever I slowed down, I made myself speed up again.  Whenever a hint of doubt entered my head it was instantly silenced.  If I started to feel tired, I just kicked it up a bit until I learned to ignore it.

I systematically ground away everything that would stop me reaching my goal until the only thing left for me to do was run.

We hit the famous hills known as the "Dolly Partons" between miles 20 and 23.  To be honest, I'm not sure exactly where we passed them.  I train on hills a lot, and these were nothing special.

I distracted myself by imagining how I was going to break the news to Nancy.

With 3 miles to go, I knew that barring disaster I had it in the bag.  The rest of the course was downhill, and I could run 8 minute miles and still make it with something to spare.

But I couldn't let myself coast, I wanted to get everything I could out of this run.  So I started talking to myself - saying anything I could think of to motivate myself.  "Don't give it away" and "finish the f***ing thing" were my favorites.

We joined up with the half marathoners for the last mile, which I hadn't anticipated, and I'm sure they must have thought I was crazy as I sped past chattering away to myself.

It was an unbelievable feeling to cross that finish line in 3:12:46 (7:21 pace), knowing I'd just qualified for Boston when I hadn't even considered it a possibility at the start of the race.

I was so buzzed.  I couldn't wait to get my medal and shirt and get back to the car.  I called Nancy and my first words were "so do you want to plan a trip to Boston in 2012"?

She was silent until it sunk in and then she screamed down the phone.  I think she was more excited than I was.

According to the unofficial results, I finished 165th out of 4578 finishers.  Their stats also tell me I passed 37 runners in the last quarter of the race (hooray) and was in turn eclipsed by 8 speedier souls (if I had but known I would've tripped 'em!!!).

I enjoyed this race - I've heard great things about it from a lot of people and they were all well deserved.  But of course, I would say that when I've just smashed my marathon PR by 22 minutes and qualified for Boston!!

There's a lot to take in from this race, and a lot of questions I need to ponder.  I'm going to have to take a few days to process it all before I come up with answers.

But for now I'm off to enjoy some Gavin time.

Going Loopy at Frankenthon

There are certain universal truths that are held to be self evident - that Superman does not like kryptonite, that vampires are allergic to sunlight, and that I do not run well in humidity.

So of course, after several weeks of wonderfully cool mornings the forecast for race morning was warm and humid. There is a lovely old British word which completely sums up situations such as these. It's the same word I recommended to Clea when she found out that Boston sold out earlier this week.

It is simply this - bugger.

But there's no point in worrying about things you can't change, so Saturday morning found me at Brushy Creek, bright eyed, bushy tailed and ready to run the second annual Frankenthon marathon.

The course is 3 loops of the park, consisting of a series of out-and-backs run on a mixture of concrete and trail. The organization and Halloween-themed swag are excellent. With lots of wonderful volunteers and plenty of post-run good eats, this is a great small race.

After saying hello to a few friends we were off.

Clea and I had to hit 8:30 averages to meet her 3:45 BQ goal - this seemed real easy over the last few weeks of nice weather, and sure enough the first loop was gone before we knew it. Between chatting and running, we built a 1 minute cushion which we increased to 2 minutes by the end of the second loop.

But the humidity got me on the last loop. We were hoping to run the whole race together, but I realized around mile 19 that I was struggling while Clea was still running strongly. I didn't want to hold her up so I told her to go on. I cut my pace way back and coasted the last few miles, eventually crossing the finish line in 3:56:43.

And I am more than happy with that.

After spending some time with Clea, Mike, Jasper and Meredith (and partaking of the delicious post-race pizza) I set off around the lake to try and find Cheri who was still out there running.

Back at Rocky Raccoon in February I should have offered to pace her when Derek dropped, and I've always regretted not doing so. I found her at mile 23 and we had a great chance to catch up while we ran the last few miles together.

They even remembered me at the final aid station as the first (and only) runner who had come through and accepted their offer of a beer.

Bonus miles with Cheri

This was another fun race, and I ran it in pretty much the same time as I did last year. It was also the first time I've actually run a marathon with anyone. It was fun - I loved being able to chat the miles away, and it was an interesting contrast to my usual style.

You see, Clea is kind of like the running terminator - you set her in motion and she just keeps on going. Tough and determined, she gave me an object lesson in how to pace a marathon. Her second loop was 5 seconds faster than the first and 15 seconds slower than the last. Negative split - check, consistent pace - check, hitting your goal - she knocked it out of the park and finished in 3:42, winning her age group for good measure. Yeah, this girl is a walking textbook on how to run a marathon.

By contrast, my usual method is to go out fast and try like hell to hold on for as long as I can. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don't, but I can rarely resist the urge to go for it.

I just hope I can channel the same level of focus and determination Clea had for my goal race at Rocky.

Monster Mash

Last Year's race shirt

Figured out the first of my fall races and signed up for the spooktacular Frankenthon Monster Marathon in October. I ran this last year as a build-up to Cactus Rose and it was a lot of fun with some really great swag. My friend Clea is also running it. She's a strong runner - a real speed pixie - so I'll certainly have my work cut out trying to keep up with her!!!

Some other race plans are in the works, but they will live or die depending on the outcome of various other happenings in the next few weeks.


We've started taking Gavin to gymnastics class on Wednesday evenings, and he absolutely loves it. Gymnastics is a fantastic base for any number of sports, and it's great fun too. We've been looking for somewhere to channel Gavin's almost limitless energy for a while, and I think this is it. He's been walking and running with Nancy and I ever since he was really small, often for several miles at a time, and it's very rewarding as a parent to see him reap the benefits of the healthy and active lifestyle we've tried to encourage.

Last week he was in the 5 to 8 year old class. They ran loops around the gym as a warmup, and Gavin lapped every other kid in the class - he just bolted out of the gate, never slowed down and ran with a huge sloppy grin on his face.

As a running dad, that really made my day.

The two girls who teach the class are great with the kids, and you could tell they were all having a blast. It's wonderful to see him do something that he enjoys and that he's really good at - you could just see the confidence pouring out of him as he bounced around.

And while he was enjoying the class, Dylan was enjoying running up and down the corridor outside, yelling up a storm and laughing his head off. Nancy and I traded out watching Gavin and trailing Dylan because he went for the entire hour - up and down, up and down, chattering away. Although his vocabulary is limited to "mamma", "dadda", "brother", "oatmeal" and "oh oh", he supplements with his own little language of grunts and yells.

I'd better keep myself in shape, otherwise they're both going to be leaving their old man in the dust.

In the Zone at the Little Rock marathon

Enjoying a beer after the race

I woke this morning with a determined calm and a feeling that it was going to be a good day. I don't know why - my foot injury and family commitments have prevented me from putting in much mileage, and I haven't run a really good fast marathon for quite some time.

But something told me this was going to be my day. Several friends had sent me encouraging emails over the last week, and I had another secret weapon I could call upon - my lucky shirt!!!

This was the $7 running shirt from Wal Mart that had seen me strongly through my first 100k, my first 100 miler and had taken me to massive PRs at both marathon and 50 mile distances. I have never run badly while wearing this shirt, and hoped it still had some magic in it.

I left the hotel to walk the mile or so to the start line and got talking with a guy called Phil who was a member of the 50 States marathon club. We chatted about this and that, and we both remarked that the temperature was worrying mild - not good for running a marathon as we expected temps to rise rapidly once the sun came up.

I got to the start line and made my way to corral B (I was seeded in a high corral based on some race results from early last year when I was running really well). I got talking to the 3:40 pace leader who was an interesting fellow. The first thing I noticed were his tatty shoes - lots of holes where his toes stuck out. Surprise surprise, he was a trail runner.

He didn't believe in negative splits, so was going to go out fast for the first half and then pull back. I figured that worked for me, so I decided to run with him for a while.

But strangely, the 8:16 pace seemed a little too easy, so after about a mile of holding myself back I took off and caught the 3:30 pacers. One of them was explaining that the course was actually 26.4 miles since to be a Boston qualified course it has to be 1% longer than the advertised 26.2. I'd never heard that before, but the 26.4 distance was borne out exactly by my Garmin.

Anyone else ever heard this?

Anyway, I ran with these guys for a few miles and was hitting 7:40-7:50 miles. I had decided beforehand not to run with any handhelds or gels, so I kept stopping at the water stops and walking through them as I drank, then chasing the pacers down again. I did this for about 3 miles before I wondered why I was doing it and decided to just run my own race.

This was the best decision of the day because I very quickly dropped into the zone. That hasn't happened for a while and it was a great feeling - that mystical place where your body and mind are completely in sync. I had a great rhythm going, and it seemed I was slightly detached from myself - just watching the pavement speed by as I ran.

I was knocking off regular 8 minute miles and they seemed extremely comfortable. According to the results page I went through 10k in 49:55, and I figured I'd just go for it until the lack of miles in my legs told.

The race passed right by our hotel at mile 8.5 and 9, but I was going much faster than I'd anticipated so Nancy and the boys weren't there yet. But they did pop up at mile 12.5 - I veered off, dispatched 3 quick kisses and was on my way again.

I was in a very chatty mood and was having a great time - I danced to the music that was playing along the course, encouraged all the early starters as I passed them, and bantered with the volunteers and the spectators.

I went through the half marathon distance in 1:46:07.

Then the hills began.

There was one in particular that started just after mile 13 and climbed solidly for 3 miles. Although my pace dropped into the 8:30s, I found that I was also reeling people in and felt very strong. I wondered again how far my legs would last, but when I reached the top there were some fun downhills that I flew down. I did my airplane impressions as I went and was enjoying myself - all smiles.

I remember one aid station in particular that was decked out in an Irish theme. I put on a stage Irish accent and called out something silly like "kiss me quick, I'm Irish".

That was the only aid station I actually stopped at, but it was well worth it!!!

At mile 18 we turned onto a straight road that was a big out-and-back. This was the worst bit of the course - I had enjoyed the challenge of the hills, but this was just boring. It went straight ahead for over 2.5 miles and never seemed to end. I'm sure my pace suffered here, just because it was so mindless. I kept telling myself "don't let it go" over and over - I synced the chant to my cadence and it kept me in the mid-8s.

I eventually hit the turnaround at mile 20.75 and the run back seemed to go by much quicker. I kept repeating "don't let it go" all the way to the finish line, except for one place.

That was at mile 25. We took a left turn and there was a big hill stretching ahead of us. I laughed and changed my chant to "you bastards"!!!

But the fishing rod was out and I was still reeling folks in. And then I realized that my legs had never given out and weren't going to - I still had plenty left in the tank and I was about to run a really good, fairly effortless marathon.

I zoomed through downtown and crossed the finish line in 3:38:28. A year ago when I was running really well, I could run a marathon and feel like I'd just done a 5k. I was pleasantly surprised to recapture that feeling.

And it felt good.

I got my super big medal and complementary beer, then met up with the family. Gavin had been a really good boy all day, and he wanted daddy to carry him back to the hotel. I was feeling great with zero soreness, so up on my back he went and we galloped away, bantering and having a great time.

I got some very strange looks from several other finishers who were doing the Frankenstein walk, but I had run a really smart race, kept my energy at a constant level and never really lit up the afterburners. I wasn't sore at all.

I really enjoyed this race, and it seemed as if the whole city had embraced it. The course could have been ready made for me - plenty of twists and turns to keep it interesting and some nice hills in the second half.

Not quite a PR, but maybe the most enjoyable marathon I've ever run - for the first time in a long while my head was completely in the game. I had fun the whole way (with the possible exception of the boring out-and-back), never bonked and really enjoyed myself. Everything about it was so well done and I'd love to come back and run it again (though as Gavin starts school this year that probably won't happen). Does make me want to sign up for another marathon though.

Kudos to the lucky shirt.

We went out for beer and pizza tonight (well, just pizza for Gavin and Dylan, though Gavin did have a sip of daddy's beer) and little Dylan is just about out on his feet, so it looks like we're in for the night.

I think we'll all sleep well tonight.

Tomorrow we leave Little Rock for our cabin in the woods at Petit Jean State park. In the meantime here are a few photos from today.

with Gavin at the hotel on race morning

Mile 12.5

relaxing with Dylan on the balcony after the race

Nancy and Dylan

Resolutions set in Small Stone?

I just had a great idea - in 2010 I want to actually train for and run a fast marathon again. My speed suffered in the latter half of 2009 as I focused on Cactus Rose and a new baby took priority. I didn't even do my long runs at pace as I mostly played sweeper for my road group and ran within myself, while all my marathons were written off as training runs.

It's been quite a while since I trained specifically for a speedy marathon, but I think it's time to have another go.

And it's also been a while since I prepared properly for one (almost exactly a year in fact). If I'm honest, I've been treading water for the last few months and not really pushing myself. I need to start doing some strength training again and inject a little more focus into my running (ie. actually do some of my midweek runs).

And I wonder how fast I could run if I hydrated and carb-loaded beforehand. Hey, another great thought - what if I used some gels during the race?

If I do all that, maybe I'll have a chance of getting under 3:30 as opposed to playing around with 3:50 and 4 hour marathons. A year ago I could knock out marathons like 5ks and be ready to go again the next day. I want to get back to that.

Will all that in mind, I just signed up for the Little Rock marathon in Arkansas on March 7th. I think that's a good goal to aim toward, and gives me enough time to get ready.

I also want to compare their "big medal" with the one from the Texas marathon.

Should be fun.

Comedy Finish at the Texas Marathon

For some reason, this picture of Nancy and I with our big medals makes me think of Jacob Marley and his chains!!!

Nancy and I successfully avoided all the drunk drivers and drove up to Kingwood REALLY EARLY this morning to run the Texas marathon. I drove the first part, but I've been up late most nights for the past few weeks working on a design project, so when Nancy offered to drive the rest of the way I just crashed in the passenger seat.

The course for this marathon is four loops of the beautiful trails of Greentree park (two for the half that Nancy was running). I set my marathon PR at this race last year, but was not expecting to get anywhere close to that time today.

I ran the first few miles with Ryan Beard, and the rest of the race by myself. The first two loops passed by without much incident, but I ran into a few problems on the third. I had not hydrated properly in the week prior to the race (unless you count beer), and was too lazy to make Gatorade the day before. I paid for this when my calf started cramping around mile 18. I would be running along without any problem when it would suddenly lock up completely and spasm. This usually hit in the split second after I'd passed someone, which meant I kept having to stop and work it out.

This happened on and off for the rest of the race. I kept downing Gatorade at the aid stations in the hopes that it would help, and it did a little. I flirted with the 4 hour mark, but was a day late and a dollar short as I finished about a minute over 4 hours.

The funny thing was that as I came up the finishers chute with everyone cheering me in, my calf completely locked up. I tried to compensate with my other leg and keep going, but then the other calf locked up too. I ended up stiff legging it across the line, which must have been hilarious to watch.

But I guess that's what you get for doing zero training in the weeks leading up to the race, eating all kinds of junk, staying up late and not drinking enough (water). Oh well, considering everything I'm happy with the time. And I did enjoy the course.

Plus the pizza afterwards was delicious!!!

I particularly enjoyed sharing the trail with Nancy. I stopped and hugged her every time we passed, and she had a blast on the half. It's been many years since we were able to run a race like this together.

I would love to have a lie-in tomorrow, but I can't. My road group is running 30k, so I'll be back out there making up for my lack of recent miles with another 19.

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Frightfully Fun Frankenthon Marathon

This morning I ran the Frankenthon monster marathon at Brushy Creek park just North of Austin. Let's face it, a local Halloween-themed marathon complete with long-sleeved tech shirt and socks - how could I not? Let me just say, the shirt and socks are AWESOME!!!

We showed up at the park and got going at 7am. It was still dark so the early footing was a little hit or miss. I was wondering how the trail would hold up since it was underwater last week, but it was fine apart from two patches where the water was ankle deep - I enjoyed running through it each loop, making sure to splash some of the more tentative road runners who were trying to edge around it.

With Cheri, supplier of yummy finish-line kolaches

The first two loops passed by really quickly and I started the final loop with a comfortable sub-4 hour marathon in the bag. I wasn't really worried about time goals, so with Cactus Rose next week I backed off completely and finished nicely in 3:52 - good for 28th overall. Oddly enough, for the first time in over three years I actually cramped up a little in the last few miles - I wonder why.

Once I finished I enjoyed spending time with friends at the finish line - I got to introduce my parents (who are visiting from Wales) and show Dylan off. The race organizers had laid on a superb spread with lots of pizza, cookies, vitamin water and sodas (plus some friends had brought some yummy kolaches). As a bonus I got in a few extra miles when I went back out and paced a number of friends for their last few miles. It was super fun to run with each of them for a while - a great chance to chat and catch up.

This was a really fun little race which I would definitely do again next year - there were lots of neat little touches like having tombstones as mile markers. We really lucked out with the weather and conditions couldn't be more perfect. On the other hand I have a slightly sore Achilles (a problem that's been haunting me all summer) and am definitely not in the same kind of shape I was back in January.

Hopefully it is enough to see me through 100 miles next Saturday.

26.2 Miles to Marathon

RT and myself near the start line outside of Alpine

Yesterday morning I ran the M2M marathon - the excuse for our trip to West Texas. A beautiful sunrise greeted us as we made our way to the start line, and I bumped into several friends from Austin including RT - a super runner I met at the Timber Knoll race this summer.

We got going and I was feeling good so I stretched my legs and enjoyed the cool of the morning and the banter of my fellow racers. Suddenly I realized the only thing in front of me was the pace car. Holy s*#t, I'm leading the race!!! I knew it couldn't last, so I decided to just enjoy the feeling while it did. That turned out to be about three miles, and I was honestly quite glad when some guys caught and passed me.

As the sun came up we found ourselves running into really strong headwinds which made running a lot more challenging. Knowing these winds were probably going to be with us for the rest of the race, and with Cactus Rose only two weeks away (and another marathon next weekend), I decided to reevaluate my race plan, backed off and ran a lot more conservatively. It seemed everyone was struggling with the wind, so not that many people passed me as I dialed the pace down. One who did was RT - he was looking really strong and went on to run a great race.

Now that I'd decided to turn it into a training run it became a lot more fun. I enjoyed the spectacular views of the mountains, and stopped to chat, flirt and answer questions about my "cute accent" at several aid stations. I even stopped for a beer at mile 24 where there seemed to be a party going on. Then I set my stall for the finish line.

I'd known for quite a few miles that this was probably going to be the end of my streak of sub-4 hour marathons, and sure enough I crossed the finish line in 4:06 (my slowest marathon in 3 years). Oh well, not really that bothered. Nancy and the boys, RT and my friends Tony and Jodi (who had run the half) were at the finish line to cheer me in.

We had a great time socializing, the post-race spread included some yummy brisket which we all enjoyed, and Gavin found a new friend in one of the race sponsor ladies who kept coming by with cookies for him. I was also surprised to find that RT and myself had taken 1st and 2nd in our age group, though I've no idea what the award was because we didn't stay for the award ceremony.

Tony, RT, myself and Jodi at the finish line

The boys enjoying post-run brisket

As we drove us back to Alpine, I spotted another Austin friend who was at mile 21 and obviously struggling a bit. So we stopped the car and I ran across with some water and gatorade. I asked if he needed some company and paced him for a couple of miles, talking about everything and nothing. Nancy drove back toward Marathon and waited for us just before mile 24. By that time we could see the town coming up ahead and he knew he was going to make it, so I gave him my water and we took off.

Gavin and I played in the gloriously frigid swimming pool for a while, we pottered about, and in the evening we traveled up to the McDonald observatory for the star party. But by this time the boys were so tired that they'd crashed, so we skipped it and just went back to the hotel. Oh well, maybe next time - and it really was a spectacular drive up into the mountains.

We've had an outstanding time here, but sadly we head home today.

Practice Races for Cactus

Because when I arrive
I, I'll bring the fire
Make you come alive
I can take you higher

- Kevin Rudolph

Challenges - I thrive on them. They drive my training, fuel my motivation and pique my curiosity as to what my mind can push my body through. I am a firm believer that the biggest attribute a long distance runner can have is heart and guts, because that can drive you to keep going long after you should have stopped. That spark has been largely missing throughout the summer, but this morning I tried to re-ignite it by signing up for marathons in each of the two weekends prior to the Cactus Rose 100.

Some folks may think I'm ruining my chances at Cactus by not tapering beforehand, and maybe they're right. But I like to think I know myself, and I wouldn't sign up for them if I didn't believe I could finish all three.

Back in January I set a PR at the Texas marathon and ran a really good 100k at Bandera the week later. I think stretching my legs out over 26.2 played a big part in that. Then in February I ran a 21:35 100 miler and followed up a week later with a 3:48 marathon on sand. My one physical running gift is the ability to recovery quickly, and by making these three races into the "Mark Challenge Trilogy" series in my head, that gives me an extra incentive to finish Cactus. Sure it may all backfire, but if so I want it to be on my terms.

And besides, I really love to break rules :-)

Anyway, here are the races I signed up for. First up is the marathon 2 marathon race out in West Texas. It is on October 17th and goes between the towns of Alpine and Marathon. I've never been out to West Texas and Nancy is excited to make it our first road trip with Dylan. She tells me the towns are beautifully nestled amongst the Davis mountains. We will take a few days to go exploring and I'm looking forward to seeing the Marfa lights while we're there (as well as a few other places in my Haunted Texas Vacations guidebook).

Then a week later is the inaugural Frankenthon Monster Marathon at Brushy Creek near Austin. This looks like a fun Halloween-themed event and I really want the tech race shirt and socks. It is a trail I run on regularly and one I am familiar with.

As well as these I have signed on to do some coaching with Round Rock Fit again (though I will not be able to attend the three race weekends in October, and possibly several others toward the end of the season if another opportunity pans out). Last year I had a very successful training strategy of getting there early for the Saturday long run, doing 10 miles by myself and then going out again with the group and forcing myself to keep pace with the fast guys.

Yes, stupid male pride can be a very useful asset.

Trail Challenge at the Seabrook Marathon

At the start line of the marathon. Gavin is snuggled up in my Rocky Raccoon sweatshirt

I seem to like doing things in threes. First there was the "Texas Trilogy" series of ultra races, and then the "Texas Marathon Triple", which comprised the Texas marathon on New Year's day, the Surfside beach marathon on Valentines day and the Seabrook lucky trails marathon this morning. While signing up for Seabrook I noticed they had something called the "trail challenge". Basically, if you ran the half marathon on the Saturday and the full marathon on the Sunday you would get 3 medals. I love a challenge, so of course I signed up.

Friday afternoon, Nancy, Gavin and myself made the drive down to the coast. I don't know what the weather was like in Austin, but it was pouring with rain when we hit Houston and continued to rain for the rest of the weekend. We stopped at Clearlake to pick up my packet - it had one of the best technical running shirts I've ever gotten (a Brooks), a nice pair of running socks, and a hat. Top marks for the goody bag.

I'll be honest, I'm feeling pretty burned out on races at the moment. This was my last racing weekend for a long while, and I really wasn't looking forward to it. Nevertheless I left Nancy and Gavin asleep in the lovely warm hotel room and drove down to the freezing cold race site early Saturday to run the half marathon. At least the rain had stopped.

I've been hitting the running really hard since last summer, peaked for the Rocky Raccoon 100 miler a month ago and kept on going. But I've been feeling tired over the last few weeks, and my running has not been good. It continued in a similar vein for the half. The half marathon was two loops around the trails. I did ok, and finished in 1:47:05 (8:10 pace) but I never got a rhythm going and never found the extra gear I usually have - a month ago I would have hammered this race and knocked 30 seconds to a minute a mile off that time. Sure, the trails were heavy from all the rain, but still. It didn't bode well for the marathon.

But I was done and dusted by 9:30am which left the rest of the day for playing. I drove back to the hotel, took a quick shower and then we set off to explore. Unfortunately it soon started raining, and it didn't stop until the next morning but we didn't let this spoil our fun. In fact we thoroughly enjoyed Seabrook and Kemah and had a great time. Here are some pictures of the fun we had.

Visiting with "Bruce" the shark and the Seabrook pelican. The kind gentleman at the Seabrook visitor's center came out and offered to take the latter picture for us, then invited us in. We got to pet his dog "Dinghy" while he told us stories of old Seabrook, and what happened to the town during Hurricane Ike.

Gavin and Nancy "in jail"	"Shooting ships" in the marina

Riding the rails at the Kemah boardwalk

We visited Galveston in the afternoon. It's 43F, freezing cold rain is hammering down and Gavin wanted to go in the sea. And he wanted daddy to go in with him. Did I ever mention I love the sea? We were in before you could say "crazy". Gavin wanted to swim, but we had to draw the line somewhere. It was actually colder once we got out. We put the heater on in the car, had some deli sandwiches and watched the rain and the waves. On a more serious note, evidence of Hurricane Ike was everywhere. Many of our favorite places were damaged or completely gone, and the State park had shut down. On the plus side, Gaido's seafood restaurant survived, along with the most fun mini golf course we've ever played.

We drove back to Seabrook in torrential rain and found a great little Italian place for supper. While we waited for our meal, they brought Gavin a piece of pizza dough to play with. We had a great time shaping it and playing, and the food was excellent. I just wish I'd had room for dessert.

The rain finally stopped sometime during the night, and when I ventured outside in the morning it was nowhere near as cold as it had been on the Saturday. I only hoped that the trails would hold up after all the rain.

The marathon got underway and I decided to take it easy and see how things went. I didn't carry any water bottles with me and decided to treat it as a fun run. I still didn't feel great at the start, but the further I went the better I felt. The course was 4 loops around the trails, and by the second loop I was cruising. I began to enjoy the different sections, especially the part that took you out along Galveston bay. The volunteers were all super enthusiastic and a lot of folks were decked out for St. Paddy's day. Your name was printed in big letters on the bib, so all the spectators cheered you on by name. I amused myself reading off other runner's names as they came toward me so I could do the same. I was having a blast and it was turning into a fun race.

By the final loop I was firmly back in the groove and realized I could take it easy and still snag a sub-4 hour marathon. At mile 24 I decided to kick for home, and started reeling people in. This is the bit of the marathon I love - if you manage your race correctly, this is where you will reap the benefit and start going past people like they're standing still. Just before mile 26 I passed a bunch of runners (including the girl who was about to win the women's race) and sprinted into the finish line in 3:48:44 (8:44 pace). Not my best time, but who cares.

I got 3 medals for my efforts - one on Saturday for the half, one for the full and another for completing the "trail challenge". And these are really nice unique medals and each different - two of them have a rotating piece in the middle that you can spin (Gavin is playing with them as I write). I also got a fantastic puma jacket and hat for completing the Texas Marathon Triple.

Me with the Texas Triple jacket and hat

Random Bits and Pieces
I've said it before, but you just can't beat these small town races - so personal, great quirky humor and just fun. This was a gem of a race that I would do again in a heartbeat. It was really an enjoyable weekend that just happened to include some running - I didn't spend days beforehand hydrating or carb loading, and I certainly didn't rest up between races. I didn't push myself and just ran it for fun - I wasn't even that bothered about my time. It was a good reminder of why I enjoy running.

I'm wondering if I've just gotten out of the habit of running shorter races. In all honesty, the marathon was easier than the half (and much easier than the legs I ran in the Independence relay).

I met a number of really nice folks who recognized me from other races and introduced themselves. I was in a very chatty mood and spent a good part of the marathon jabbering away to other runners.

The post-race food was good - grilled chicken, hot dogs and hamburgers along with rice and beans. They also had free massage.

A special mention for Steve Boone (race director of the Texas Marathon). He ran the marathon and every time I saw him out on the course he had a smile on his face and was full of encouragement. They had posted trivia questions along the trail, with the answers posted a little further on. One of the questions was what had Steve Boone achieved during the 2009 Houston marathon. The answer was he'd completed 400 marathons. That's just mind boggling.

And finally, I knew it was going to be a good day when I got an early St Paddy's day kiss from a pretty girl I'd never met before. Nancy - if you're reading this, it wasn't all that great. Honest :-)