3M Half-Marathon

Last week I sat around wishing my knee would behave enough to run. Over the last couple weeks I've been introducing walk-runs into my fitness regimen. I've had favorable results with this process.

Everyone keeps asking, "What about your knee?" It still bothers me, but I'm learning when to back off and when to change activities. I keep telling them; My knee surgery is scheduled for February 27th and I want to make sure I get my monies worth out of the surgeon!

I had thoughts of trying a walk-run at the Houston Half-marathon, but I had already volunteered my race bib to a person I found on a Kingwood Cycling forum. A local rider put me in contact with some friends of his from Mexico. We exchanged several emails and all seemed well. We talked three times the weekend of the marathon and I thought we had everything worked out. It seemed like a done deal, so I didn't see the need to take off work. In the end, the guy never showed to pick up our bibs. I was VERY frustrated. Not only was I out a bunch of money, but I couldn't run and it was too late to find someone else who wanted the bib. Lesson learned, I suppose. Runners are SO MUCH MORE STABLE than cyclist. lol

Andrea and I were bummed-out about giving up the idea of running a half-marathon. Shortly thereafter we decided to try our luck in Austin.

The race went well for both of us. My only goal was to beat the 4-hour time limit. Andrea was hoping to run as much as possible and finish. Both of us were shocked at our hidden abilities. I came in nearly one-hour faster than I expected and Andrea said she ran the entire race without stopping. Not too bad for inconsistent training.

I really enjoyed this race. By far the best goody bag I've ever received. Too much stuff to list it all, so I attached a picture. Also received a long sleeve shirt, finishers metal, and finishers t-shirt. The course is primarily downhill, but don't let that fool you... there WAS NOT a lack of climbs on this course. I've always loved Austin and this course is one of the reasons why. I don't think we ever ran on level ground. We were either running up or down. I have mega tight calves to prove it!

The course is a point-to-point, so we were bused back to the starting line. Everything went perfect from my view point. I highly recommend this race. There are a couple funny stories to share, but I'll do that tomorrow. I'm tired and need to get a few other things done at home.

Bill:
13.13 mile (garmin)
2:46:22
12:40 pace

Andrea:
13.1 mile
2:25:39
11:07 pace