Update

What's up, homies?

Here's a quick update on my plans for the rest of the year. I have finalized my race schedule through the rest of 2012 and am even flirting with the idea of continuing on in 2013. Ok, I'm more than just flirting with it, we've already decided on a first date. I found out earlier this week that I got into the Houston Marathon. This race has become so big that it has taken on a New York meets Boston approach for entry: lottery entries and qualifying times. My time is now so fast that I qualified for the race. That's actually a lie. I'm just lucky.

Here is my schedule for my next seven races:

July 14, 2012 - Orange Leaf Half Marathon in New Braunfels, TX
August 25, 2012 - Patrick Henry Half Marathon in Ashland, VA
September 23, 2012 - Plano Balloon Festival Half Marathon in Plano, TX
October 7, 2012 - Half Marathon Castelli Romani in Rome, Italy (I know, right?)
November 11, 2012 - Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in San Antonio, TX
December 9, 2012 - Fayetteville Half Marathon in Fayetteville, AR
January 13, 2013 - Houston Half Marathon in Houston, TX

I've provided links (obviously) to all the races in case anyone wants to join me. I'm always looking for more running buddies.

I'm sure I have mentioned in previous posts that my dad and I are running buddies. I'd say we only run with each other maybe once a week right now, but we always discuss our runs and our race plans. My dad ran both my February and March half marathons with me this year, and he will be joining me in my next five races. Running in Italy was also his idea. Obviously I had no objections. This morning I sent him an email proposing he do another year of races with me, and we've agreed to revisit the discussion in a couple of months. However, I did suggest that we try to keep our 2013 races in Texas.

So there you have it, my update for future races. Again, I invite anyone who is interested to join me. Or at least join me for brunch and a beer afterwards.

In the meantime, I'm going on vacation, so I will see you cool cats in July.

Half Marathon #6: The Windy City

Well guys, I've hit the halfway point. I have run six half marathons in six months. I have to be honest, saying that statement out loud feels pretty good. Believe me, I made sure to tell every person I met in Chicago this past weekend. 

I've started to make the most of my race weekends. The 13.1 Half Marathon in Chicago was my third out of state race in three months. These out of state races are proving to be perfect opportunities to visit my friends (and family) scattered around the country. One of my college friends, Clarke, and I have both been bugging the other to visit. I finally caved and made the first move. 

This race was the first race where I set some concrete goals for myself. I have never been concerned with time; my focus has always been on finishing a race every month. However, I knew in the beginning that I would eventually be unable to resist setting more goals. My goal for this race was to break two hours. 

The circumstances surrounding this race were pretty interesting. I arrived in Chicago close to 8pm Friday evening. Clarke met me at the airport, and we spent about an hour on the train to downtown Chicago. After quickly dropping my bag off at his place, we decided to go grab a couple of beers. I was excited to see my friend and wanted to hang out for a little while before going to bed. Unfortunately, I didn't fully comprehend the fact that my Saturday morning race was located about half an hour south of downtown and the shuttle to the race start left at 5:30am. 

Despite our early night (we headed home at midnight), I still had to be up at 4:30am. I try to make sure I get at least 7 or 8 hours of sleep the night before a race. I have never run one after only four hours. Well, there's a first time for everything, right? 

Snapshot on my way back to Clarke's apartment

In my sleepy haze at 4:30am Saturday morning I forgot two important things: sunscreen and breakfast, two things I never leave the house without. Let's face it, at 4:30 in the morning the possibility of a sunburn isn't the first thing that comes to mind. Once I got on the shuttle, I realized I was kind of hungry. These races always have food for runners, though, so I wasn't too concerned. I would have plenty of time to grab a banana before the race started. But no. Not at this race. Once I got off the shuttle, I went over to a volunteer tent that had coffee, muffins, granola bars, etc. I was about to grab a granola bar when a snooty volunteer informed me that the snacks were only for other volunteers. I laughed and asked him if he was joking. I mean, let's think about this for a second: snacks are only for the people who are not about to run 13 miles? Seems counter-intuitive if you ask me. I became increasingly cranky. I was two hours early to the race, I had only four hours of sleep, my stomach was growling, and the sun was already starting to reflect off the lake and I just knew I was going to get a sunburn. If I had known I would be sitting around doing nothing for the two hours before the race, I would have taken a later shuttle and eaten breakfast in downtown. I took out my frustrations the only way I knew how at that point: I texted my parents and went on a Twitter rant. 

After I was satisfied with whining, I started thinking about the actual race. I promised myself back in January that this year was the year I stopped making excuses as to why I could not do something. Something always happens and there is always a reason why I should not be able to run my best race. In March we were late and started by ourselves. The hills in STL were brutally challenging. In Madison I faced "extreme temperatures" (haha) less than four weeks after having surgery. And despite these circumstances, I have managed to improve my time every single race. I had no reason to mentally psyche myself out before this race. Defeating myself before the race even started over a hungry tummy would be counterproductive. So I decided I would suck it up, run my hardest, and break two hours. 

The 2 seconds I stopped to take this pic could have
made all the difference

I knew I could do it in under 2 at mile 5. I felt even better about my chances at mile 8. I got goosebumps at mile 12 because I felt like I was either going to throw up or pass out. I told myself I could do both after I finished. When I finished the race, I knew I was either just over or just under two hours. I called my parents out of excitement. My mom got online to check my official time: 2:00.01. I missed my goal by two seconds. I was (and still am) torn between feelings of accomplishment and disappointment. 

I decided to spend some time at the post-race party. I satisfied my hunger pains with pizza, a banana, and beer: the breakfast of champions.

Delurcious.

I have managed to take 12 1/2 minutes off my half marathon time in 6 months. In the past 2 weeks, I knocked 4 minutes and 18 seconds off my time, my biggest improvement yet. I've also finished 6 half marathons. 

I ran my first marathon in 2007 and my second in 2008. I feel more accomplished after these 6 races than I did after either of those races. Every month I have improved and the consistent improvement continues to motivate me. 

So now that I have reached the half way point, I think its time for me to set some specific goals for the remainder of the year. I want to break two hours. I want to continue to improve my time every race. Most importantly, I want to take another 13 minutes off my race time. Let me elaborate on that last point: I want to run my half marathon in under 1:47.01 by December. I will have to work harder to achieve these goals but they are all realistic ones. 

My next race is in New Braunfels, TX on July 14. There's nothing like running 13 miles in Texas in July. Bring on the next challenge!

Cheers to six more!

Half Marathon # 5: Memorial Day in Madison

Well I have had quite an eventful 6 weeks since my last week. Where to begin?

Well for starters, I met my brother's ferret. She reminds me of a snake with hair and legs. Seeing her run around gave me the shivers. She also learned how to break out of her cage while I was staying at my brother's place. Little bitch...sorry, that was rude. I'll get back to Claire (the ferret) later.

Post-op. Couldn't move my middle finger yet. Woops.

I also had wrist surgery at the beginning of May. I had a cast, a sling, stitches, the works. I took five days off from running. They were 5 very long days. I asked my doc how long before I could start running again after my surgery. He advised me to wait until my cast was off but that I could go for walks and silly things like that in five days. I mentally filed his advice under options to consider (ignore) and did a short four mile run on the Monday after my surgery. I ran consistently over the past few weeks, but the longest distance I ran was only around 6 or 7 miles. And by "consistently" I mean I managed to squeeze in maybe 4 runs a week.

I also adopted a puppy. His name is Anders and he requires lots of attention. Who knew puppies were so much work? He's adorable though...most of the time.

Handsome baby Anders.

So with all that stuff going on, training wasn't my biggest priority this past month. My next race is June 9 in Chicago so I decided to use the Madison half as more of a training run.

My brother lives in Madison, WI and the half marathon and full marathon falling on Memorial Day weekend presented the perfect opportunity for me to pay him a visit. I flew up on Saturday morning. Upon arriving in Madison, I learned that the full marathon was already cancelled because of "extreme weather." Apparently it was supposed to be dangerously hot. After walking around Madison for a while, I also noticed how incredibly hilly it was. My legs were getting tired just from walking. The hills seemed even worse than the ones in St. Louis. Naturally, I was already making excuses for a less than stellar race time.

Posing with the badgers. Duh.

I stayed at my brother's apartment/fraternity house. If you've never spent the night in a fraternity house, I envy you. They are disgusting. Upon arriving, I had the unfortunate experience of becoming acquainted with Claire. She stinks. I had to share a room with her. A room that was not air conditioned. That technology hasn't reached Wisconsin yet (I kid! I kid!). Fortunately, I was allergic to the house so I didn't have to smell much of the resident rodent. But enough about that...

I awoke around 6am Sunday morning for my race. Brother gave me directions to the starting line/Capitol. The race start was only about a 10 minute walk from his place and the weather was absolutely beautiful. I think it was in the mid-sixties. As I was preparing for the race to start, I could not believe how nice of a morning it was and how good I was feeling. Despite feeling more unprepared for this race than most of my previous ones, I put in my new noise-cancelling headphones (thanks, Mom!) and was ready to cruise through the course at a comfortable pace.

Shot of the Capitol from the starting line.

I had more fun running this race than any of my other ones. The weather was great. I felt great. The course ran along the hills rather than up and down them, and had a minimal number of turns. The race went through many neighborhoods with leafy trees blocking out the early morning sun. The crowd support was the best yet. Everyone seemed to be out on their porch supporting the runners. I was even on pace to run this race even faster than I ran St. Louis. Halfway through the race I decided that I was going to try to break 2 hours. Then at mile 8 a girl gave me a banana, providing me with a  very appreciated extra boost of energy. Bananas FTW! The course had approximately 9 or 10 water stations that kept me well hydrated throughout the run. And did I mention my totally awesome playlist? I was in the zone!

Happy Memorial Day, y'all! 'Murcka!

I ended up finishing the race in 2:04.19. The last quarter mile was a steep uphill slope that totally kicked my arse. This time was my new fastest official time to date. This race was the most fun race I have run. Having my dad with me on previous races and my friends' support in STL was great, but this actual race was the most enjoyable. As in, the running part, not everything surrounding the run. I would love to run the Madison half again next year.

The rest of my trip was also fun. I went to lunch with brother's girlfriend and fraternity brother (my brother can't function unless he gets a total of 12 hours of sleep). We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the weather and drinking beers on the porch. Claire joined us for a bit. Her presence added some excitement as my brother tried to throw her on me. We finished off the night with some competitive shuffleboard. I can now add "Shuffleboard Player Extraordinaire" to my resume.

In a week and a half I will return to the Midwest to run my June race on June 9th in Chicago. This race is going to be the one where I officially break the 2 hour barrier. I hope. Wish me luck!

Five down and seven to go! Thanks for your support!