This post is a little out of the norm for this blog. There’s nothing about running, biking, swimming, or eating. The important thing to remember is it’s still all about me. If you’ve been living under a rock for the last few weeks then you probably aren’t reading this, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament wrapped up last night. The UConn Huskies beat the Butler Bulldogs in a painful-to-watch slugfest (and the massive decline in office productivity came to an end).
After my less-than-reassuring preview post, I did run the Austin American Statesman Capitol 10K on Sunday. Having never raced a 10K before I really had no experience to work with. I knew I could run 6.2 miles without a problem, but exactly how fast was the real question. The beauty of running a new distance is that no matter what, I get to set a new personal record! So other than setting a PR by default, here’s how it all went.
It’s the Friday before the biggest 10K in Texas (and 5th largest in the country*)! I’m not part of the Corporate Challenge team here at NI, but that’s actually for the better, but I’ll get to that in a second. This whole “race weekend” thing really snuck up on me. For one, I haven’t been training for it. For two, I’ve never raced a 10K before. For three, my college roommate Barrett is visiting this weekend. Four for For four, even though I’m not on my company’s competitive team, they footed the registration fee for me (and about sixty other employees). So with this race sneaking up on me, what’s the plan for Sunday? Continue reading
This morning was slated to hold the real trials for the Cap10K corporate team for the folks here at National Instruments. Thanks to everyone who voted in my poll, (I can barely count all 5 of you on one hand) I gave it a go back in February with a respectable crash and burn. Anyway, with the main trials scheduled for today, how’d it all go?
I’m posting this against my better judgement. Despite the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words”, some pictures leave the viewer speechless. In any this case, I present to you some “early” and “late” pictures from my recent 3M and Austin races. So, without further ado, be warned enjoy.
The 2011 LIVESTRONG Austin Marathon came and went on Sunday, starting in the pre-dawn glow and finishing in the shadow of the state capitol building. With over 15,000 runners for the 20th anniversary of the race, and the first year with the LIVESTRONG sponsorship, this race felt like the big leagues. As I mentioned previously, I hadn’t trained as much nor as focused as usual, so my goals going in were set conservatively*. So how did I do in my 10th marathon? Hint: lots of ups and downs.
Alright, folks, the race is a mere 40 hours away and it’s just now starting to set in. The expo is opening today at 3pm and the “This is the Final Pre-Race Email” emails are hitting my inbox. Facebook is all a-twitter with updates from the local running stores and Twitter is all a-facebook with similar tweets. So with the race this weekend, let’s set some goals to hold me moderately accountable, shall we?
Racing Hat: Texas Edition
Round 1 of the Cap10K team tryouts for my company’s competitive team were today. Originally everything was set for March 2nd, but I opted to run today when an earlier date was offered to accommodate another runner who would be out of town in March. As I mentioned, I chose today because I thought it would give me a better chance than after running a marathon. The question is, how’d it go?
Foreshadowing
Oh it hurts so bad. Can you feel it? The dagger from the Boston Athletic Association just stabbed me in the face. They took the holy grail of running and made it even harder to reach. What does this do to a runner like me? Not much, besides crush my spirits and seemingly invalidate all my hard work up to this point.
Before I begin, you’ll need to remember a few things. First, I’m running the Austin Marathon on February 20th (yes, a mere 11 or so days from now). Second, I’m going to be trying out for my company’s competitive corporate team for the Capitol 10K Race. The race is on March 27th, but the tryouts are slated for March 2nd. Now that we’re all up to speed, I’d like to share some new information that has come to my attention and could change everything*.
Evelyn
Mike
Will Run To Eat 