New Types of Races – Summary of 2010

In 2010 I did my first half-marathon, my first reverse triathlon, and my first 52 mile bike ride. Each was a lot of fun, and each had different challenges. I also did two other triathlons and another 10k run. More on those later... let's start with the 13.1 mile run.

I ran in the Texas Half on January 30, 2010. It was COLD. I had been running quite a bit in preparation for the half, as opposed to my normal workouts that are usually designed around variety. I had cut out some biking, rowing, and lifting to fit in more running. Good thing, too, because the race still felt long.

It was about 28 degrees and windy. Waiting for the race to start was really cold. After the first few minutes of running, it was pretty comfortable when trees were blocking the wind. The race course was around White Rock Lake, so part of the course was sheltered from the wind, and part was not. My legs felt pretty good up to about mile 8 or so, where it started getting tough. Speaking of tough, don’t try to carry chewy candies for carbs when it is below freezing—they get rock hard. Anyway, I did some walking in the last few miles and finished in 2:32:52. The time is not impressive, but hey, I was slow when I was in peak condition in high school, so at 32 I’m happy with just finishing.

Near the end of the race it seemed really cold again. Sweat had soaked through some of my clothes, so when it got exposed to the wind… brrrr… Colette and the kids arrived at the race just as I was about to cross the finish line. I guess it is good that I was not any faster. This also means I don’t have any pictures.

I felt good in the days after the race. Even though I was not too sore, I did have trouble motivating myself to run again for a while. I logged only about 8 miles in February. I have definitely learned that I need to keep a future race scheduled in order to stay motivated.