Wednesday Dog Walking

Well, I did get a nice three miler in last night. Felt pretty good. I just don't like running in all that traffic. Even when I am on the sidewalk, I feel like I am playing Frogger. This morning was pretty nice, Gus and I almost got three miles in 41 minutes. That old man sure does like his walks. It's been pretty gross here the last couple of days. Very humid and swampy out. Even though it has been in the high 60's, low 70's we've had to turn our AC on because of the humidity. If you don't it gets really nasty in our house. I don't like sweating in my house while watching TV.

Hey, I'm supposed to be blogging. Whoops.

All right, slacked off there a bit. Still running. Running fast. The half marathon was awesome and I've recovered pretty well. Last Thursday, 02/23 I ran a pretty good three miler. After work, shitty, stressful day. I planned on taking it really slow, Garmin clicks off the first mile and I'm at 7:50. I put the brakes on and ended up with a second mile of 8:20 and a final mile of 9:05. I think I was taking out some aggression on that first mile.
Saturday was the Run for the Bluebonnets 5K in Bastrop. I love this 5K. It was my first race and it means a lot to me. Again, I was planning on taking it easy and going slow and again, that didn't happen. My buddy Cory ran it with me and this was his first race as well. He wanted to run fast and had been badgering me all week to run it fast with him. The morning of the race I told him I'd set a fast pace for a mile or two and then let him take it to the finish. Well, I ended up running the whole thing at a 7:52 pace. It felt pretty damned good.
Sunday, nothing. And yesterday I got in another two miles with Gus. He's old but loves the walking. I wanted to go this morning, but it was rainy and gross, so I opted for sleep. Maybe another after work run this afternoon, we'll see.

Two Miles With Gus

Today was my first activity since the half marathon on Sunday. All in all, I'm feeling pretty good. My legs aren't feeling bad at all, a little stiff, but that is about it. My glutes were pretty sore but that has gone away. Gonna try to run a little tomorrow, see how that goes. And I've got a 5k on Saturday. Not really gonna try and break any records or anything, just a fun run that I like. It was my very first organized run. This will be the third year I've run it. Pretty awesome.

Austin Half Marathon

Well, it's done. 2:07:08 I wish I'd gone a little faster, but I really can't complain. The whole experience was pretty awesome. My only complaint is about me. I COULD NOT SLEEP last night. At all. And it's nobody's fault but my own. My nervous energy just would not let me sleep. I ended up getting roughly three hours total. It sucked. But, barring that, I had a blast. From the beginning of the day to the end of the race, it was great. It was a little chilly and standing around got a little cold. But as the start time got closer and the sun started to come up, it got warmer. The lead up was great, Lance Armstrong got up and gave a great speech, the mayor of Austin gave a good speech, President Obama sent a telegram. And the moment when the National Anthem started and the whole group got quiet. Goosebumps!! The race was very hilly, up and down a lot. The first 5 miles were pretty much a long, long up hill. Then you make a turn and then it is downhill for about 4 miles. I bonked at mile 9-9.5, my legs just stopped. I walked for about 3 minutes. Then for the rest of the race it was mostly running with some walking. All in all, it was a great experience and I cannot wait for my next run. I've taken a two hour nap now and ate my weight in a Freebirds Burrito and had a couple of beers. I'm feeling pretty good.

Half Marathon Training, 2 miles

Well, this was my last run before the Half. Really felt good this morning. Took it easy and just tried to be smooth and free. A coach for an Austin running club posted a step by step description of the route yesterday. I've poured over that thing several times. I even pulled up Google Maps street view of Austin and went step by step along with the write up. There is one big hill at 12 miles that is going to suck. 80 ft climb in less than a quarter mile. OH FUN!! I am really excited and getting a little nervous. I can't wait till about 9 on Sunday. I should be drinking a beer about that time. Ha.

Half Marathon Training, 2 miles

Taper week!! 2 mile runs are too much fun. 4 DAYS TO HALF MARATHON DAY!!! Can't wait until race day.

Half Marathon training, 3 miles

Welp, this was the last longish run before the Half on Sunday. Come on Sunday, I am ready for it to be here. Felt really good this morning. The first mile was a little slow, working out the kinks of not doing anything since the 12 miler on Saturday. The second mile was nice and slow and mile three was awesome. I felt great. BRING IT ON AUSTIN HALF MARATHON!!!

Half Marathon Awesome Training, 12 Miles

This was an awesome run. I felt great. I am so ready to next weeks half marathon. I CANNOT WAIT!!! This will be my second half and going into my first one, I felt like I wasn't prepared enough. I feel the opposite for this one. I'm hoping to beat two hours, but if I don't, that's all right. I spent a good deal of time yesterday looking at the route and all the information online, pouring over details and trying to figure out where big hills will be and all that jazz. It's going to be so much fun. And to start and finish at the Capitol will be really cool. I'm a history major and I took a ton of Texas history classes, so the Capitol building is a special place for me. Easy week and then 13.1!!!!

Half Marathon training, 3 miles

Three more mile, three more miles, three more miles. Today was just a run, nothing more, nothing less. Felt good, weather was ok. Tired today, need some sleep, which I will get tomorrow. Rest day. Yay me.

Half Marathon training, 5 miles AND 2000 MILES!!

Really, really good run this morning. Legs felt fresh, kept losing myself in thought and would look up and another mile had passed. The weather was all right, stupid wind of course, the moon was out and bright. All around a good run. And today I crossed the 2000 miles logged on dailymile. Pretty awesome. I cannot believe that I have walked/ran more than 2000 miles. What a good day.

Half Marathon training, 3 miles

Another three miles in the bank. 3 miles from breaking the 2000 recorded miles barrier. Pretty stoked about that. Good run this morning, feeling great. Getting nervous now about the half marathon. I wish I'd kept the quote, but read somewhere about envisioning what you want to do while running and this morning I kept seeing myself crossing the finish line in two weeks. I like it. Yesterday was a rest day, no running, but I did 30 minutes of Planks, Push Ups and AbRipperX. Sunday was a cross training day so I did the CardioX workout from P90X. Man, that thing really kicks your booty in 45 minutes. I was sweating like crazy. Feeling great today, really looking forward to getting my 5 miles tomorrow.

Half Marathon Training, 11 miles

This was pretty awesome. I didn't break any time barriers but getting out there and getting it done was nice. When I woke up it was storming pretty good. I waited about 30 minutes and the storm moved off, for the most part, and I went. There were lots of big puddles, some running water, mud and the occasional rain shower and my old friend, the WIND. Other than that, this was a pretty awesome run. I was very wary of today's run because of the rough week that I've had, head cold, general crappy week. But this was excellent and I am so happy I did it. Yay me.

Should Have Just Gone Swimming

Got out there this morning and got three long miles. Yay me!! BUT legs were stiff and the run felt slow. And it was 100% humidity, so breathing was tough and it was like running in soup. BUT I GOT OUT THERE! Still feeling some affects from the head cold and the aforementioned leg issues. BUT I GOT OUT THERE! Feel really good now, I'm not going to get my 11 miles tomorrow, but I'll rock them on Sunday. The wife has a UIL competition tomorrow, so I am hanging out with the coolest three year old in the world tomorrow.

Rasafracka!

Throat feels better, but now I can't breathe through my nose and even though I just slept 7 hours, I feel exhausted. Come hell or high water my ass will be running tomorrow morning!!!!!

Still Not Happy

Still feeling like poo. Not really like poo, but my throat hurts. Nothing else is wrong, just throat hurts. Really annoying, especially with the half marathon a couple of weeks away. This shit better clear up soon.