PARC Monster Dash

On October 30, I ran the Pearland Area Runners Club annual Monster Dash. They do a 5K/10K in Pearland every year the weekend before Halloween. I did the 10K. It was a smaller race, and I finished 7th overall, 2nd in my age group.

I am still learning how to race so I don't know how to pace myself. I averaged about 7:40 for the first 5 miles, and then I averaged 6:40 for the last 1.2. I had way too much left in the tank. Oh well, after the marathon I'll be able to do some of these shorter races. I enjoy being able to compete, and they don't take as much of your day.

Houston Striders Half Marathon and Relay

On October 24, I ran the Houston Striders Half Marathon. It is part of the warm-up series for the Chevron Houston Marathon in January. The warm-up series is a series of three races leading up to the marathon. It consists of the Houston Striders Half Marathon, the Houston Masters Sports Association 25K, and the Finish Line Sports 30K.

Back to the half marathon. First, the weather was too warm for comfort when running a half marathon. I knew I was going to be in trouble when I was covered in sweat after the first mile and a half. The first 9 miles or so went off as planned, maybe even a little better. I decided to try and push the pace with 5 miles left. I ran the last five miles all right around 8:00, and mile 12 was even 7:48. I was hoping to average about 7:30-7:40 for the last five miles, but the heat had drained me. I had nothing left in the tank. I finished with an official time of 1:49:11.

When I finished, I was a little disappointed with my time, but after talking with people over the last week, I feel pretty good about it. Everybody struggled it seems like. Even a couple of the elite runners I've spoken with had a rough time. Hopefully, the weather is cooler for the HMSA 25K on November 14.

United Space Alliance 10 Miler and Update

Last week, I ran the United Space Alliance 10 Miler. It was the first time I had run a race since my last marathon in October 2005. I did not know what pace I could hold because I hadn't even really pushed myself in training. I decided I would run the first half of the race at 9:00/mile pace and pick it up from there if I felt good. Let's just say I felt pretty good at the half-way point so I picked it up a little bit. I averaged 8:59/mile over the first five miles, and I averaged 7:49/mile over the last five miles. I finished with a total time of 1:23:58 for a per mile average of 8:24.

Training is still going pretty well. My second half of the race made me decide that I can push myself a little more. I am going to do a 15 mile this evening. I have a half-marathon next weekend. I'm going to try a little bit quicker pace. I am going to use the races in the warm-up series to help establish my pace for race day at the end of January. These will be a good gauge of my fitness and ability before I run my marathon.