Saturday, September 09, 2006

That was it?

Well, I guess unofficially I'm a member of the double digits club as of this morning at 8:30. I say unofficially because when I got home, I found that Mapmyrun.com shows ~9.7 miles, just a little more than last weeks "9 mile run" of 9.4. I ran this morning without the aid of mile markers or my Polar footpod (the distances on that thing are suspect as well). I wouldn't say that I need a Garmin but I will say that I'd like to have one, a 205 if possible.

When I drove up to the parking lot late, Strider Joanne jumped out of her car and said, "Oh, Vic, I'm so glad you are here." Her 2/1 partner, Sashi, could not make it and she was hoping that I would be there so she could run with me. Jo is a small lady but a big runner. She runs faster than me (of course). I think She and Shashi have been running ~14:00 miles on their long runs. Still, she was very eager to have someone to run with this morning and vowed to take it slow. I forgot to tell her she was an answer to my prayers. She was worried about holding me back but the absolute truth is that she pushed me just right. A couple of times she got ahead of me 20 or 30 yards and just doubled back to rejoin me. I know it must be hard to slow down 1:00 - 1:30 minutes from what you do on your slow runs. She has a nice little quick turnover and pretty good form. Oh, by the way, Jo is well in her years but very young at heart.

Overall, I had a great run. Of course, the hills at TH park presented some challenge but I tackled them better than I did last week on Allen Parkway. Of course the weather was nice this morning and I'm sure that contributed to a good run. Jo likes to talk and I enjoyed the conversation. When we turned around at Kirkwood, Jo told me we had 3.5 miles left. I thought, "Is that it?" I think one of my biggest problems mentally is not knowing how far I have left. Am I halfway? Do I need to conserve a little. I guess this will come with experience being at these venues more. Anyway, I was feeling pretty tired about 2:15 into the run and Jo told me it was just 1 more mile. "Is that it?" By this time last week, I was hurting. So, I ran the last mile in with only a short break at one of the runner's showers.

No stats really to report. I know that's so unlike me but you know, right now I'm just trying to finish these long runs strong. Also, I'm just trying to enjoy myself, concentrate on nutrition and hydration. Speaking of which, the Gu's worked just fine today. I took one at :45 and at 1:30. If I were going to be much longer out there, I would have had another but I felt fine. I love the way I feel after a long run. Really sore, broken, barely able to walk around, yet so alive! Not sore to the point that I've hurt myself but just where I know I've pushed my body a little past where it wanted to go. Now rest!!!

I had the opportunity to drum up some interest in the Koala/Luke's Half Marathon. I took one registration but handed out a lot of printed flyers/registrations. I'll bet next week, I'll get a lot of registrations turned in. Did get one today which was good considering it was raining and the two ladies had parked in the I-10 lot. I drove them to their car to get their checks. What service!!!

God bless!!

9 comments:

Junie B said...

i'm a little scared of my 10 next Sunday...but you give me HOPE!!

way to go!

Jill said...

You are doing great!! Keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

Gotta get a Garmin dude.

I'm confused. You did your 10-miler with Striders and not Katy Fit, did I read that right? Do they have maps online, etc. so that you know where the 10 miles are?

Because we run on some streets with medians, etc. the route is a little shorter on the way back than on the way out so I like to run at least 1/4 to 1/2 mile farther than they tell me to, knowing it'll even out at the finish line.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a great run Vic. I am always inspired when I run with someone. Something about having them with me just pushes me to do better.

Keep up the fantastic work and blogging, I really enjoy reading it.

Denise

SRR said...

You are doing so awesome! Keep it up!

Anonymous said...

DDV,

Thanks to great publicity efforts such as yours there were over 100 Houston Half Marathon signups over the weekend, including a healthy number from Katy and surrounds.

Nice post on the Katy Fit discussion group from Joanne lauding your assistance in completing the 10 miler. And, let there be no doubt it was 10 miles (always round distance UP; also, Katy Fit measures their courses accurately so if the route is advertised as a given distance you can ignore your GPS).

Steeeve

TX Runner Mom said...

Sounds like a great run! It is always great to have someone to run with, especially when you get into the double digits. Way to go!

Pat said...

Hi, I hope you don't mind. I put a link on my blog to yours. I like reading yours, so hopefully others will too. If you'd like to visit mine, click on my name or go to patsrunning.blogspot.com. If you plan to link mine, list it as "It's a dry Heat".

Anonymous said...

Vic---- You are doing sooooooo awesome!!! Keep up the good work!!!

Tate